UNFPA's role in the Maldives expanded dramatically in the early 1980s with the launching of national programmes on family planning and population. During this period, priority was given to develop national capacity in the area of expertise and institutional structure. To assist this process, a series of projects was implemented throughout the 1980s while expanding the involvement of relevant agencies and professions. In the first decades of UNFPA's engagement in the Maldives, the projects were formulated by the UNFPA Field Office in Sri Lanka and implemented under the supervision of UNDP Country Office in Male'. A separate field office for UNFPA Maldives was established in 1994 and the first UNFPA Country Programme introduced in the same year. Since 1994, four Country Programmes have been implemented in the Maldives. read more