Biography
Ms. Aishath Shahuda, is currently the Deputy Chief Statistician of the Maldives Bureau of Statistics. Prior to the ratification of Maldives Statistics Act in July 2021, she served as the he Chief Statistician of the National Bureau of Statistics for eight years. She joined the National Statistics Office in 1986 and has gained over thirty years of practical experience in different aspects of official statistics.
Her responsibilities lie in leadership and management of the Statistics Bureau as well as in the development and coordination of the National Statistical System of Maldives. She is actively involved in the formulation and implementation of National Statistics Development Strategy and regulatory frameworks as well as in review of the National Statistical System.
Ms. Shahuda has immense knowledge and practical experience in the planning and management of Population and Housing Censuses and major household surveys. She was involved in the past six population and housing censuses of the country and acted as the officer-in-charge during 2014 Census. She is actively engaged in improving the quality of national statistics publications and dissemination and in promoting the use of data and statistics in the country.
She has hands on knowledge and expertise in producing the national statistics for the MDGs and work with key stakeholders in improving the data and indicators required to monitor the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs and national development indicators.
She has been in charge of various statistical corporation activities and projects implemented in partnership with international and regional agencies.
Ms. Shahuda has also been active in the international statistical community. She served as the chair of the ESCAP committee on Statistics during 2015-2016 and as board member of the Bureau prior to that. She also represented the South Asia Region at the PARIS21 board.
She has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Wollongong, Australia.