The president has sent a request seeking parliament approval for the newly appointed Gender Minister Aishath Ahmed Didi.
As per the constitution of the Maldives, upon the appointment of a cabinet minister the president has to obtain parliament’s approval for the minister.
The Speaker of the parliament Mohamed Nasheed announced during Tuesday's parliament sitting that the matter has been forwarded to the Parliament's Government Oversight Committee for assessment before granting the approval to Minister Aisha.
Aishath Mohamed Didi was appointed as Gender Minister when the previous minister Shidhatha Shareef resigned over the heavy criticism targeted at her by the public and some government authorities due to the sexual abuse cases that surfaced recently.
Shidhatha's resignation came amid pressure from main ruling party, Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) to hand in her resignation. The supermajority holding party had threatened to seek a no confidence motion against the minister if she did not resign on her own accord.
Prior to this appointment, Aishath Mohamed Didi was serving as the Ambassador (High Commissioner) appointed to India from the Maldives. She has also previously served as Minister of Gender and Family between 2005 and 2008 and has served civil and public affairs for a long period of time. Her experience includes freelance consultancy for Education and Child/Women’s Rights, Chairperson of Gender Equality Council, Chairperson of Children’s Home Governing Board, Chairperson of the Council for the Rights of the Child, Member of UN Task Force on Youth and Adolescents and Member of UN Task Force on Gender.
Aishath Mohamed Didi completed Master of Arts from the Institute of Education, University of London. She also completed a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Teaching from the American University of Beirut.
