Government

President Mohamed Nasheed has said that the government’s aim is to reduce the number of children living in “Kudakudhinge Hiyaa” or children’s shelters, and to facilitate them living in homes with families instead.

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of “Stakeholder Conference in Children’s Shelters 2012” organized by Arc. The ceremony was held at Mookai Suites today.

President Nasheed said that the government’s plan is utilize the money given in aid by UN and other international organisations to strengthen local organisations instead of using it on government projects.

He also said that there is no act more noble than helping orphans, and that monthly financial assistance is given to single mothers in order to help them raise disciplined orphans.

“The government is currently providing monthly financial assistance to 2524 single mothers. The purpose of this is to avoid orphans ending up on the street. In addition, every person who is taking care of an orphan is given Rf 2000 monthly. 4484 orphans are being taken care of in this manner,” the President said.Three ministers also participated and spoke at the ceremony.

Speaking about the Correctional Training Children for Children (CTCC) in Feydhoo Finolhu, Home Minister Hassan Afeef said that most children living in this centre end up there because their guardians do not wish to care for them.

Health Minister Aminath Jameel referred to the children’s shelter in Vilimale’ and said that in the beginning, only kids below 9 years were allowed in this shelter. Today however, it is home to 17 year olds and even a 21 year old adult. She also said that it is challenging to have such age diversity in one home, and that the assistance of organisations such as Arc is necessary in addressing such problems.

Minister of Education Shifa Mohamed said that the management of Education Training Centre for Children (ETC) located in Maafushi faces several serious challenges.

According to Arc, the three centres in Maldives are currently home to 120 children. They said that a ceremony will be held today to sign an agreement with a group which will provide assistance in improving services, training of employees, education and improving the psychological well-being of children living in these centres.