Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed has today met with Ms Kathy Klugman, the High Commissioner of Australia to the Maldives.

During the meeting, Vice President spoke on the challenges that the government is facing in the area of drug rehabilitation. Speaking in this regard, Dr Waheed highlighted on the importance of well trained staff in rehabilitation centres.

He further briefed Ms Klugman on the government’s efforts to build safer prisons.

Speaking on the number of challenges faced by today’s youth Dr Waheed highlighted that one of the major difficulty faced is the lack of job opportunities in the Maldives.

Ms Klugman spoke on the different work being carried out by the Australian government in the Maldives and highlighted on training programs that are on going in different atolls using volunteers.

She also spoke on different Australian scholarships offered for Maldivian students and the importance of focusing these scholarships to train in the area of drug rehabilitation.

Vice President and the High Commissioner also discussed strengthening the role of civil society in the Maldives.