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Women earn half as much as men in the Maldives, finds WEF report

A report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked the Maldives 99th out of 134 countries for gender disparity, narrowly beating Azerbaijan.

The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap between men and women in four fundamental categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

Of the Maldives’ neighbours, Sri Lanka ranked 16th, Bangladesh 82nd, and India 112th.

Scandanavian countries Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden led the index, while Pakistan, Chad and Yemen were ranked last.

The Maldives ranking has changed little in three years, and scores fairly well for health and educational attainment in comparison with the region.

However data in the WEF’s report identifies a significant under-representation of women in business (to the point of negligible at a decision-making level) and politics, especially parliament and ministerial positions.

Moreover, men earn almost twice as much as women for the same level work, at a per capita income level, with an average annual wage of US$3,597 compared to US$6,714 for men.

Labour force participation for women is at 59 percent, compared to 79 percent for men.

The mean age of marriage for women in the Maldives is 23, the report found. It also noted that contraceptive prevalence among married women was 39 percent.

“The Global Gender Gap Report demonstrates that closing the gender gap provides a basis for a prosperous and competitive society,” observed the WEF report’s authors, Laura Tyson, and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management at the Haas School of Business, University of California.

“Regardless of level of income, countries can choose to integrate gender equality and other social inclusion goals into their growth agenda – and have the potential to grow faster – or they can run the risk of undermining their competitive potential by not capitalising fully on one-half of their human resources,” the authours noted.

“The economic incentive for closing the gender gap in health, education, economic opportunity and political power is clear.”

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19 year-old alleges torture in police custody

A 19 year-old has alleged that he was arbitrarily arrested near his home on Monday night and tortured in police custody.

Ali Shuaib, 19, showed Minivan News bruises and swelling on his leg, hand and nose.

“Police arrested me while I was waiting near my house to have a chat with my friend,’’ he explained. “While waiting there, before the police squad arrived, we saw a group of people fleeing; we did not knew what was going on and we did not pay much attention.’’

Shuaib claimed a squad of police officers arrived after a short while and told him not to move.

“Unaware of the situation, I stayed calm, they came and checked me, told me I was clear and had nothing with me,’’ he said. “But they said their superiors had ordered them to detain me for 23 hours and they handcuffed me and took me to Galolhu Police Station first.’’

At the Galolhu Police Station, he continued, police officers filled his detention form and transferred him to the ‘Atholhuvehi’ custodial in Male’.

‘’While I was there, a police lance corporal came and asked ‘what the hell I was doing there’. His voice was aggressive and he spoke rudely,’’ he claimed. “I told him it was none of his business because police custodial is not his property.’’

After some verbal sparring, Shuaib claimed that the police officer hit him in the face.

“I hit back and fought in my defence,” he said. “A while later the whole duty shift came and attacked me, they hit me in the chest and back with their ankles, hit my foot with a tin trash can.

“Then when I was almost unconscious they put me in solitary confinement, handcuffed in a cross position with both hands and feet locked together. They even stepped on my back and pressed hard while I was kept in that position.”

The next duty shift came in after about two hours, he continued, and removed the handcuffs and transferred Shuaib to another cell after offering him water and medication.

“When I was released from the handcuffs I could hardly breathe; the next duty shift came and gave me water and poured water on my head and kept me on a chair till I felt better,’’ he said.

Shuaib was released without being presented to court.

“It is very common now, police arrest any person they wish and keep them in custody for 23 hours,” he claimed.

According to the Constitution of the Maldives, any person detained should be presented to court within 24 hours of arrest.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told Minivan News today that if such a case was filed with the police, “police will investigate the case applying professional standards and take necessary action.’’

Shiyam said if Shuaib was not confident with the police he could file the case with the Police Integrity Commission. No case had been lodged, he said.

Shuaib was recently arrested on suspicion of crimes including murder, robbery and assault, but was released without charge.

Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair said that custodial torture is “strictly prohibited” by the president.

“It is not something that should happen, and there are many ways [Shuaib] could pursue the case,” Zuhair said. “He could file the case at the Human Rights Commission, and Police Integrity Commission, and the case would be investigated.’’

On July 15, police and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested almost 60 people, including minors, in a joint special operation to curb escalating gang violence in the capital.

Many of those who were arrested  in the special operation alleged that they were mistreated and abused during their arrest and detention.

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Three police officers injured in drug bust

Three police officers were injured in an special operation conducted last night to arrest an alleged drug dealer.

“Police went to Henveiru Kahafathi with a court warrant after receiving information that suspected narcotics were hidden inside the house,’’ said Sub-Inspector Mohamed Dawood. “A person named Mohamed Ahmed attempted to obstruct the duty of the police and attacked three police officers using two knives.”

The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Department (DED) said that police discovered 18 bullet-sized packets of suspected heroin worth of Rf65,000 (US$5,058) hidden inside the bathroom of the house.

‘’I presume he attacked the police to protect his illegal drugs,’’ he added.

The suspect trafficker is now in police custody.

‘’In another operation conducted this week, police seized eight cases of vodka inside a dhoni (traditional boat) docked at Male’,” he said. “Police checked the dhoni in the presence of an expat working in the Dhoni and he is now under arrest.’’

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Filladhoo islanders horrified after youths record nude footage in bathrooms

The Maldives Police Service have arrested three youths on Filladhoo in Haa Alif Atoll after they allegedly recorded and released explicit footage of islanders bathing with spy cameras.

Haveeru reported islanders as telling police that the suspects had deliberately targeted adolescent girls at the local school, with one of the videos reportedly showing a 17 year old girl having a shower.

“The school students are really scared. No one is sure whether there is not a nude video of him or her,” an islander told Haveeru. “This is not something people should do. Some are not even going out of their homes because they are ashamed.”

The bathrooms of many local houses on islands are traditionally unroofed, however the incident has reportedly led to a number of islanders trying to roof their bathrooms.

The three youths were arrested after nude videos of girls from the island were found on a hard disk.

One Filladhoo resident told Haveeru that “we are lucky that we do not have a girl in our house.”

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Mass absenteeism at foreign employment section provokes lockdown

Staff at the foreign employment section of the Ministry of Human Resources, which handles visa applications for migrant workers, have gone on strike.

Human Resources Minister Hassan Latheef told Minivan News today that he has not been able to identify a specific reason for the strike, which has “jammed” the service.

‘’Only this morning we learned that they were not coming out for work,” he explained. “Every day many people come for the services from the department and we had to transfer the staff of other departments to that section. People gathered near the gate of the ministry and were furious as they had to wait long.’’

He added that irate members of the public had locked the gate from the outside while all the staff were in the building.

“We reported to the police and they arrived and broke the lock,’’ Latheef said. ‘’And the department commenced providing services again.’’

The ministry is now trying to ascertain why the employees have gone on strike.

“I do not think that it is a coincidence that all the staff were absent on one day and none of them is responding to calls,’’ said Latheef.

Permanent Secretary for the Human Resources Ministry Mahid Shareef also said the reason for the mass absenteeism was yet to be clarified.

“They usually complain about the lack of staff there, but we do not know whether that is the reason they did not come for work today,’’ he said.

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Addu Atoll to become ‘city island’

Addu Atoll is to be considered a single administrative island to be developed as a city, following the outcome of the public referendum on Saturday, President Mohamed Nasheed announced yesterday.

Speaking to press at the President’s Office, Nasheed said that after official discussions with the main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), the parties agreed to jointly propose amendments to the Decentralisation Act, based on the results of the referendum, and list administrative constituencies by October 17.

“When the islands are announced, there will be a major change to the largest atoll in the south, Addu Atoll” he said. “In my view, the results of the referendum showed very clearly that citizens of the atoll want to develop as a city. So we will designate Addu Atoll as one city island. Addu Atoll is an island with the districts Hithadhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo, Maradhoo, Hulhudhoo and Meedhoo.”

Instead of an atoll office, he continued, the southernmost atoll will have a municipality run by an elected municipal council.

With over 30,000 inhabitants, Addu Atoll is the second largest population centre in the country. However, as much as 60 percent of some islands currently reside in the capital Male’.

President Nasheed denied that the results and the low turnout was a failure of the government, as small islands rejected the government proposal for administrative consolidation with larger islands.

“In a democracy, if an election is seen as useless, there’s nothing I have to say about that,” he said.

Moreover, Nasheed argued that establishing a nationwide transport network was the government’s policy on population consolidation, as outlined in the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) manifesto, as opposed to “taking a population and settling them in another island.”

While the referendum revealed that small islands did not want to “lose their identity”, Nasheed said that a secret ballot was needed to determine the views of the electorate as he routinely received petitions from islanders requesting relocation.

According to official results, of 26,676 people who participated in the referendum, 8,402 voted in favour of the proposal while 16,695 voted against it.

However, of the six islands in Addu Atoll where voting took place, citizens of Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Maradhoo-Feydhoo and Hulhudhoo endorsed the proposal, while islanders of Feydhoo and Meedhoo rejected it.

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President appoints ACC member and HRCM president

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed Hassan Luthfee as a member of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), and Mariyam Azra as the President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).

President Nasheed said he was “very pleased to appoint a female president to HRCM” and expressed confidence that Azra would “diligently work to protect and defend human rights in the Maldives.”

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Island Aviation to transfer three departments to GMR

Island Aviation Services (IAS) will lose its profitable cargo services, ground services and Maldivian ground operations to Indian infrastructure giant GMR when it takes over the operations at Male’ international airport, reports Haveeru.

IAS Managing Director ‘Bandu’ Ibrahim Saleem told Haveeru that the company recorded a Rf67 million profit from the three departments in 2009 (Rf56 million in 2008).

GMR is to transfer 248 employees to the same posts and salaries under a two year contract commencing in late November, IAS Admin Manager Ali Nashaath told Haveeru.

“We got the assurance on last Monday. We have already started the transferring process,” she said. “We transferred those departments as we did not have any other choice,” adding that ministers had sought to extend the arrangement to 2012.

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Games could mean serious business for the Maldives, says MESA

A team of young Maldivans from the Maldives E-Sport Association (MESA) returned home last week fresh from competing at the Sri Lankan Cyber Games (SLCG), facing off against the tournament winners in their first exhibition match outside the country.

‘E-Sports’ – competitive multi-player computer gaming – are extremely popular in the Maldives. MESA holds its own gaming festival every year (the next is at the end of November) and attracts sponsorship from companies such as Dhiraagu, Point IT, Coca-Cola and Raajje Online, rivaling a major sporting event.

The Maldivian side is getting noticed on the international pro-gaming circuit too, explains MESA’s President Ismail ‘Levitan’ Azmee, for despite their relative lack of experience, the team drew their exhibition match with the Sri Lankan champions at the SLCG.

The game was ‘Call of Duty 4’, a first person shooter (FPS) in which two teams of players must coordinate to achieve a set objective, such as capturing a flag, or more usually, exterminating the opposition with virtual gunfire. A player is reincarnated at the beginning of each round.

Matches at the SCLG were a race to 13 win, Azmee explains.

“The first match we lost 9-13. But in the next match we got to chose our [preferred] map, and we won 13-11,” he says. “If you know the map, you have an advantage over your opponent because you know how to flank them.”

The Sri Lankan teams were very experienced having played together for three years, while the Maldivian side: Ali Ayham, Mohamed Maaiyz Nasheed, Mohamed Samhan, Mohamed Bassam, Ikram Easa, Mohamed Jinad, Mohamed Iyash and Ali Farooq had only eight months.

Teams play opposite each other at a bank of computers, communicating using in-game commands to avoid tipping off the opposition.

Sportsmanship was tested during the match, when, outnumbered by jeering spectators, one of the Maldivian side was ‘knifed’ in-game by a Sri Lankan player.

With all the high-powered weaponry in the game, the close-combat killing of an unobservant player is considered the ultimate humiliation.

“But we kept our cool, and knifed him back twice,” says Ali Ayham, one of MESA’s exhibition players. “They became quite agitated after that.”

Other games played included racing simulation Need for Speed.

“The Maldives is strongest in Counterstrike and Call of Duty, but we also have possibly one of the best Guitar Hero players in the region,” says Azmee. “He doesn’t miss a button.”

Far from the inconsequential past-time of idle and dissolute youth, MESA is one of the Maldives’ largest, youngest and most active associations. Were its 10,000 to 12,000 members to form a political party, it would come close to being the third largest in the Maldives, after the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP).

Accordingly, MESA wants nothing more than to trigger a surge in high-tech investment to the Maldives.

“Maldivian industry is limited to tourism and fishing,” Azmee says, “and we want to introduce electronics in the near future. The country has a high youth population, and one of the biggest forms of entertainment in the country is electronic. Most gamers are not out to compete at a professional level, they just play for fun, but for those that want to take it to the next level, MESA is trying to make that happen.”

Gaming, he says, “is not just entertainment – it’s an industry. Game testers are paid more than doctors in the Maldives – you have to be an extreme gamer and really know your gaming history. It’s a demanding job.”

MESA has already built connections with companies in South Korea, where computer gaming is the de facto national sport. “They have committed to supporting us to develop the electronics industry in the country,” Azmee notes, adding that the association has letters from the government supporting the creation of an “electronics village”, in a location such as like Hulhumale.

“We particularly want to attract game developers,” Azmee explains. “There are already a few mobile game developers here who have submitted proposals to [famous developers] Electronic Arts and Square Enix, but there are currently few opportunities for professional developers in the country because of a lack of support for the industry.

“There are a lot of people here with the required degrees, but no opportunity to develop what they have been trained to do. They have to accept jobs with low wages doing things they are not trained for. We have asked companies to come and develop here – we’ve already talked with them, we have all the documents and support from the government, even from the President himself.”

Internet access speeds in the Maldives are not up to the level of competitive gaming however, Azmee says, which has forced MESA to decline some offers to compete online.

“We don’t have the net connection here to play online competitively, although we have really good PCs. We are working with both the telecoms companies to try and get better pings (speeds).”

However corporate support for sponsoring gaming within the Maldives is already strong, Azmee says.

“At the SLCG in Sri Lanka we observed that while they had 200 teams, they had far less support than we have in the Maldives – they’ve asked for our assistance to get it. We are shortly going to start the first ever South Asia E-Sport Association here in the Maldives, and in the near future we’ll be signing MoUs with Pakistan, Singapore, India and Vietnam.”

Locally, MESA runs a gaming centre in Male’ on the main road of Majeedhee Magu, decorated with painted characters from the popular FPS Counterstrike. Many more players from the islands play online, and the association’s local servers attract many German, Brazilian, Korean and Singaporean players as well.

Prior to MESA’s arrival the centre had a reputation for being somewhere where local drug addicts would come to buy drugs, shoot up and hang out, says Azmee, and some still drift to the centre.

Astoundingly, MESA has had significant success in rehabilitating addicts by getting them involved in gaming. Users become so absorbed in the expansive, online multi-player game worlds such as World of Warcraft (WoW) that they “forget” one addiction, trading it for another far less harmful.

“It works, and the government has acknowledged it,” Azmee says. “They tried with the youth centres to get them playing sports but it did not work. A lot of the addicts in Male’ are just people with nothing else to do, and for them gaming can truly be a life-changing thing.”

Far from a solitary pursuit, so-called ‘massively multi-player’ games such as WoW require groups of players from around the world to cooperate and work together to achieve common goals within the game, such as slaying difficult adversaries. The action-reward nature of such games and the social interaction has proven so addictive for many players that WoW is sometimes disparagingly referred to as ‘World of WarCrack’.

But its dealer, Blizzard Entertainment, has out-performed any drug mafia. WoW boasts more than 11 million paying players, and revenues in excess of US$1 billion per year.

For MESA’s competitive wing, games are serious business. Top players must practice up to eight hours a day “if we want to be the best at what we do, just to stay ahead of the competition,” Azmee explains.

It’s not all in-game practice either – the teams watch and analyse replays, and study the performance and tactics of world-ranked teams such Dignitas.

But despite the in-game challenges, the greatest obstacle comes in the form of convincing their skeptical parents that time spent gaming can lead to a viable career.

“A lot of parents are concerned, and say we are wasting our time and that playing games changes you sociologically. We’ve consulted several universities on this and found studies that show that gaming engages the mind, reflexes and problem solving abilities,” Azmee says.

“I try to explain to parents and educate them that games are not bad if played in the right way – and obviously you should not let a young child play a game like Grand Theft Auto. We are planning to introduce a ratings system to help parents learn more about the games their children are playing.”

While convincing the parents is a series of battles, MESA’s elite players appear to be winning the war.

“At first they gave us a lot of trouble by saying it was better for us to focus on studying and that there was no future in gaming,’ Azmee says. “But that changed when they saw all the medals at the last Maldives gaming festival. Now they are really helpful.”

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