UN Maldives Strategic prioritization workshop -Opening Remarks by Ms. Mariyam Midhfa Naeem, Joint Secretary, MoFA

Our framework, in addition to national priorities, must capture the objectives of the 2030 agenda, along with ABAS.

Assalamu alaikum and good morning,

I wish to thank you for this opportunity to engage with you this morning during
your strategic prioritization workshop and Retreat.

I would like to take a moment to also extend apologies on behalf of Secretary
Ahmed Shiaan who could not make it at the last minute, due to pressing matters
relating to the global context.
And that is where I wish to begin my remarks today.

The global context if you may.

We live in a time of competing challenges.
1. The conflict - the kind of military conflict that we did not envision nor want in
the 21st century. But, has come to be more frequent than we would like.
Ukraine, Gaza, and now the Middle East. Tensions and along with it, military
buildup. All of this affecting global supply chains, and the countries that depend
on that supply chains' stability. What it also means is that countries spend less
on development, even lesser on international cooperation.
2. The climate - Year after year we are seeing worsening climate conditions.
Soaring temperatures. Unpredictable weather. Intense storms. But the needle on
emissions seem to not move or move entirely too slowly.
3. The culture - what is damaging, I think, more than actual conflict or climate is
the increasing hopelessness and faith. This wave of rising nationalism. The
disbelief in multilateralism. And we cannot blame people for feeling this way.
Multilateral institutions have been slow, or altogether incapable of stopping
crisis. People see them as bloated, inefficient, removed from reality, and serving
the interests of only those who work there. Public trust in institutions, in their
abilities to deliver change and sustain it, is eroding.

But we also live in an age of immense opportunity.

1. Digital advances are progressing at lightening speed.
2. And with that here in the Maldives and around the globe, we are seeing the
rise of youth engagement and awareness.
3. People are living longer and dare I say healthier with advances in modern
healthcare.

We are designing this Cooperation Framework at a time of many challenges. At a
turning point globally, but also nationally. Here in the Maldives, we are at a time
where our society, our economy, our way of life are evolving.

There are some realities that shape our planning and our future.
1. Structural limitations - The Maldives is a small island developing state.
Along with it comes associated challenges. Smallness, remoteness, small
population, dispersion, difficult to achieve economies of scale. This will not
change.
2. Social changes - balancing tradition with modernity. Creating space for
both views. Understanding a culture of democratic values.
3. Demographic changes - we are at the same time a young country and an
ageing country. This requires careful planning and foresight.
4. Climate Risks - We cannot escape the impact of climate change, whether
that is on the weather, the phjyscial structure of our islands, our the long
term viability of our economic activities.
5. Economic Diversification (or lack thereof) - Tourism has always been the
major anchor. How do we navigate into an economy that is diverse, that is
robust, and shock proof.

When captured in averages, the Maldives is a success story. But a closer look
shows uneven development, uneven access to quality of services. Inequalities
between Male and the islands are high. Within Male, we see the divide as well.
Inequalities persist within marginalized groups - migrants, women, the disabled.

The push and pull between development versus conservation, local productivity
versus migration, consolidation versus decentralization is an ongoing discussion
and policy consideration.

The President has initiated a process of drafting a 20 year National Development
Plan. Work is currently underway on finalizing the draft for adoption. The NDP at
its core contributes to serving several long term objectives, which have been
announced:

1. Achieve developed nation status by 2040.
2. Increase digital economy's contribution to 15% of GDP by 2030
3. Source 33% of renewable share in the electricity sector by 2028

Other than these, long term development vision is also intended to achieve
consensus on several other fronts:

1. National Identity, Values and Culture - what it means to be Maldivian

2. Resilient and inclusive economy - a population that is productive, forward
looking and with sustained economic growth, resilient to external shocks

3. People - designing systems aimed at well being, social service delivery

4. The Environment - safeguarding resources, and securing a sustainable
future.

As the drafting stage is still ongoing, priorities are not finalized. But they will
continue to be finetuned as we progress.

We have long viewed the United Nations as our trusted partner in our development
journey - whether that is economic transition with tourism and fisheries and
agriculture sectors. Or whether that's democratization and building of state
capacity. Or in safeguarding our people and our planet. Over the past 60 years, the
Maldives and UN partnership has achieved considerable success, which we can
collectively be proud of.

The UN itself is going through its own visioning exercise. Prioritising, improving,
and recalibrating. A time of change and uncertainty.
All of this to say, that is context for the Cooperation Framework - what it needs to
capture and address.

I wanted to leave you with three thoughts as you begin your deliberations today.
1. Don't let our development indicators be a curse - There is a tendency in
the UN and also elsewhere, to look at countries based on their numbers.
GDP per capita, HDI, maternal and infant mortality. Those statistics and
averages have their place and their purpose. But you, our Country Team,
familiar with the Maldives and its issues, know that those numbers don't tell
the whole story. We are country still grappling with development challenges.
Let that be a key consideration.
2. Ensure Alignment and Coherence - words we throw around ever so often.
But what does this mean in practise. It means, aligning your work with
national priorities. The UN's strategic advantage is that it supports a country
in achieving its development objectives - not set the objectives themselves.
It means, the UN team delivering as one. Not just here nationally. But also
together with regional and global offices. It's a massive task - having had
first hand experience with the UN intricacies and bureaucracies, I understand
the difficulties but it has to be done. This means, a Cooperation Framework,
that is echoed in country programmes of various agencies.
3. Let's be bold, innovative, and forward looking - we have an opportunity
to have a very forward looking, innovative, cooperation framework. One that
caters to the evolving challenges of the day, and the strategic advantages we
have right now. And one that brings together the best practices of the UNCT,
and its strategic advantages. Our framework, in addition to national
priorities, must capture the objectives of the 2030 agenda, along with
ABAS. Keeping in mind that the cooperation framework will last longer
than the 2030 agenda.

On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I wish you the best in your
discussions. And my team and I stand ready to support you, through this process and beyond.

Thank you.