UNICEF plays pivotal role to help raise healthy, educated, empowered young adults: First Lady

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund plays a pivotal role to help raise healthy, educated and empowered young adults across the globe, including Maldives, says First Lady Fazna Ahmed.

The Maldivian First Lady said this in a video message delivered at the virtual "Reimagining Opportunities for Children in South Asia" event held in Kathmandu, Nepal as part of the celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the agency.

Organized by the UNICEF Regional Office in South Asia, the high-level event saw governments across the region delivering video messages, including the Maldivian first lady as the UNICEF Champion for the Rights of Children and Young People in the Maldives.

In her video message, the first lady revealed that UNICEF has made invaluable impact that has been felt by children all over the world over its long 75-years of “passionate work”.

Shedding light on the timely, important and necessary work that UNICEF continues to do, in turn improving the wellbeing of millions of children every year, Fazna revealed that the agency is paramount to help raise empowered young adults.

UNICEF first started working in the Maldives about 43 years ago, and since then, the first lady revealed that close to a 100 percent of Maldivian children are enrolled in primary education, with mortality rate having decreased to 7.6 per thousand births in 2019.

She went on to highlight that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the all-important Child Rights Protection Act and the Juvenile Justice Act during his first year in office, in 2019.

These acts mandated a safe platform for children to voice and participate in making decisions that affect them, for the first time in the country’s history, the first lady added.

Further speaking, Fazna noted that the laws also prohibited the death penalty of juvenile and prohibited child labor and child marriage in the Maldives, going on to shed light on the Education Act that followed in 2020.

The act recognizes the importance of inclusive education, she said, noting that these laws are important milestones to ensure that every child is protected and that every child has an equal chance to thrive into adulthood.

In her message, the Maldivian first lady highlighted that it goes without saying, that the children and grandchildren will truly live the consequences of the globe’s action or inaction, with which the globe must engage in collaborative efforts to ensure that their voices are heard and represented in the response to climate action and other issues that directly affects them.

Concluding her remarks, the Maldivian first lady extended her warmest wishes in commemoration of the agency’s 75th anniversary.