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Maldives Urges for Reorientation of the International Fight Against Illicit Narcotics |
8 October 2009, New York:- The Maldives has today urged the United Nations to refocus its fight against illicit narcotics from security protection to enhanced public health. The Maldives made the statement today at the Social, Human rights and Cultural Committee of the General Assembly of the UN. Speaking on behalf of the Maldives, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ms. Iruthisham Adam stated, “controlling drugs is not only a security issue. It is an issue that affects families as well as societies as a whole. Hence, a clear and distinct reorientation of the global fight is necessary”. The reorientation, explained Ms Adam, does not necessarily undermine the importance of a consolidated legal framework against drug traffickers but would emphasize the significance of the treatment of drug victims as equally important. Ms. Adam further suggested that increasing awareness among youth on the dangers of drug addiction and a stronger commitment by States to rehabilitate drug abuse victims could enable bringing about this shift. Thus, the Maldives expressed support to the call made by Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Direction of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to avoid criminalization of drug victims. The Maldives also took the opportunity to highlight the vulnerabilities of the country and stress on vital areas that require international assistance. “ With a tourism driven economy, the Maldives is well connected with the outside world through its international airports and seaports making it highly vulnerable to the trade. The situation is made worse with a population of three hundred thousand that is widely dispersed between the 196 inhabited islands; resulting in a high degree of internal migration in turn making the situation extremely difficult to monitor and manage ”, stated Ms. Adam. In this regard, the Maldives highlighted the serious capacity gaps between States, such as the Maldives, that eventually hinder the consolidated efforts at the international level. Ms. Adam reiterated capacity building as crucial that will pave the way for a well coordinated and balanced approach to fighting narcotics. ENDS |
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Maldives Joins Call for Urgent Adoption of the Draft Convention on Terrorism |
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 07 October 2009, New York; The Maldives has joined the call by many States to urgently adopt the draft comprehensive convention on terrorism. Speaking at the Committee for Legal Affairs of the General Assembly today, the Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations H E Ambassador Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed stated that “while we meet, year after year without results, we fail as a community to attribute criminal accountability to the perpetrators of these heinous crimes. The completion of the draft comprehensive convention on terrorism will provide an overarching instrument that would supplement the existing legal regime that addresses specific terrorist activities and bolster international coordination in the global fight against terrorism. Therefore, as responsible citizens of the international community, we cannot underscore the importance and urgency of finalizing the draft comprehensive convention on terrorism that will give a very necessary impetus to the international counter terrorism framework”. Speaking under Agenda Item, Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, the Ambassador highlighted the extreme vulnerability of small archipelagic states such as the Maldives to terrorism and noted that the heightened terrorist activities in South Asia have increased the Maldives’ concern for maritime security in the Indian Ocean. Highlighting the capacity gaps that exist between countries and the economic cost of fighting terrorism, the Ambassador underlined the importance of a concerted global fight designed to address the roots of the threat. In this regard, the Maldives’ participation in the international counter terrorism regime, its support for the UN Counter Terrorism Global Strategy and the country’s active role in enhancing regional cooperation in the suppression of terrorism was recalled by the Ambassador. Concluding his statement, Ambassador Ghafoor emphasized the common goal of the international community. “The fight against terrorism is a fight to defend the fundamental freedoms and individual liberties that have been carefully passed on to us by our forefathers. It is a fight to protect our collective security”, said the Ambassador. The Maldives also echoed the call by several states to respect international human rights law and international humanitarian law while countering terrorism. ENDS. |
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Maldives Stresses the Pivotal Role of the UN in Reforming the Global Economy |
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8 October 2009, New York: The Maldives has yesterday stressed on the important role that could be played by the United Nations in reforming the global economy. The statement was made by the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations H. E. Ambassador Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed while addressing the Economic and Financial Committee of the General Assembly. “The United Nations, as the most representative and universal international body, has an important role to play as we embark to address and remedy the flaws in the international economic and financial architecture that has contributed to the present crisis. It is, therefore, vital that the United Nations renew its efforts to conceive a global economy that addresses the issue of inequality and redresses the global imbalances in the financial and trade regimes”, said the Ambassador. Reiterating the fragility of the Maldivian economy to external shocks Ambassador Mohamed noted that the Maldives belonged to two of the three most vulnerable groups identified by the UN - the group of Least Developed Countries (LDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). As such, he continued that the effects of the financial and economic crisis had resulted in unimaginable consequences for the Maldives. The global recession had aggravated the country’s fiscal situation and would undoubtedly hinder the “hard-won economic and social progress; especially towards meeting the internationally-agreed development goals, including the MDGs”. The Ambassador noted the Maldives’ scheduled graduation from the list of LDCs by the end of 2010 and thus highlighted the need for “special and differentiated treatment and commitment from our partners in our efforts to ensure smooth transition from LDC status to a middle income developing country”. In this regard, Ambassador Mohamed briefed the Committee on the economic reform measures of the new Government, in consultation with the IMF and the World Bank that is aimed at reducing government expenditure. Continuing his statement, the Ambassador also drew attention to the dire effects of climate change on the environment and distinguished its daily effects on every day life in the Maldives. He further emphasized that the Maldives was doing its part by declaring its intention to become carbon-neutral by 2020. “We cannot stress the importance of the need to commit resources to help the poorest and most vulnerable countries adapt to climate change and to “seal the deal” in Copenhagen”, said the Ambassador. Reflecting on the fate of three hundred thousand Maldivians, should Copenhagen fail, the Ambassador added that, “a comprehensive and a well-crafted agreement in Copenhagen to address climate change and move to a greener economy is imperative to our future”. ENDS |
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World leaders must seize historic opportunity at Copenhagen – President Nasheed |
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 New York, 22 September 2009 President Mohamed Nasheed has called upon world leaders to seize the historic opportunity that sits at the end of the road to Copenhagen climate summit to be held in December.
Delivering his address to the UN climate summit, which is the largest high-level climate conference ever held, the President said the world leaders must “discard [the] habits that have led to twenty years of complacency and broken promises on climate change.”
President Nasheed expressed disdain over how, in the past, the issue of climate change was presented.
He said: “For the past twenty years we have stood here warning you of the threat of climate change.
“But we have not told you what the solution is, we have not clearly explained that it is in your interest – not just ours – to pursue that solution, and we have not been willing to prove that such a solution is achievable and mutually-beneficial by pursuing it ourselves - by leading by example.”
He said the solution to climate change lied in major three areas which include:
- The developed countries accepting ambitious and binding emission reduction targets consistent with an average temperature increase of below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels;
- The developing world being ready to jump, by accepting binding emission reduction targets under the principle of common but differentiated responsibility;
- The developed world providing new, additional and predictable adaptation financing.
He blamed the belief that tackling climate change would reduce growth and production as well as mistrust among world leaders and the focus on a negative list of actions as the major reasons for the lack of progress over climate change crisis.
On the perception that climate change is a killer of production and growth the President said, “[the countries] that embrace the Green New Deal will be the winners of the 21st Century.”
He said: “Oil is running out and will become increasingly expensive, while clean technologies and renewable energy are becoming ever more efficient and affordable.”
At the high-level climate summit of the AOSIS members, held yesterday in New York, President Nasheed called for a more “positive agenda” of investing in green technologies would be a better alternative to a list of what countries must not do in reaching an agreement over climate change.
Vice President Al Gore in a press conference held afterwards applauded President Nasheed’s speech.
President Nasheed was among the eight heads of state or government invited by the Secretary General of the United Nations to speak at the UN Summit on Climate Change.
Besides UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, President Barack Obama of the US, President. Hu Jintao of China, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama of Japan, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, President Óscar Arias Sánchez, of Costa Rica and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France addressed the Summit.  The Summit, which was held at the UN General Assembly hall, was attended by over a hundred world leaders.
After the Summit, President Nasheed joined world leaders at high-level roundtable session on climate change. He also participated at a lunch forum hosted by UN Secretary General with the purpose of building “positive political momentum towards the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December, by demonstrating explicit private sector support for bold climate action to Heads of State and Government”.
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Maldives to pursue major economic reform – President Nasheed |
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New York, 24 September 2009. In his maiden address today to the UN General Assembly, President Mohamed Nasheed pledged to undertake major economic reforms in the Maldives. He said that the scale of the economic challenge faced by the country was enormous and that it needed to be addressed directly and firmly. “The new government is determined to address the economic challenge with honesty and vigour; in consultation with the IMF and World Bank, we have embarked on a programme of major economic reform designed to reduce the bloated public sector, privatise public utilities and promote private enterprise and trade,” said the President in his address to the UN. The President said that a better economic environment would facilitate the strengthening of democracy in the Maldives and appealed for the help of the international community. “The scale of the problems we face means that we cannot succeed on our own; we therefore look to you, our friends in the international community, to help us get back onto our feet,” he added. President Nasheed that the dire economic situation faced by the Maldives was the result of the current global recession, bad fiscal policies of the former regime aimed at political patronage, high prices of oil and food, and the pressures of the efforts to recover from the tsunami of 2004. The Maldives is set to graduate from the UN’s list of least developed countries at the end of 2010, and the President cited the consequent loss of benefits granted to LDC countries as also compounding the short-term economic outlook of the country. |
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New Permanent Representative of Maldives presents Credentials |
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11th September 2009, Male’; The new Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, presented his credentials today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From January 2009 until his new appointment, Mr. Ghafoor served as Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seconded to the Office of the President. He was Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva from December 2007 to January 2009, and served concurrently as Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization from September 2008. A career Foreign Service officer, Mr. Ghafoor has held various positions in the Foreign Ministry, including Executive Director in 2007; Assistant Executive Director in 2005; Director General, Foreign Relations, between 1994 and 2000; Deputy Director, Foreign Relations, in 1989; and Programme Officer in 1983. His overseas service includes postings as Deputy High Commissioner in Malaysia (2006) and Sri Lanka (2005); Counsellor in Sri Lanka (2003); and Director (Maldives), at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal, (1997 to 2000). Mr. Ghafoor has a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in Massachusetts, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tasmania in Australia. END |
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Maldives at the United Nations |
| 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly | | Maldives at the United Nations
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| The sixty-third regular Session of the UNGA ended on 24 Dec 2008. Click here to learn about the activities of the Maldives at the session. Read more....
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| We have complied all the available policy statements made by the Maldives since it joined the UN in 1965 as well as information on our activities at the UN. Read more.... |
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The President appoints Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed as Permanent Representative to the United Nations |
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President Mohamed Nasheed has today appointed Mr Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed as the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations in the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Speaking after the presentation of the Letter of Appointment to Mr Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, the President expressed confidence that Mr Ghafoor would carry out the important duties of his mission in representing the government of Maldives in all organs of the United Nations.
As stipulated in Article 115(l) of the Constitution, the President made this appointment in consultation with People’s Majlis.
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