2025-06-08-亚开行-马尔代夫选定部门的性别平等和社会包容诊断（英）_66页_1mb

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Diagnostic Summary of Maldives

Executive Summary and Overview

The diagnostic report assesses gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in Maldives' tourism, energy, and urban development sectors. Despite strong legislation, challenges include sociocultural barriers, low labor participation for women and disadvantaged groups, limited STEM education opportunities, and institutional gaps. Opportunities exist through integrated approaches in renewable energy, urban planning, and policy reforms. Recommendations focus on enhancing institutional capacity, promoting inclusive education, and strengthening social protection to accelerate GESI integration.

Country Context

• Legal framework: Progressive laws based on a rights-based approach, including many human rights and CEDAW reservations.
• Social barriers: Sociocultural gender roles limit women's economic participation, while protection norms for vulnerable groups hinder empowerment.
• Economic challenges: Heavy reliance on tourism (citing COVID-19 vulnerability) and climate change, with inequalities in access to STEM education and finance.

Tourism Sector Analysis

• Labor force: Predominantly male and male-dominated resorts; limited female employment due to remote work, lack of facilities, and gendered perceptions.
• Opportunities: Integrate GESI through skills recognition, job matching, and marketing opportunities, leveraging resorts' tourism impacts for disadvantaged groups.

Energy Sector Analysis

• Workforce: Highly male-dominated with low female participation; institutional barriers and limited STEM education hinder renewable energy adoption.
• Challenges: Gaps in local training, STEM recognition, and institutional attitudes limit sustainable energy livelihoods.

Urban Development Sector Analysis

• Urbanization trends: Malé dominates growth; limited social infrastructure like childcare outside the capital.
• GESI integration: Occasional initiatives (e.g., Hulhumalé livability index), but institutional and functional gaps exist in mapping disadvantaged groups and integrating social considerations into planning.

Overarching Challenges

• Societal perceptions: Gendered roles, traditional security values, religious conservatism impede equality.
• Institutional practices: Limited STEM education in higher education and outer islands, weak childcare mechanisms, and barriers to accessing SME finance.
• Climate change: Exacerbates vulnerabilities in tradable sectors and rural livelihoods, affecting GESI outcomes.

Opportunities and Lessons

• Evidence from ADB projects: Renewable energy in tourism and energy boosted GESI through renewable adoption and training.
• Cross-sector opportunities: Rights-based legislation, STEM education diffusion, and climate-resilient urban planning can be leveraged.

Priority Areas for ADB and Government Integration

1. Institutional Capacity and Data Systems: Strengthen GESI in national planning, digital platforms, and local governance.
2. Skills and Livelihoods: Promote STEM education and targeted training for women and disadvantaged groups in key sectors.
3. Finance and Credit: Develop policies to improve access to SME finance for women and PWD.
4. Social Protection: Establish childcare, digital registration for informal work, and enhanced monitoring at local levels.
5. Island Development: Empower women in tourism and energy, and adopt renewable technologies in community livelihoods.
6. Policy Dialogue: Engage policymakers on GESI-responsive planning, including the New Strategic Action Plan and National Development Plan.

Conclusions and Recommendations for ADB

• Enhance operational performance by supporting national-local coordination for timely GESI implementation.
• Increase in-country GESI expertise to guide projects and build institutional skills.

Overall Takeaway

GEIS integration in Maldives requires addressing sociocultural barriers, bolstering STEM education and institutional reforms, and leveraging climate resilience strategies. ADB should embed GESI transformative agendas in its financing mechanisms and surveillance systems.