Transcript Maldives - Intranet

Country Report on Income Generation and
Poverty Reduction for Development Course.
Aishath Abdulla
Republic of Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives is a nation of
coral islands scattered across
the Indian Ocean. The
Maldivian archipelago
consists of about 1190 small
low-lying coral islands of
which few of them are, just a
meter above sea level. These
islands stretch more than 800
km from North to South
covering a total area of about
300 sq km of which about
99% is water. 198 islands are
inhabited while more than 87
islands are developed as
resorts.
General Information
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Official language – Dhivehi
Presidential Republic
President – Mohamed Nasheed
Independence from the United Kingdom – 26 July 1965
Area – 300 sq km
Population – 298,842 ( 2006 Census ) now over 300,000.
GDP - $1.588 billion
Per capital - $4,602
National tree – Coconut palm
National flower – Pink rose
CLIMATE
The summer never ends in the Maldives.
Although it is warm throughout the year
there are slight variations in the
temperature during certain periods
determined by the monsoon, from
November to April is mostly dry with very
little wind, while the southwest monsoon
from May to October brings some rain
and the temperature varies very little.
National Flag / Symbol
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Red - symbolizes the blood of the national heroes
who sacrificed their lives for the independence of
the nation.
Green - denotes life, progress and prosperity.
White Crescent represents the Islamic faith of the
nation.
Capital city – Male’
HULHUMALE’
Main occupations
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TOURISM
The Maldives is largely a service-oriented
economy. Due to small population and the
absence of large land masses, the scope
for agricultural and industrial development
is limited. Tourism is the largest sector of
the economy, accounting for nearly onethird of the GDP and around 90% of
service exports.
Fishing
The fisheries sector is the countries second largest
industry. It is around 90% of our domestic export
earnings and continues to remain the key source of
income and livelihood for the people living in the outer
atoll.
Agriculture
The agriculture sector accounts for 2-3%
of GDP. the country is self-sufficient in
fish, but most of the other food items are
imported. The agriculture sector was also
affected by the tsunami waves, which
swamped the soil and destroyed a range
of food crops as well as the natural
vegetation.
What we don’t have
Mountains
Rivers
Lakes
Wild animals
Snakes
Crocodiles.. etc
Poverty in the Maldives
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Poverty in the Maldives context differs from that of many other
countries. In the Maldives, poverty alleviation primarily means the
reduction of regional disparities in living conditions, since poverty
problems in the country are primarily related to remoteness of the
islands and lack of services in the atolls. The concepts poverty
includes other socioeconomic aspects such as,
Access to electricity
Transport
Education
Health
Portable drinking water
Infrastructures
Quality of housings
Malnutrition
Incidence of food security
Government and non-government
interventions
Micro, small and medium-scale income-generating activities play a
vital role in improving and sustaining incomes for about 70% of
the Maldivian population. Since the early 1990s, there have been
3 major donor-funded initiatives undertaken by the government
for promoting income-generating activities in the atolls. All
have embraced poverty reduction as the overarching goal and
job creation as the central strategy for achieving it. These 3
specific Initiatives, the first two supported by the International
Fund for Agricultural Development and the third, by the UNDP
which has been extended to 2007 comprise the following
(i) The Atolls Credit and Development Banking Project,1990–1996.
(ii) The Southern Atolls Development Project, 1996–2002
(iii) The Atoll Development Project for Sustainable Livelihoods,
1996 to present.
Vulnerability and Poverty Assessment
study (VPA2)
The purpose of the second VPA which was conducted by the
government is to assess the progress in poverty reduction over the
period 1997-2004. The findings of VPA-2 show that considerable
progress has been made in this regard over the past seven years.
During this period average household income in Maldives as a whole,
increased at an average annual growth rate of over 6% per capita, with
7.7 per cent in Male’, and 4.6% in the atolls. Overall, both income and
non-income poverty has declined significantly throughout the country.
The Survey shows that the Maldives has made huge progress in
reducing both income and none-income poverty.
Millennium Development Goals
One of the eighth target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. The targets to achieve this
goal includes,
Target 1
Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of population whose
income is less than one dollar a day.
Target 2
Halve between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer
from hunger.
Governments approach
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Promotion of regionally balanced economic growth, where
benefits are spread more widely and equitably.
A number of atoll development projects have been
undertaken to reduce the level of poverty and continues at
regional and island level.
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Service centers in the atoll provide efficient means of
delivery of a wide range of services.
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Regional growth centers have been constructed to cater for
employment needs.
The UNDP poverty reduction program
regarding MDG.
Support to Integrated Farming. Main activities identified for
assistance include:
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agriculture training and awareness building.
agriculture processing.
introduction to poultry.
extension of auto-pot growing systems.
capacity building of the focal ministry.
Building partnerships with private sector.
Con..
-Gender and Economic Empowerment
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Support to women’s entrepreneurship initiatives.
Skills trainings.
Capacity building of women’s organizations.
Policy level support on gender and economic empowerment.
Affordable housing for all
Pearl Culture Demonstration Extension and Marketing
Project.
Integrated Framework for Trade Related Assistance Phase
two.
Local NGOs
NGOs play an increasingly important role in Maldivian society
in order to improve the community which the ngo belongs.
There are more then one nog in each island.
Some of the main activities are..
 workshops on income-generations activities in the islands.
Specially for the women to increase their own incomes.
 Assist adolescents in adjusting to society in a healthy way.
 A number of Youth concerned programs to help them in
building their careers and also to be a better citizen in the
society.
 Tackle most important social issues by making people more
aware of it.
 Assist in education specially building pre-schools.
 Introducing and developing agriculture.
Problems
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Smallness, remoteness and wide dispersal of island communities.
Over-reliance of tourism.
Extreme dependency on imported fuel and imported goods.
Disparity in income and access to infrastructure and services.
Vulnerability of low lying islands and fragility of reef ecosystem.
High levels of female youth unemployed.
Drug abuse.
Poorly developed financial market.
Eroding moral values and social norms.
Lack of health facilities among the atolls.
Continuing migration from the islands to the capital.
Students not getting a chance to get exposed to skilled labor.
Solutions
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outer island development through the provision of basic social and
economic infrastructure and credit to spur household income
generation and creation of economic and employment opportunities
to promote an equal distribution to the atolls.
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Human resource development, especially through improved
education and training to meet the skills demand of a modern
economy and a reduced reliance on foreign labor through improved
labor regulations, together with the creation of new employment
opportunities.
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Further development of fisheries sector
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Decentralized decision-making system and capacity building to meet
the development needs of outer island population and facilitate their
development planning and management
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Conclusion
Poverty in Maldives is multi dimensional and to tackle this
complex problem no single solution or strategy will be
enough. Economic growth alone will not eradicate poverty
in Maldives, nor isolated social sector development will be
enough to eradicate poverty. What is therefore needed in
Maldives is well-prioritized but balanced and
comprehensive approach addressing multi challenges of
growth and development.