President Mohamed Nasheed has today inaugurated the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre in Vilimalé.
Speaking at the opening ceremony held at Vilimalé Women’s Shelter Building this morning, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed noted that preventing narcotics and drug trafficking was one of the 5 key pledges of the government, and said the government has made significant progress towards this goal.
Further, the Vice President underlined the attention given by the current administration to strengthen and expand rehabilitation services in the country, noting the establishment of the Detox Centres in Vilimalé and Addu City.
However, stating that these centers treat only male patients, he underscored the need for a specialized drug treatment centre for women.
Continuing on, he expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Health and Family, and the Department of Drug Prevention and Rehabilitation Services for their efforts in establishing such a facility especially for women.
The Women’s Rehabilitation Centre established with the funding from the European Union in association with UNODC is located at the Vilimalé Women’s Shelter.
Focusing on the drug preventive measures being taken by the government, Vice President Dr Waheed noted the programmes to enhance the investigative capacity of DDPRS officials and the security measures being implement at all the ports.
In his remarks, the Vice President also elaborated on the government’s efforts to provide job opportunities for rehabilitated youth and called for support from all state and private sector companies in providing stable employment for recovered youth.
In addition, he also referred to the Cabinet decision earlier this month to introduce more lenient standards for pre-employment criminal record checks to provide more job opportunities for recovered youth, and youth with minor criminal records.
