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UN Special Rapporteur on right to health to visit Maldives
24 April 2026
GENEVA – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, will conduct a country visit to the Maldives from 26 April to 7 May 2026.
It will mark Mofokeng’s final official country visit in her capacity as Special Rapporteur.
During her visit, the Special Rapporteur will be looking at good practices and challenges in the realisation of the right to health, including healthcare accessibility, acceptability, affordability, and quality.
Mofokeng will meet with various actors, including government authorities, civil society and others in Malé, as well as Addu and Dhaalu atolls to assess the situation regarding the enjoyment of the right to physical and mental health in the country.
"I look forward to engaging with the authorities, civil society and other stakeholders during this important visit, which will be my last as the Special Rapporteur on the right to health," she said.
The visit will focus largely on access to health care and the underlying determinants of health from an intersectional perspective, placing specific attention on marginalised groups of the population.
The Special Rapporteur will also visit public health facilities and other institutions.
The expert will share her preliminary observations with the media at a press conference on 7 May 2026 at 13:00 (local time). Access will be strictly limited to journalists. The venue of the press conference will be communicated at a later date.
Her successor will present a comprehensive report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2027.
Tlaleng Mofokeng is the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups are independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organisation, including OHCHR and the UN. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.
Country-specific observations and recommendations by the UN human rights mechanisms, including the special procedures, the treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review, can be found on the Universal Human Rights Index https://uhri.ohchr.org/en/
UN Human Rights, country page – Maldives
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