On the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day, HDC announced the recent amendment to the company’s leave policy, where female employees will be provided a fully paid Maternity Leave of 6 months, while male employees will receive a fully paid Paternity Leave of 1 month.

This was announced earlier this morning by HDC’s Managing Director Mr. Suhail Ahmed when he met with  female staff of the company to convey the wishes of the day to the staff.

This change in leave policy is in accordance with the initiation by HEP Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, under his 100 days’ pledge to improve the overall social status within the Maldivian community.

During the gathering, Mr. Suhail addressed the various challenges that female employees face within a working environment, followed by the assurance of HDC’s current efforts to address these issues. Moreover, he addressed the fundamental values of gender equality and empowerment of women as well as the role of women behind the development of Hulhumale City.

He further announced the initiation of the Gender Equality and Grievances Committee as well as the  Sexual Harassment Complaints Committee, to provide the employees of HDC a platform to safely speak their concerns regarding such matters.

Women are currently working under varying fields that contribute to the development of Hulhumalé. From fields such as city planning, project management, and construction, to financing, legal, and marketing, women are playing a major role to realize the master plan of Hulhumalé.

Hence, under the “Balance for Better” ideology, it is the aim of HDC to provide opportunities of women empowerment as well as gender equality through such initiations.