Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On November 17th, His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Muizzu took office as President of the Maldives, with a vision of national development that is just, inclusive, and sustainable, for every Maldivian citizen.

This is the motivation behind our first pledge. We reiterate our commitment to strengthen our efforts in capacity building, to cultivate a culture of human rights in the Maldives.

Second, as a newly established Government, we pledge to continue our efforts to strengthen the domestic normative framework aligning with international obligations, improve our treaty reporting capabilities, and constructively engage with international human rights mechanisms.

Third, in our efforts to empower women, we pledge to encourage equal participation of women and girls in all aspects of political and public life. We also pledge to fortify efforts to improve the implementation of national child protection mechanisms, and enable access to inclusive education.

As a small island developing state, human rights of Maldivians are closely linked to climate change. As such, the final pledge of the Maldives is to enhance climate resilience in order to protect the Maldivian way of life, and our future.

I thank you for your attention.