Strengthening Community Wellbeing and Social Inclusion in South Maldives
Strengthening psychosocial wellbeing, social inclusion and community resilience across the South Region of Maldives, supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.
About Project
Strengthening Wellbeing and Social Inclusion in South Maldives is an eight month Project delivered by MRC across Addu City, Fuvahmulah City and Gdh. Gadhdhoo, supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives through the High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka and Maldives. It aims to improve access to community based psychosocial support and to increase the participation of older persons, youth and migrant communities in community life.
As traditional spaces for social interaction give way to more urban patterns of living, older persons in particular can find themselves at a distance from the networks that once sustained them, and mental health concerns often go unspoken. The Project responds by building the capacity of volunteers to recognise and respond to psychosocial needs, by creating safe and familiar spaces where people can come together, and by encouraging communities to look after one another.
Project at a glance
2026 - 2027
An eight month project
3
Communities targeted across the project period
5055
Target engagement across the Project (beneficiaries & volunteers included)
What the project aims to deliver
The Project works through three connected areas of activity. Each strengthens the others, linking skills, care for older persons, and shared community space into a single approach to wellbeing.
Psychological First Aid and community awareness
MRC will deliver three island based Psychological First Aid trainings across Addu City, Fuvahmulah City and Gdh. Gadhdhoo, equipping volunteers and community members to recognise distress, offer immediate support and connect people to further help. Community awareness sessions follow the trainings, opening conversation about mental health in plain terms and reducing the stigma that keeps people from seeking support. The intervention also includes dedicated sessions targeted for migrant communities.
"Haalu Kihineh" - Healthy Ageing Programme
Building on MRC's existing Healthy Ageing Programme, the project will further support engagement with older persons across target communities offering companionship, psychosocial support and regular engagement with older persons in the community. The primary goal of the intervention is to carries forward the same conviction, that older persons should remain connected, valued and supported members of their communities.
Intergenerational dialogue Sessions
Intergenerational dialogue sessions across target communities aims to bring youth and older persons together through facilitated storytelling. The sessions are designed to rebuild the everyday contact between generations, sharing experiences, conversations on the changing environment linking generations on the patterns of living that have changed over time in communities and re-building the connections.
Stakeholder forum on Mental Health
On World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2026, a stakeholder forum in Addu City brings together community members, local councils, health services and community leadership for a shared conversation on mental health and psychosocial need in the South Region. The forum works towards stronger coordination between the institutions involved, better reach of the services already available, and a continuing space for collaboration.
Caring for shared spaces
Through coastal cleanup campaigns and the establishment of community wellbeing gardens in Gdh. Gadhdhoo and Addu City, the Project creates work that is open to anyone who wants to join it. Migrant communities living in these islands take part alongside their neighbours, and the shared effort becomes an entry point into community life for people who might otherwise stand apart from it.
Anchored in the South Region of Maldives
The Project is delivered by MRC's South Regional Office through MRC Units established in Addu City, Fuvahmulah City and Gdh. Gadhdhoo, where established volunteer networks and long standing community relationships provide the foundation for the work. MRC aims to carry out regular engagement with Addu City Council, Fuvahmulah City Council and Gadhdhoo Island Council, Women's development committees health services and other stakeholders in the region alongside community members for the delivery of project interventions.
About the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives
The Canada Fund for Local Initiatives is a programme of Global Affairs Canada that funds small scale, high impact projects in more than 120 countries eligible for official development assistance. It supports organisations working on the challenges that matter most in their own communities, with projects conceived and designed predominantly by local partners and selected by the relevant Canadian embassy or high commission. Across Sri Lanka and the Maldives this year, the Fund is supporting work spanning inclusive governance, environment and climate action, peace and security, and economic growth, and is administered by the High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka and Maldives in Colombo.
