Universal Periodic Review (36th session, April – May 2020)

Contribution of UNESCO

Maldives

I. Background and framework

Recognition of
Reference to the
Date of ratification, specific
Declarations rights within
Title accession or competences
/reservations UNESCO’s fields
succession of treaty
of competence
bodies
Not a State Party Reservation
Convention against to this
Discrimination in Convention Right to education
Education 1960 shall not be
permitted
Convention 22/05/1986
concerning the Acceptance
Protection of the Right to take part
World Cultural and in cultural life
Natural Heritage
(1972)
Convention for the Not ratified
Safeguarding of the Right to take part
Intangible Cultural in cultural life
Heritage (2003)
Convention on the Not ratified
Protection and
Right to take part
Promotion of the
in cultural life
Diversity of Cultural
Expressions (2005)

II. Promotion and protection of human rights on the ground

A. Education

1. The Constitution of the Republic of Maldives of 2008 enshrines the right to education at Article
36 :

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 “(a) Everyone has the right to education without discrimination of any kind.

(b) Primary and secondary education shall be freely provided by the State. It is imperative on
parents and the State to provide children with primary and secondary education. Opportunity
for higher education shall be generally accessible to all citizens.

(c) Education shall strive to inculcate obedience to Islam, instill love for Islam, foster respect
for human rights, and promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people."
Article 39 (b) adds that "The State shall promote education, culture, literature and the arts,
within the limits of its resources."

Article 17 enshrines the principle of non-discrimination and provides that :

"(a) Everyone is entitled to the rights and freedoms included in this Chapter without
discrimination of any kind, including race, national origin, colour, sex, age, mental or physical
disability, political or other opinion, property, birth or other status, or native island.

(b) Special assistance or protection to disadvantaged individuals or groups, or to groups

requiring special social assistance, as provided in law shall not be deemed to be discrimination,
as provided for in article (a)."

2. An Education Bill is still in the process of being enacted. Among other things, the proposed
bill introduces compulsory education up to grade 10 and states that all children in the Maldives
must have access to free primary and secondary schooling.1 Due to the delay in enactment, the
Government opted to enforce compulsory education in practice through policy directives (see
below).2 The Law on the Protection of the Rights of Children 1991 contains several provisions
pertaining to education. At article 5, the provision of education is “subject to the economic

1
State Report of the Maldives for the Committee on the Rights of the Child 2015, CRC/C/MDV/4-5, para 19(f).
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2fMDV%2f4-
5&Lang=en
2
Ibid, para 203.

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 situation and the availability of resources to the Government. In particular, provision must be
made to enable every child to learn the essential requirements of the religion”. Similarly, article
6 states that “Treatment and care of mentally or physically disabled children shall be facilitated
to the extent possible at the time.”

B. Freedom of opinion and expression

Constitutional and Legislative Framework:

3. Freedom of thought, freedom to communicate opinions and freedom of expression are

protected under Chapter II Article 27 of the Maldives Constitution (2008) with limitations “in
a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam”.3

4. In 2009, the Parliament of the Republic of Maldives decriminalized defamation, but in 2016,
new legislation recriminalizing defamation was adopted.4

5. A Right to Information Act entered into force in 2014.

Implementation of legislation:

6. Maldives Broadcasting Commission oversee all areas related to issuing licenses to the
broadcasters and ensures that they adhere to all regulations related to broadcasting. According
to the Broadcasting Act, the Commission consists of seven members appointed by the
President of the Maldives.5

Safety of Journalists:

7. Since 2008, UNESCO has condemned the killing of one journalist in the Maldives. The
Government has not responded to UNESCO’s request for information.6

3
http://www.maldivesinfo.gov.mv/home/upload/downloads/Compilation.pdf
4
https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/maldives-approves-defamation-law-
curtailing-press-freedom.html
5
http://broadcom.org.mv/v2/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Broadcast-Act-Translation_1.pdf
6
https://en.unesco.org/themes/safety-journalists/observatory/country/223771

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III. Review and specific recommendations

A. Education

8. During the last UPR cycle, the Maldives was recommended to further develop the education
system, improve the quality of education, guarantee access to education for persons with
disabilities, students from low-income families and children in conflict with the law, promote
gender equality through education and eradicate traditional stereotypes of women, and provide
opportunities to vocational education and training.

Policy framework:

 The Education Sector Plan 2019 – 2023, prepared by the Ministry of Education & Ministry of
Higher Education with support by the Global Partnership of Education has a number of aims
including the provision of “equal opportunity for free and compulsory education from Pre-
school to grade 10” and equal opportunity for free, quality education to all, from Kindergarten
to grade 12 irrespective of sex and locality and including those with special education needs.
Every student has the opportunity to access Higher Education and the provision of TVET is
another key target.7

Access to education

 Maldives has seen a large increase in enrolment rates in education, with the gross enrolment
ratio 91% at pre-primary level, 8 and the achievement of almost universal participation at
primary, secondary and lower secondary level. 9
 Only 45% of children transition from lower secondary to higher secondary level, where access
becomes more problematic.10 Higher secondary courses only exist in 59 out of 212 schools in

7
Ministry of Education & Ministry of Higher Education Republic of Maldives, Maldives Education Sector Plan
2019 – 2023, 2019, https://www.globalpartnership.org/sites/default/files/2019-05-maldives-education-sector-plan-
2019-2023.pdf
8
Global Education Monitoring Report, Gender Report: Building bridges for gender equality, 2019, p. 300.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368753/PDF/368753eng.pdf.multi
9
Ibid, p. 292.
10
UNICEF, Education: Because every child deserves to learn, 2018. https://www.unicef.org/maldives/what-we-
do/education

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 Maldives, so children must migrate to continue their studies.11 The geography of Maldives also
makes it difficult to implement and monitor the national school curriculum, and certain atolls
perform lower than others, illustrating a geographical divide in school performance and
educational quality.12

Gender Equality

 In 2016 the Gender Equality Act (No. 18/2016) was passed, which includes a responsibility of
all personnel in educational service “to promote the principle of equality between men and
women through the educational curriculum and to promote the principle of equality amongst
all people and their entitlement to rights and opportunities without discrimination” (article 22
(a)). Until recently, teaching on gender equality did not feature in the curriculum according to
the Global Education Monitoring Report.13 The Law also provides “equal opportunities to both
men and women in acquiring education, reaping the benefits of education, training, learning,
acquiring skills, acquiring knowledge, reaping the benefits of subjects related to science and
technology, and in invention and innovation” (article 22 (c)).
 There is gender parity in education at pre-primary and primary levels, but at tertiary level,
enrolment rates are heavily skewed towards women (1.51 GPIA in 2016).14

Children with disabilities

 Maldives has made efforts to improve the provision of education for children with disabilities
across the nation. In 2017 there were 52 specialized SEN units and 178 schools with SEN
trained teachers across the country, catering to over 1172 students with special needs.15
 In 2017, the primary attendance rate was 85% for those with disabilities and 94% for those
without, so a certain level of disparity continues to exist.

Specific recommendations:

11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Global Education Monitoring Report, Gender Report: Building bridges for gender equality, 2019, p. 328.
https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368753/PDF/368753eng.pdf.multi
14
Ibid, p. 318.
15
The Maldives Voluntary National Review 2019: Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, p. 10.

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9. The Maldives should be encouraged to:

 Ratify the Convention against Discrimination in Education.

 Enact the Education Bill to ensure a stronger protection of the right to education.
 Ensure that access to higher secondary level education is available across the atolls and that
quality and standard of curricula is assured without geographical disparity.
 Continue to consider how gender equality can be promoted and negative stereotypes tackled
through the curricula and the wider education system.
 Continue to improve the inclusivity of the education system for children with disabilities.
 Submit regularly comprehensive national reports for the periodic consultations on UNESCO’s
education-related standard-setting instruments, and notably on the Recommendation against
Discrimination in Education.
 Share with UNESCO any relevant information to update its country profile on UNESCO’s
Observatory on the Right to Education.16

B. Freedom of opinion and expression

10. The Government is recommended to decriminalize defamation and insult, and place
defamation within the civil code, in accordance with international standards.

11. The Government is encouraged to assess the system of regulation of the broadcasting sector in
order to ensure that this process is transparent and independent

12. The Government is encouraged to investigate the unresolved case of the killed media
professional, and to voluntarily report on the status of judicial follow-up to UNESCO. The

16
http://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/index.php?action=countries&lng=en

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 Government may wish to consider taking advantage of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of
Journalists and the Issue of Impunity as a means to strengthen the protection of journalists.

C. Cultural rights

13. As a State Party to the Convention the Convention concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972)17, Maldives is encouraged to fully implement the relevant
provisions that promote access to and participation in cultural heritage and creative expressions
and, as such, are conducive to implementing the right to take part in cultural life as defined in
article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 15 of the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In doing so, Maldives is encouraged to
give due consideration to the participation of communities, practitioners, cultural actors and
NGOs from the civil society as well as vulnerable groups (minorities, indigenous peoples,
migrants, refugees, young peoples and peoples with disabilities), and to ensure that equal
opportunities are given to women and girls to address gender disparities.

14. Maldives is also encouraged to ratify the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage (2003) and the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity
of Cultural Expressions (2005) as a means to promote access to and participation in creative
expressions and as such contribute to implementing the right to take part in cultural life.

D. Freedom of scientific research and

the right to benefit from scientific progress and its applications

15. Maldives did not submit its National Report on the implementation of the Recommendation
on the Status of Scientific Researchers (1974) for the Second Consultation covering the period
from 2013 to 2016 (http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002592/259256e.pdf). Therefore,
Maldives is encouraged to report to UNESCO in future on the implementation of the newly
adopted Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers (2017), which supersedes the
1974 Recommendation, on any legislative or other steps undertaken by it with the aim to ensure
the application of this international standard-setting instrument paying particular attention to

17
Periodic Report available at: http://whc.unesco.org/document/116967

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the legal provisions and regulatory frameworks which ensure the implementation of human
rights of scientific researchers, as well as human rights obligations related to science, the
principle of non-discrimination, including urging active promotion of women and girls
entering scientific careers, as well as the scientists’ rights of autonomy, freedom of research,
expression and publication.