<span style="color: #222222;">Maldives Parliament today introduced a motion to launch an inquiry into systemic gender discrimination on the occasion of International Women's day. Parliament's deputy speaker Eva Abdulla presented the motion seeking to identify policies, laws and systems that are detrimental to women. Noting that women constitute 49 per cent of the country's population, the motion stated that putting an end to gender discrimination and facilitating more opportunities for women contributes to the swifter development of the nation. It called for all necessary steps to ensure gender equality and launching a parliamentary inquiry to compile a report on systemic gender discrimination in the country and presenting the recommendations to parliament. The motion also noted recent efforts to empower women such as the new amendments to the decentralization act which allocated 33 percent of council seats for women.</span><br />