Children’s shelter Fiyavathi renovated with grant assistance from India

The renovation of Fiyavathi – a State-run children’s shelter in suburban Hulhumale’ – financed through grant assistance from India – has been completed.

The project to renovate and modernize Fiyavathi was funded with a grant of MVR 1.9 million from India, under the USD 6.9 million (MVR 106 million) grant approved by India to Maldives for socioeconomic projects in 2019.

The renovation of Fiyavathi encompassed the development of the welcoming area in the building, developing the security, building a porch for a play area, painting the walls to make them more child-friendly, building common rooms with computer systems and PlayStations, installing more benches in the garden, planting trees in the garden, procurement of furniture, and improving the efficiency of daily expenses.

A virtual ceremony was held on Wednesday evening to mark the completion of the project, attended by Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, Indian High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir, State Ministers of Gender, Family and Social Services, Aishath Rasheed and Zifleena Hassan, and senior officials from Fiyavathi.

Speaking during the ceremony, Shahid stressed that the society has a responsibility to protect children from harm. And that as duty bearer, the State has a moral and ethical responsibility to care for children who are in a position of socioeconomic vulnerability.

“The renovation of Fiyavathi aims to address this responsibility, by providing the children with a safe and pleasant atmosphere, with well-established amenities,” he said.

Shahid thanked the Indian government for its continuous support for the local communities of Maldives by facilitating multiple socially impactful projects across the country.

“And with this gesture of kindness and goodwill, we hope that the close bilateral ties between the Maldives and India continues to prosper,” he said.

30 projects have been approved under grant assistance from India. The Indian High Commission states one third of the projects have been successfully completed.