Minister of Defence Mariya Didi has said that disaster risk mitigation, adaptation, and resilience are directly linked to the government’s overall vision for the defense of the Maldives and that the Maldives needs the support of its international partners to realize this vision.
The minister made the remarks while addressing the opening ceremony of the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief workshop organized by the National Disaster Management Authority of the Maldives and Hawaii’s Centre for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM). The 3-day workshop will focus on multi-agency coordination in disaster response and humanitarian assistance.
Minister Mariya stated that global warming and its consequences pose an existential threat to the Maldives, citing an increase in reported incidents of damage caused by floods, strong winds, swells, storm surges, and other extreme weather events. The Minister also mentioned that chemical fires and ships running aground can have a significant impact on the country's urban and natural environments. The minister emphasized the importance of multi-agency coordination in responding to such emergencies.
The minister thanked President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for instituting the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as stipulated in the statute and empowering NDMA to work independently with its own budget and planning priorities. The minister also thanked the US government, the US Indo-Pacific Command and the CFE-DM for the prompt response in prioritizing the Maldives’ request and making this programme a reality within 6 months.
In addition, the minister stated that Maldivians are resilient people who accept their geographic uniqueness, and that the struggle is to protect the islands for future generations through effective adaptation and mitigation measures.
The opening ceremony of the workshop was attended by Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Mission to Maldives Andrea Appell, Indian High Commissioner to Maldives Munu Mahawar, CFE-DM’s Regional Humanitarian Civil-Military Advisor Josh Szimonisz, MNDF Chief of Defence Force Major General Abdulla Shamaal and NDMA’s Chief Executive Hisan Hassan.