The World Bank team concludes the mission with a wrap-up meeting at the Ministry of Finance. The meeting was joined by Mr. Jerome Bezzina (Task Team Leader, Sr. Digital Development Specialist), and included Ms. Anna Metz (co-Task Team Leader, Sr. Digital Development Specialist), Ms. Kristine Schwebach (Sr. Social Development Specialist) along with Dr. Ibrahim Waheed (Project Manager), Mr. Ahmed Haleem (Communications Specialist), from the D’MADD Project Management Unit focused on debriefing the team from the Ministry of Finance on the findings.

The meeting began with the mission team briefing on the mission findings, including the success of the stakeholder consultation workshop for the climate data platform. The mission reported the field visit to Addu City, the meetings with the city council, and the NGO workshop. They highlighted the meeting with the Minister of Homeland Security and Technology, the progress on the Data Protection Bill draft, and the meeting with the NCSA.

During the meeting, Dr. Waheed presented an in-depth update on the project's implementation, highlighting its status, significant progress, disbursement, and critical challenges. He outlined the milestones achieved under each component and elaborated on various activities undertaken to achieve the project development objective.

The mission also highlighted the critical matter of the D’MADD bank accounts closure and opening under the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology. Dr. Waheed presented a timeline within October 2024 that can be adopted with minimal impact and disruption on project progress. Officials from the Ministry of Finance assured that they will do everything they can to expedite the process. Additionally, the areas of challenge were communicated, and steps to be taken by the ministry administratively to ensure timely implementation of project activities as per the deadlines were agreed upon.

The D’MADD project stakeholders were also represented in the meeting: Mr. Ajwad Musthafa (Permanent Secretary) of the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy, Mr. Mohamed Umair (Director, ICT) of the Department of National Registration, and Mr. Ilyas Ahmed (Chief Executive) of the Communications Authority of Maldives.

The stakeholders shared their critical experiences with the progress and interaction with the PMU and expressed satisfaction with the overall progress.