The Optional Protocol aims to further strengthen the rights protected under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The President's Office
The Cabinet has approved the Maldives’ accession to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The decision follows a paper submitted by the Ministry of Health, Family and Welfare at the Cabinet meeting on Sunday, 20 September 2026. As the matter requires parliamentary approval under Article 93(a) of the Constitution, President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has decided to submit it to the People's Majlis.
The Optional Protocol aims to further strengthen the rights protected under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was ratified by the Maldives on 5 April 2010, by establishing an international mechanism to hold State Parties accountable for its full implementation.
Although the Maldives ratified the parent Convention on 5 April 2010, it has not yet acceded to the Optional Protocol, an instrument open to voluntary accession. During various international human rights reviews, the Maldives has consistently received recommendations urging prompt ratification of the protocol.
The Optional Protocol establishes two key mechanisms to bolster the implementation of the Convention. The first is an individual communications procedure, which allows individuals or groups claiming a violation of their rights under the Convention to submit complaints to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, provided all available domestic legal remedies and procedures have been exhausted. The second is an inquiry procedure, which empowers the UN Committee to conduct confidential inquiries if it receives reliable information indicating that a State Party has committed grave or systematic violations of rights set out in the Convention.
