Minister of Gender and Family Ms. Zenysha Shaheed Zaki returns from New York after participating in the 72nd UN General Assembly

Minister of Gender and Family Ms. Zenysha Shaheed Zaki returns from New York after participating in the 72nd UN General Assembly.

During this visit, Minister Zenysha moderated and participated as a panelist in the High-Level Side-Event on “Ending Violence against Children”, which was co-hosted by the Maldives, Nigeria, Estonia, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children and Global Partnership to End Violence against Children. The event brought together countries across regions to share different perspectives, challenges, prevention models and innovative strategies in combating violence against children.

The Minister also participated as a panellist in the High-Level Side-Event on sustainable development, “A Promise to Children and their Rights and wellbeing in the SDGS”. In her keynote speech, she highlighted the progress made by the Maldives in these areas and shared information on the child protection initiatives, the universal health insurance scheme, and other recent accomplishments towards ensuring post-natal and antenatal care, health and wellbeing of children in the Maldives.

The Minister also participated in a High-Level roundtable discussion on “Women’s Economic Empowerment” and shared information regarding ongoing initiatives by the Government of Maldives in this area. In addition, she also participated in the High-Level event on “Delivering Together for Healthy and Empowered Women, Children and Adolescents” and “Investing in the Early Years: A Roadmap for Sustainable Futures”.

During her visit, the Minister also held meetings with UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children Ms Marta Santos Pais, Director of Programmes of UNICEF Mr Ted Chaibaan, New Zealand Ambassador to the UN H. E. Craig Hawke and CEO of Dubai Cares H. E. Tariq Al Gurg to discuss ongoing initiatives by the Maldives on child rights and explore avenues for future collaboration.

24 September 2017