Minister of Gender, Family and Social Services Shidhatha Shareef has expressed concern over the low number of women elected to parliament, which is responsible to generate laws and hold the government accountable. Only 4 women were elected to parliament in the parliamentary elections held on April 6, although 37 women competed as candidates.
Speaking on the matter, Minister Shidhatha said policies are made with no acceptable amount of women participation in Maldives. Delivering remarks at the Workshop on Addressing Gender Strategic Gaps organized by National Bureau of Statistics, Minister Shidhatha revealed it is concerning that only 4 women won seats in the parliament which consists of 87 seats. However, the minister assured to work towards enhancing women participation in decision making.
Meanwhile, international observers also expressed concern that few women were elected to parliament.