Marginalized island communities in the Maldives face limited access to water because of inadequate government consultations, poor monitoring, and economic barriers, Human Rights Watch said today. The Maldives government should ensure that its efforts to adapt to the climate crisis protect the rights of those most affected, including by addressing systemic problems that have led to inequities in accessing water.
The Maldives government has sought to secure vital financing for climate adaptation measures, but the authorities have often failed to engage affected communities, particularly those living far from major urban islands, in key decision-making processes. As a result, the design, implementation, and maintenance of foreign-funded water projects has not protected the rights of remote and poorer communities experiencing water shortages.
"The Maldives government's lack of consultation with island communities has hindered essential water projects and is threatening the livelihoods of those most exposed to the effects of climate change," said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These deficiencies undermine the government's efforts to secure vital funds for climate adaptation measures that are essential for the country's survival."
The impacts of climate change, coupled with the Maldives' growing population, are straining the country's already limited freshwater supplies. Due to its low-lying geography, the Maldives is particularly exposed to sea-level rise, extreme weather events, saline intrusion, and increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns. These factors, as well as the country's lack of water infrastructure, have led to increasingly frequent water shortages across the country.
The right to water, recognized under several international human rights treaties, guarantees everyone, without discrimination, access to "sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use." The Maldives faces unique problems in realizing the right to water for its population as an expansive archipelago. The Maldives government has made a commitment to ensure access to safe water through relevant laws and strategic plans that generally align with the right to water and other international human rights obligations.
However, communities on the Maldives' outer islands, especially those far from the country's economic hubs, Malé and Addu City, face severe barriers to accessing safe, clean water. On the more remote islands, which include many low-income families and farmers, poverty rates are higher and water infrastructure such as piped water systems and desalination plants are in poor repair or nonexistent.
To respond to this situation, the Maldives government, with the support of the Green Climate Fund, the world's largest fund dedicated to climate, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in 2017 initiated a US$28.2 million project to address water shortages in the country's outer islands. The initiative aimed to provide 32,000 people on 49 islands access to reliable, safe water by introducing Integrated Water Resource Management systems, combining desalination, rainwater harvesting, and groundwater recharge to ensure better access to sustainable clean water.
In May and July 2024, Human Rights Watch conducted interviews and focus group discussions with 47 people from communities affected by water scarcity on two islands where the government undertook water projects with foreign funding, Kanditheem in Shaviyani Atoll and Nolhivaranfaru in Haa Dhaalu Atoll. On both islands, residents said the water projects were carried out hastily and remained only partially completed, years behind schedule. Community consultations were few and often excluded both local residents and at times island councils. Currently, some key elements of the projects, such as the water testing facilities, remain nonoperational, while others, such as securing piped water connections to 66 row houses in Nolhivaranfaru, were only recently completed, more than two years after the intended completion date.
After the projects were launched, residents raised concerns about water safety, affordability, and accessibility. On one island, council members said that up to 60 percent of the population still relied on bottled water for drinking due to concerns about water quality. Over two-thirds of those interviewed on Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru expressed concerns about the quality of available water on their islands, including water provided directly from the new systems.
System breakdowns and other operating problems were making the situation worse and were often left unaddressed for lengthy periods because of insufficient resources and maintenance and monitoring capabilities, Human Rights Watch found.
Human Rights Watch in 2023 reported on the Maldives government's failure to adhere to and enforce its environmental protection laws in the context of land reclamation projects, and the harm those projects have caused to the environment and local communities. Such infrastructure projects - often funded by international climate finance - have also lacked meaningful public consultation with affected communities and adherence to recommendations in impact assessments.
In seeking financial support for adaptation measures made necessary by the climate crisis, the Maldives government should consult with affected communities - before, during, and after a water project is proposed and implemented - to ensure water systems are properly designed and safely implemented, maintained, and monitored. Given the mounting challenges arising from climate change and sea-level rise, the government should ensure the projects provide sufficient, safe, affordable, and accessible water for present and future generations, in line with the human right to water.
The government should adopt measures, including appropriate pricing policies and income supplements for users, to ensure that water is affordable for all and that projects do not entrench or exacerbate existing inequalities in access to water. It should particularly take into account that artificial sources of water, such as desalinated water, are much costlier than the groundwater and rainwater islanders historically have relied on.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' draft general comment on the environmental dimension of sustainable development requires countries to protect rights from the harm caused by the climate crisis on the basis of equality, nondiscrimination, and the use of maximum available resources.
Climate-financing countries have an obligation to provide international assistance and cooperation in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities." This principle, incorporated in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, requires all countries to address climate change and environmental destruction, but recognizes that some are more responsible for the climate crisis and are economically better able to address it.
"The Maldives government has an obligation to provide all its people with safe water," Pearson said. "Countries providing climate finance should support and work with the government to ensure it happens."
Human Rights Watch spoke with farmers, plantation owners, members of civil society organizations, and other local residents directly affected by water projects on the Maldives' islands of Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru. They described their experiences with water quality, accessibility, and affordability, and the impact on their health and livelihoods. Human Rights Watch also interviewed members of island councils, including a council president and women's development committee members, and water plant operators responsible for implementing and maintaining the projects. In some cases, names and other identifying information have been withheld at the request of the individuals interviewed.
Maldives and Climate Change
The Republic of Maldives is a low-lying archipelago made up of 26 atolls and 1,192 islands, 187 of which are inhabited, and another 130 of which operate as resorts. Due to its dispersed geography, Maldives is one of the world's countries most exposed to the impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise, coastal erosion, drought, and extreme and unpredictable weather and rainfall patterns. The climate crisis is also a human rights crisis, placing at risk Maldivians' rights to life, water, health, an adequate standard of living, and a healthy environment, among others.
Water Shortages
A major human rights risk in the Maldives associated with the climate crisis is water shortage. Outer islands rely on two natural sources of water: rainwater collection and groundwater from freshwater aquifers. Resort islands and more populated islands, including the capital, Malé, also use artificial water sources, notably desalination plants. During the dry season, when outer islands run out of natural water supplies, the government has shipped emergency consignments of desalinated water to up to 80 islands, at significant financial and environmental cost.
Groundwater and rainwater on small islands are highly affected by climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, saline intrusion, extreme weather, and droughts, exacerbating chronic water scarcity and quality issues. The lengthy annual dry season, from December to April, means that rainwater collection tanks frequently run dry, particularly in outer islands that lack alternative sources.
Due to limited landmass, particularly of the smaller islands, low elevation, thin groundwater lens (a layer of freshwater floating above denser saltwater), and highly permeable sandy soil, groundwater supplies in the Maldives are highly susceptible to saline intrusion and contamination from human activity, notably from inadequate human waste disposal facilities.
Sea-level rise is a key driver of increased saline intrusion and groundwater depletion and is expected to accelerate in the coming years as climate change intensifies. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2022 assessment report projected that water quality degradation, which is increasing under climate change due to warming, enhanced floods, and sea-level rise, would drive water insecurity: a trend already evident in the Maldives.
This strain on the groundwater supply is compounded by increased extraction demands due to the Maldives' high population growth in recent years, which also affects the availability of rainwater from collection tanks.
Climate Finance
While Maldivian administrations have varied in their approach to the existential threat caused by climate change, internationally they have consistently pressed high-income countries to provide greater financial support for mitigation and adaptation measures. In multilateral forums, the Maldives has been a leading voice for urgent action, including putting forward a UN Human Rights Council resolution recognizing the immediate threat climate change poses to human rights. The resolution was adopted by consensus in March 2008.
In September 2024, at a High-Level Meeting on Sea Level Rise at the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said that the international community should double climate adaptation financing and "remove the tedious approval procedures, and conditions to access finance."
To address its water shortages, the Maldives has sought support for local-level water projects from donors including the United Nations Development Program and the Green Climate Fund. Over the years, the government has received grants and donations from ally nations, notably China and India. In 2024, China funded the construction of desalination plants on 5 islands and donated over 3,000 tons of bottled water to islands experiencing water shortages.
Kanditheem
In 2019, the Maldives government initiated a project on Kanditheem island to integrate rainwater harvesting and desalination and to install piped drinkable water to 270 households, later expanded to 289. The project was financed by the Maldives Green Fund, established in January 2019 under the Public Finance Act. The fund receives its funding from the Green Tax: a daily US$6 fee paid by tourists, the national budget, and contributions from the private sector and international organizations, among other sources. Five years after the project's intended completion date, many residents said they continued to rely on rainwater they collect themselves or bottled water for drinking, due to quality-related concerns with the piped water.
A member of the Kanditheem women's development committee said: "No one wants to drink straight out of the tap. Even those who use it for drinking install secondary filters, and not everyone can afford that."
Concerns about water quality are not unfounded. At the time of writing, the Kanditheem testing lab is still not operational, even though regular monitoring and testing of the water is a regulatory requirement and is included in the project tender documents. Instead, water samples are sent from Kanditheem to neighboring islands, including Sh. Milandhoo, for testing, the results of which are not publicly available to the community. The Kanditheem Council president, Ahmed Ahsan, said that this lack of transparency contributes to further erosion of public trust in the water project.
Cost represents another significant barrier to water access for residents in Kanditheem. As a result, a common practice on the island is water sharing; when families run out of rainwater, they often turn to neighbors with larger tanks to share drinking water. For nondrinking purposes, many residents who struggle to afford piped or bottled water still use groundwater. However, groundwater supplies are rapidly depleting and becoming increasingly saline due to sea-level rise, and contaminated due to sewage and wastewater from septic tanks being discharged directly into the ground.
Agricultural workers are particularly vulnerable to these shortages as they rely solely on groundwater for irrigation. Approximately 10 percent of households in Kanditheem depend on growing bananas for their livelihood, with plantation owners relying entirely on groundwater for irrigation, using electric pumps to draw groundwater from the lens. A banana plantation owner said: "If the groundwater becomes too saline, we won't be able to afford desalinated water for irrigation. This will destroy our crops and income."
A women's farming group in Kanditheem said that if the groundwater becomes unusable and they are instead required to pay for water, they will not be able to continue growing bananas as it would become financially unsustainable for them and other small-scale farmers.
Nolhivaranfaru
In September 2022, the Maldives government handed over an Integrated Water Resource Management system to Nolhivaranfaru island as part of its joint project with the UNDP and the Green Climate Fund titled "Supporting vulnerable communities in Maldives to manage climate change induced water shortages." The project's stated aim is to "secure year-round, safe, reliable, and uninterrupted water supply to residents of the most vulnerable outer islands" in the country.
In July 2024, council workers and island residents from Nolhivaranfaru reported that the system remained incomplete, over a year after the official completion date. They said that poor implementation and oversight of the project and inadequate monitoring of water quality was forcing islanders who could not afford bottled water to rely on existing groundwater and rainwater supplies, even when these were potentially unsafe.
In particular, 66 newly built row houses on Nolhivaranfaru lacked water connections for over two years after the project was launched, forcing residents to rely on groundwater in an area where, as a Nolhivaranfaru council member said, the groundwater is "contaminated" and "foul-smelling." At an initial sensitization session held by the Green Climate Fund on December 18, 2017, Nolhivaranfaru council members asked specifically whether the project design would include newly built houses, to which a government representative assured them that all new development areas would be covered under the new water network.
"It's been more than two years since people moved into the row houses, and they still don't have water connections," said Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman, Nolhivarafaru Council vice president.
The design of the rainwater harvesting facilities, a key pillar of the system on Nolhivaranfaru, has also raised concerns among island communities. Rainwater - the primary source of drinking water on Nolhivaranfaru - is captured from government building roofs and directed to the plant, but inadequate infrastructure has resulted in frequent flooding. "The catch pits at government buildings are too small," Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman said. "After just an hour or two of rain, they overflow and flood the school and health center."
Where piped water is available, the water quality has been a major issue, with residents noting visible discoloration, discouraging them from using it. "When the project started, the water was clear. Now it has a color, and no one drinks it without filtering," a focus group participant said. This distrust is compounded by low capacity at on-site testing facilities and the limited training provided to staff who work at the facilities.
The government has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that the water available for personal or domestic use in the Maldives is safe and does not constitute a threat to health. According to the World Health Organization's Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality, water provided should be of an acceptable "taste, odour, and appearance": a standard that a number of islanders said was often not met.
Much as in Kanditheem, the cost of water - for domestic use as well as for farming - is a pressing issue for families on Nolhivaranfaru. As groundwater supplies become increasingly scarce and saline, and in the absence of a functioning system providing safe water, islanders have felt compelled to resort to more expensive alternatives such as desalinated water and imported bottled water.
"When the groundwater becomes fully saline, we cannot buy piped desalinated water for irrigation," one resident said "We don't make much profit already. If we have to pay for water, we will need to stop farming. We can't afford the water."
A member of the Nolhivaranfaru council's women's development committee said: "We're already struggling with electricity bills. Adding another bill for water will be a financial burden on many families."
The vice president of the women's development committee in Nolhivaranfaru, Aishath Ihusana, said that the rates for piped water were too high for families on the island to afford it.
Lack of Meaningful Consultation and Communication
In 2015, the Maldives government submitted its proposal to the Green Climate Fund for the Nolhivaranfaru project. The proposal stated that the government had conducted extensive consultations during development of the project, which brought together "all stakeholders at the island-level." However, key stakeholders in Nolhivaranfaru said that the consultations were grossly inadequate.
Ihusana said: "Only the project involving the gallery system consulted farmers, but even that wasn't enough. There wasn't any meaningful and realistic consultation for the water project undertaken to provide water to households."
Abdul Kareem Abdul Rahman, said, "there was one meeting for the entire island, and it was too technical. Even we, as council members, don't fully understand the components of the project."
Council members also highlighted the continuing inadequate communication by the government with the councils and affected communities. "We're supposed to represent the community, but even we don't know the specifics of these projects. There's no proper communication," said Ameena Mohamed, a Nolhivaranfaru council member.
The lack of engagement and transparency in decision-making has led to widespread dissatisfaction in both Kanditheem and Nolhivaranfaru among island residents who feel their concerns about water projects have not been taken into consideration.
Inadequate Monitoring and Maintenance
Island residents said that the piped water in Nolhivaranfaru has visible discoloration, and the lack of fully functional on-site testing facilities, trained staff, and sometimes limited or expired chemical reagents - which are legally required - raise questions about safety. These problems also hinder the ability of plant operators to maintain the systems and perform basic repairs, leading to frequent, lengthy, and ultimately, costly disruptions to the water supply-at times leaving residents without access to piped water for days on end. "We weren't properly trained, and we don't have the tools to fix things when they break," a water plant operator on Kanditheem said. "If something goes wrong, we have to wait for technicians from Malé."
