amended Civil Service Regulation to exclude all holidays from maternity leave in May 2013 which was a positive step. The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA)(Central Bank) has recently set in procedures to allow for six‐month maternity leave with full pay. 57 33. According to article 45 of Employment Act (2/2008) a mother is entitled to two daily breaks of thirty minutes each to attend to the needs of the child till child is one year. However this provision does not facilitate mothers wishing to continue to breastfeed their child till age of 2 years. 34. Leave specified for paternity and circumcision remain insufficient and this was an issue highlighted by atoll monitoring visits undertaken by the HRCM. Presently article 8 of Employment Act permits male employees three days of paid leave on the occasion of the birth of a child and Article 49 entitles five days of paid leave on the occasion of the circumcision of a child (inclusive of weekends for civil service). 35. One of the pledges of current government’s manifesto includes allowing women to work from home. Providentially in 2014, the CSC amended its regulation to allow flexi hour benefit, and to date only Ministry of Health and Ministry of Finance have standardized a procedure for flexi hour application while seven other ministries are working on drafting the procedure.58 However there is a need to explore the reasons why this amendment is so popular among women in civil service. 36. There are no state supported child care facilities in the country; although in recent years a number of private child care facilities were founded.59 State has undertaken some initiatives to facilitate the establishment of such facilities, but regrettably it was not carried out due to various reasons including budgetary constraints. At present, Ministry of Law and Gender (MoLG) is in the process of finalizing a regulation on Day Care Centers.60 37. Family Act (4/2000) allows marriage of minors when the person has attained puberty and the registrar of marriages has the discretion to approve the solemnization of such marriage after considering factors such as physical wellbeing, competence to earn an income and reasons for contracting marriage. Moreover, offences specified in Special Provisions Act to Deal with Child Sex Abuse Offenders (12/2009) do not apply to an adult legally married to a child. There is a 60 percent decline in underage marriage from 2008 to 2013 for both male and females.61 Additionally Family Court confirms that all such minors had been seventeen years of age and were calculated to be eighteen according to the Muslim (lunar) calendar.62 38. There were reports of unregistered marriages by religious scholars claiming that registering marriages with the courts is un‐Islamic and unnecessary.63&64 Marriages performed outside court’s involvement is considered in contravention of the Family Act and penalty for violation of Family Act is subjected to a fine not exceeding MVR 1000.00 or exile or house arrest for a period not extending 3 months.65 State institutions acknowledge this information and raised concerns that children born to such marriages could face serious legal issues and difficulties in accessing their fundamental rights and freedoms.66 Government has made efforts to collect data on unregistered marriages including child unregistered marriages in the country.67 39. Currently couples getting married are required to complete course on marital responsibilities, presently this is facilitated only in the capital. The committee may wish to ask the government 1. Measures taken to reduce the divorce rate and understand the reasons for the increase in divorce rate Page 10 of 39