Unfinished business: the pursuit of rights and choices for all

The State of World Population (SWOP) report for the year 2019, launched on April 10, helps us refine our focus: our vision must be to build a future where all women and girls are empowered, free to make their own choices and have opportunities to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country. Where all children are wanted and families make informed choices on the number and spacing of children so that the rights and dignity of all are protected. Maldives along with 178 other countries promised to commit to this vision at ICPD. 

What has changed in the Maldives over the past twenty-five years? The answer lies in the life of Adeela, a young Maldivian woman whose story provides perspectives on the progress we’ve made and what further changes are required.

When Adeela was born twenty-five years ago it was commonplace for parents to worry about losing their infants at birth or to ill health. Fortunately, mother and child benefitted from the improving health services in the Maldives. Back then women on average gave birth to six children per woman. From every thousand births, three women died of complications and 31 infants died soon after birth. It was an improvement from when Adeela’s mother was a child – yet in 1994 panic and apprehension still hovered around pregnant women and infants. By the time Adeela’s younger siblings were born health institutions had been strengthened and care for pregnant women improved.