Maldives Seeks Parliamentary Approval to Join UN Disability Rights Protocol

The Maldives Cabinet has approved the country’s accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, marking a significant step toward strengthening the legal protections for citizens with disabilities. President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has forwarded the proposal to the Majlis (Maldivian Parliament) for final approval. The decision follows a policy paper submitted by the Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare during the Cabinet meeting held on Sunday, September 20, 2026. Under Article 93(a) of the Constitution, the country's accession to such international protocols requires parliamentary ratification. While the Maldives ratified the main Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on April 5, 2010, it has not yet joined the Optional Protocol. This move comes in response to recommendations from international human rights reviews, which have urged the government to adopt these additional accountability measures. The Optional Protocol introduces two critical mechanisms to ensure the Convention's principles are upheld. First, it allows individuals or groups to submit formal complaints to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if they believe their rights have been violated and all domestic legal options have been exhausted. Secondly, the protocol empowers the UN Committee to launch confidential inquiries if it receives reliable evidence that a state party has committed serious or systematic violations of the rights protected under the convention. If approved by Parliament, the accession will provide Maldivian citizens with an essential international safety net. It will grant them direct access to UN-level reviews, ensuring that disability rights are not only recognized in law but enforced through global standards of accountability and justice.