islands. This election was administered by the Local Government Authority (LGA) and not by the Elections Commission. Both the community and the candidates participated in the election had very limited information about the functions, duties, roles and responsibilities of the WDC, as proper awareness raising programme was not conducted. HRCM was also informed that the coordination and administration of voting was poor including the inadequate knowledge with the voting officials and restrictions in giving the application forms. Although there were very limited numbers of applicants and in some islands there was no election due to insufficient number of candidates a fee of MRF 250 (USD 16) was charged for the application form. Unlike other elections, there were no allowance given to the voting officials and there were no security officials. In addition to these and other issues it is conclusive that the election held was discriminatory towards women, showing the low political will towards women’s political empowerment. 41. A report on Women's Empowerment in Political Processes in the Maldives in 2014 by International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), highlighted that, although the percentages of women contesting elected office were extremely low, anecdotal evidence suggests that women have played a major role in political party activities at the grassroots level, organizing and attending campaign rallies and conducting door‐to‐ door outreach in significant numbers. The report noted this did not translate into leadership roles within political parties, even in the women’s wings. The report also underlined that the interviewees conducted revealed that participating in campaigns was easier for women, as these activities were at a local level and did not require a full‐ time commitment. And on the other hand, if women want to assume a leadership role, they would be taken away from household and childcare duties –traditionally viewed as exclusively a woman’s role.19 Recommendation • Take measures to increase the number of women at decision making level Article 8: International Representation 42. During this reporting period, the government appointed a female as the Permanent Representative of the UN Office at Geneva. A former female Civil Court judge is represented in the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture Sub‐committee on Prevention of Torture and female Commissioner of HRCM is represented in Board of the Association for the Prevention of Torture. Page 14 of 35