Maldives Edition
Human Rights Day leads today's complete edition for Maldives.
Daily Edition
Official observances, world days, local context, and everyday celebrations for people who need something worth reading, sharing, or talking about today.
A United Nations observance marking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the dignity owed to every person.
A day for the thing remembered at the door, bought before closing, delivered before supper, or rescued just in time.
Human Rights Day in the Maldives is a day of reflection on the country's complex human rights landscape. The Maldives transitioned from a 30-year dictatorship (President Gayoom, 1978-2008) to a multi-party democracy in 2008, and then experienced a contested presidential resignation in 2012, a democratic election in 2013, and a democratic crisis in 2018 when the Supreme Court ordered the release of political prisoners and the government declared a state of emergency. The day is observed by human rights organizations, civil society groups, and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, with events addressing freedom of expression, women's rights, migrant workers' rights, and LGBT rights (homosexuality is illegal in the Maldives, and the law is enforced). The day is a reminder that the Maldives, despite its paradise image, is a country with real and ongoing human rights challenges.
