At the United Nations General Assembly debate on the Rule of Law, the Maldives noted that the country is set on a development path through an uncompromising adherence to the rule of law and by ensuring that its institutions are strengthened and democratic values upheld.
Speaking at the Sixth Committee, Mr. Jeffrey Salim Waheed, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations noted that the Maldives Consitution explicitly guarantees basic public services such as education, healthcare, water, sanitation, communication, electricity, and a healthy, ecologically balanced environment. Many challenges exist for the Government bureaucracy to provide these rights to a population dispersed across 197 islands, further compounded by the need to build resilience to the inherent vulnerabilities flowing from being the lowest lying State in the world. Yet the Government is fully committed to the provision of these rights and expanding them through a programme of economic empowerment.
Mr. Waheed elaborated that President Yameen's economic diversification programme "seeks to dramatically enhance the country's fragile economic base so that, along with improving investor confidence, it is designed to create employment, empower youth, and instill in people a conviction in limitless opportunity." Moreover, the Government is determined to ensure that "opportunity and social advancement becomes the birth right of every Maldivian citizen."
The statement noted that while the Maldives continues to welcome UN support in strengthening the country's democratic institutions, non-interference in internal affairs must be observed.
