President Muizzu Highlights Women’s Committee Reforms on Women’s Day

President Mohamed Muizzu has conveyed International Women’s Day greetings to all Maldivian women, highlighting the Government’s efforts to strengthen women’s empowerment and development initiatives across the country.

The President delivered the message while addressing a ceremony organised by the People’s National Congress to launch the Greater Addu Vision on Saturday evening.

In his remarks, President Muizzu stated that the Administration has taken concrete steps to support women’s development, noting that recent legal reforms have strengthened the role of Women’s Development Committees. He said the reforms have empowered the committees and improved their ability to contribute to community development.

According to the President, members of the committees are now receiving Ramadan allowances, while policies have also been introduced to ensure that the chairperson of each committee serves as an elected, full-time executive.

He further noted that the Government has doubled the budget allocation for Women’s Development Committees, increasing it from five per cent to ten per cent. The Ramadan allowance provided to committee members, he added, is funded from councils’ overall budgets rather than from the specific allocations designated for the committees.

President Muizzu said these policy decisions have strengthened Women’s Development Committees and supported their role in advancing women’s participation in development. He also referred to loan schemes and economic empowerment programmes announced in this year’s Presidential Address, stating that promoting women’s development and mainstreaming women’s empowerment remain key priorities of the Government.

During the ceremony, the President also outlined the Administration’s vision for the development of Addu City, detailing several projects planned for the city. He assured that the Government has the capacity to address major economic challenges, including the Sukuk payment due on the 8th of next month.

The President said both domestic and external debt repayments would be met while the Government continues to implement measures to strengthen the national economy.

Among these measures, he highlighted an agreement formalised on Saturday to address the energy needs of Addu City. The agreement will facilitate the development of a facility capable of adding 26 megawatts of electricity to the city’s power grid. President Muizzu said the project is expected to be completed by July next year and would meet the city’s energy requirements for the next 20 years.

He noted that Addu City’s energy challenges had remained unresolved under previous administrations. The President also said that 48 development initiatives are planned for the islands of the city, with a further 18 projects to be implemented under new policy initiatives.

In addition, he stated that the Government is procuring the necessary equipment, machinery and labour to construct all roads in the city, in line with its development pledge.