His Excellency Mr. Ahmed Sareer, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations addressed the situation of women and girls at the Commission on the Status of Women, during the general discussion of its 58th Session.
During the discussion, Ambassador Sareer said that the Maldives has set forth two key visions with regards to women and equality. One is regarding empowerment of women in economic, political sphere, and the other is zero tolerance towards violence against women. Under these key visions, targets and milestones have been identified and are being addressed routinely. It is through these initiatives, the Maldives hopes to succeed in the ultimate goal of achieving parity for women.
In its statement, the Maldives reiterated its commitment to the realization of the Beijing Declaration after implementing the Platform for Action and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and its optional protocol.
Ambassador Sareer urged the Commission to provide a standalone goal on gender, emphasizing its cross cutting nature, through its agreed conclusions. He said that the Post-2015 Development Framework must have true indicators for gender equality in order to meet the MDG on empowerment. He also emphasized the international community should not shirk responsibilities and maintain development through investing in women and girls.
