Minister of Home Affairs Imran Abdulla has stated that societal problems can be solved by establishing and implementing a complete governmental policy. He made the remarks while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Police Conference on Violence against Children, Prevention and Investigation held in collaboration with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Imran highlighted the importance of establishing an adequate rehabilitation programme as part of a complete governmental policy to reduce societal problems. He noted that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has taken huge steps in this regard, including ratifying the Child Rights Protection Act in 2019 and the Maldives Police Service Act in 2020.
Furthermore, Minister Imran said that the home ministry is heavily involved in solving societal issues as part of the Strategic Policing Requirement it formulated for the Maldives Police Service (MPS), which instructs officers to assist women and children in overcoming their problems and preventing young people from falling into crime.
Additionally, Minister Imran said that the police service is the most responsible for quickly investigating and solving crimes against children. He highlighted the problems in proceeding with such cases in the prosecution stage and expressed hope that this conference will resolve these issues. He also said that police officers need to be more dedicated to preventing crime by establishing strong relations with the community, instead of waiting for cases to be filed. He added that a resilient society can be built when crimes against women and children are taken seriously and solved quickly.
The Police Conference on Violence against Children, Prevention and Investigation will be held until June 30. Senior officials of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO), MPS, Juvenile Court, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services are attending the conference.