President calls on all citizens to allow women to work independently and responsibly

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has called on all citizens to allow women to work independently and responsibly, in order to ensure that women play vital roles in the country’s development.

In his statement made on the occasion of International Women’s day, the President said that political empowerment of women is crucial at this time of political change in the country. He added that women’s participation in the country’s development must be increased.

The President encouraged women to participate in development efforts both at community and national levels, stressing that they should make use of opportunities to contribute to the nation and face up to developmental challenges in the country.

The national theme in Maldives for this year’s Women’s Day is ‘Women – Shaping the Nation’.

President Waheed said that the country’s goals and aspirations can only be achieved through the collective efforts of the people and with an enhanced spirit of solidarity. He called on men and women to work side by side and with determination to achieve these goals.

President Waheed observed that it would not be possible to achieve this through the work of one government institution. He urged all government offices and departments to pay special attention to remove gender discrimination and increase gender empowerment in their work.