In this year's Miss Universe pageant, Maldives will be represented by 21 year old Mariyam Shaina Naseem.
Maldives, for the first time, is participating in the Miss Universe competition.
In this year's Miss Universe pageant, Maldives will be represented by 21 year old Mariyam Shaina Naseem.
The pageant will be held from November 14 to 16 in Mexico.
In a post on X, Embassy of Mexico in India said that they have granted a visa to Shaina to travel to Mexico to participate in Miss Universe 2024.
🇲🇽 Cónsul at @EmbaMexInd, Diego Pérez, granted a visa to 🇲🇻 contestant Maryam S. Naseem who will represent Maldives in Miss Universe 2024 in 🇲🇽. This is the first time in the history of this competition that Maldives participates. @EmbaMexInd wishes her the best. pic.twitter.com/zPTi3wPOJH
— Embassy of Mexico in India 🇲🇽 (@EmbaMexInd) October 29, 2024
Shaina is participating in Miss Universe through an opportunity given by event management agency He n She Maldives. The agency also introduced beauty pageant franchise Top Model to Maldives.
Shaina has previously won the Top Model Maldives 2022. Last year, she participated in the World Top Model held in Egypt and got selected in the top fifteen. She also won the 'New Face' award in the pageant.
An official from He n She Maldives told Mihaaru News that the chance to participate in Miss Universe had been granted through a Romanian company which holds the franchise rights for the competition.
"This is a huge opportunity for Maldives. Maldives is being represented in a major world event. Having a Maldivian participate in Miss Universe has been a dream of ours as well," they said.
Shaina is currently in Mexico with a team from He n She.
Participants from 130 countries will be participating in this year's Miss Universe competition, which is the 73rd edition.
Other newcomers to the competition include Belarus, Iran, Moldova, Somalia and UAE.
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