UNICEF annual report 2017 : Maldives

Abstract

Overall, the situation of children in the Maldives remained stable throughout 2017. The Government sustained its commitment to allocate a fair share of the GDP to public health and education (4.6 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively). The World Bank estimated a real GDP growth of 4.8 per cent and a fiscal deficit of 9.4 per cent of GDP in 2017. The gradual withdrawal of food subsidies continued while the cash transfers to vulnerable households remained limited. Approximately 25 per cent of youth were not employed, in school or in training programmes. Expatriate workers continued to benefit from the growth in the construction and tourism sectors more than Maldivian youth. UNICEF Maldives’ collaboration with national partners focused on enhancing child protection and juvenile justice systems, alternative education for out-of-school adolescents, improving infant and young child feeding, and building information systems. All the activities UNICEF supported were designed to contribute to the UNDAF outcome of improving inclusive, equitable, and high quality social services for all children and adolescents, especially the disadvantaged and vulnerable. In 2017, UNICEF Maldives and partners achieved significant results for children in the country. A real-time system for reporting and addressing violence against children was established and expanded. Local communities are now able to identify cases of violence against children and use the hotline call number to report abuse. The number of reported cases was on the rise, indicating that a functional reporting system was in place. Trained local community support groups and the police routinely picked up the reported cases and addressed them immediately. At the central level, the Ministry of Gender and Family (MoGF) published monthly gender and age disaggregated reports on violence against children cases. These reports contributed to raising awareness on the responsibility of community members to stop violence against children. Alternative education opportunities for out-of-school adolescents were established, including for those who were incarcerated by court decision. In 2017, some 43 adolescents enrolled in vocational training, an alternative learning opportunity that was not previously accessible to out-of-school adolescents. The Open Education Information System now allows school management and responsible staff in the Ministry of Education to access real time information about individual students’ attendance and learning achievements as well as teacher performance. The establishment of the Health Information System is progressing. It will provide easy access to real-time information on violence against children, education, and health and will contribute to informed decision-making. UNICEF’s new partnership with the Care Society resulted in the production of behaviour change communication materials for the inclusion of children with disabilities. With UNICEF’s technical guidance and support, the Ministry of Education successfully applied for and received a grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). UNICEF support is underway for the development of an education sector strategy and plan. However, delays at the Ministry of Education to meet some of the GPE deadlines is a concern. Both UNICEF and the MoE are looking for innovative ways to overcome this challenge. In 2017, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health launched a study to better understand the underlying causes of malnutrition, an ongoing challenge for some children in the Maldives. The findings of this ongoing study will help sharpen the programme focus next year. The delays on the part of the Ministry of Finance to credit direct cash transfers (DCTs) from UNICEF and other UN agencies to the accounts of partner ministries continue to hamper timely completion of activities and liquidation of DCTs. UNICEF continued to discuss a workable solution for routing direct cash transfers (DCTs) through the Ministry of Finance with national partners. The limited visibility of UNICEF’s work in the Maldives and lack of partnerships with the private sector are key shortfalls that will be aggressively addressed in 2018.