16 state wards travel to Sh. Funadhoo under safe haven initiative

16 children travelled from Villimale' Kudakudhinge Hiyaa and Fiyavathi children's shelter in Hulhumale' to the newly-established safe haven in Funadhoo island of Shaviyani atoll as part of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services project to help state wards better engage in social integration and experience life in a community-oriented environment.

Dr. Musthafa Luthfee, Special Advisor on Social Policy at the President's Office and State Minister of Gender, Family and Social Services Aishath Rasheed accompanied the children to Funadhoo on a Trans Maldivian Airways seaplane.

17 children travelled to the first such safe haven established by the Gender Ministry in B. Eydhafushi on 24 December 2020. The Gender Ministry highlighted that Trans Maldivian Airways and SunFront LIVIN had been providing much valuable support to the Ministry under their respective Corporate Social Responsibility programs in kick-starting their safe haven project.

As of now, there are 50 children living in Kudakundhinge Hiyaa and 150 children in Fiyavathi, segregated and cared for separately based on age. Due to this, some children who come from the same family are sometimes forced to live apart from each other in separate facilities.

Gender ministry says that children who travel to safe havens such as this one will be given the opportunity to live with their siblings together with the families on the island. The ministry plans to carefully monitor the number and status of children they transfer to safe havens to identify and ensure that they get the special attention they need to develop into functional members of society.

Aside from Funadhoo and Eydhafushi, three other safe havens are being established in different parts of the country.