Strengthening MRC's Migration Support Services
Standing alongside migrant communities across the Maldives, with dignity, care, and inclusion. In partnership with Italian Red Cross
About the Programme
Migrants make up a significant part of Maldivian society, around a quarter of the population according to the 2022 census, yet many face real barriers to healthcare, information, legal support, and social inclusion. This 12-month project, delivered by MRC in partnership with the Italian Red Cross, set out to continue and strengthen MRC's Migration Support Programme, building on a partnership the two National Societies have sustained since 2019. Guided by the Movement's Fundamental Principles and Global Strategy on Migration, MRC works to ensure that migrants can reach the services they need and are welcomed as part of the communities they live in.
Informed by the Migration and Displacement Needs Assessment MRC completed in 2022, the project focused on deepening access to services across three regions, strengthening MRC's own capacity to deliver migration support, raising awareness and social acceptance, and putting in place the policies and partnerships that allow this work to continue for the long term.
Project at Glance
12 Months
Project carried out from April 2026 till March 2027
3 Regions
Interventions planned in Kulhudhuffushi City, Greater Male' Area and Addu City
2650
Target Reach under the Project
Built on a Strong Partnership
Since 2019, MRC and the Italian Red Cross have worked together to support migrants in the Maldives. That partnership established a toll-free migrant support helpline, which during the COVID-19 pandemic helped more than 4,000 migrants register for and access vaccines, and produced the Migrant Practitioner Training package, the first of its kind in South Asia. Together they also delivered the 2022 Migration and Displacement Needs Assessment, whose findings were shared with national stakeholders to guide evidence-based action. This project carries that work forward.
Strengthening support for migrant communities
The project aims to work across four connected areas: direct support for migrants, capacity building within MRC, community engagement and awareness, and the partnerships that sustain this work over time.
Access to services
The project aims to facilitate migrant communities across three regions regular access to free basic healthcare and legal services, alongside activities that bring people together and strengthen social connection, helping migrants reach the support they need and take part in community life.
Building capacity
The project aims to build a pool of trained practitioners within MRC. Through a standardised Migrant Practitioner Training package equipping staff and volunteers across MRC's Units in the Northern, Central, and Southern regions, strengthening MRC's ability to deliver migration support services.
Awareness and social acceptance
Through awareness materials aimed at both migrants and the wider Maldivian community, the project aims to share information about services and migrants' rights, and work to promote understanding, acceptance, and social cohesion between communities.
Strengthening the foundations
Beyond frontline activity, the project aims to strengthen MRC's institutional foundations for migration work, developing a Migration Strategy and protection, gender, and inclusion guidance aligned with the IFRC's Migration Strategy, and deepening partnerships across the Movement and with local stakeholders.
Standing with migrant communities
Over the years, MRC's work with migrants has spanned a national support helpline, vaccine access during COVID-19, practitioner training, community engagement across the regions, and a Migration and Displacement Needs Assessment that maps the realities migrants face in the Maldives.
Read MRC's Migration and Displacement Needs Assessment 2024About Partner
About Italian Red Cross
Founded in 1864, the Italian Red Cross (Croce Rossa Italiana) is one of the oldest National Societies in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. As an auxiliary to Italy's public authorities and a largely volunteer-led organization, it works to protect health and life, promote social inclusion, prepare communities for emergencies, and support migrants, both at home and, through its international cooperation, across the world. In the Asia Pacific, it partners with National Societies to strengthen their humanitarian work, and in the Maldives it has worked alongside MRC since 2019
Learn more about Italian Red Cross