Women from 17 different political parties in Sri Lanka united on March 8th to create a declaration printed in newspapers for the International Day of the Woman. The declaration called for the end of political exclusion of women, for an affirmation of women's equality, and for the promotion and protection of women's rights.
Despite the fact that Sri Lanka boasts the world’s first woman Prime Minister and a subsequent women President, women’s political participation at the local, regional and national levels is extremely low. Women currently occupy only 11 of the 225 seats in the Sri Lankan Parliament, a mere 4.9%, and constitute only 1.6% of the country’s Ministers and Deputy Ministers. At the local level, in 2004, only 9 women were elected to the Provincial Council, a discouraging 1.2%. Yet, the literacy rate of women in Sri Lanka is an impressive 90% and women are active in nearly every other aspect of society and the economy. As part of its larger political parties program in Sri Lanka, in March of 2007, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held a meeting with the 48 political-party chosen women steering committee members from the Eastern and Southern Provinces to allow the women to discuss the obstacles facing women in politics in Sri Lanka. The women steering committee members involved in the NDI political party program in Sri Lanka represent not only 17 different political parties and two different regions of the country, but they also represent different ethnic groups, languages, religions, districts and cultures.The result of this meeting was overwhelming. In addition to discussing the primary issues surrounding the low-level of women’s political participation and realizing that all the women in the room face similar impediments, the women were able to come to consensus on the major reasons why women are not further involved in Sri Lankan politics. The impediments they identified included male domination of the political process; lack of funds and resources for women in politics; violence against women in politics; lack of political knowledge by women; and the structure of the current electoral system. Furthermore, the women together and of their own initiative decided to draft a joint manifesto for the International Day of the Woman, demanding improved support for women in politics in Sri Lanka. The resulting statement signed by all 48 women from the east and from the south, representing different ethnic groups, languages, religions, districts and cultures, was printed to great fanfare in the national press. This statement was published on March 8th in the local Sri Lankan newspapers (Lankadeepa, Lakbima, Divaina, Weerakesari, Thinakural, Daily Mirror and Daily News) in Sinhala, Tamil and English and on March 11th in three major Sunday papers (Lankadeepa, Weerakesari and Sunday Observer).
Women from 17 different political parties in Sri Lanka united on March 8th to create a declaration printed in newspapers for the International Day of the Woman. The declaration called for the end of political exclusion of women, for an affirmation of women's equality, and for the promotion and protection of women's rights.
Despite the fact that Sri Lanka boasts the world’s first woman Prime Minister and a subsequent women President, women’s political participation at the local, regional and national levels is extremely low. Women currently occupy only 11 of the 225 seats in the Sri Lankan Parliament, a mere 4.9%, and constitute only 1.6% of the country’s Ministers and Deputy Ministers. At the local level, in 2004, only 9 women were elected to the Provincial Council, a discouraging 1.2%. Yet, the literacy rate of women in Sri Lanka is an impressive 90% and women are active in nearly every other aspect of society and the economy. As part of its larger political parties program in Sri Lanka, in March of 2007, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) held a meeting with the 48 political-party chosen women steering committee members from the Eastern and Southern Provinces to allow the women to discuss the obstacles facing women in politics in Sri Lanka. The women steering committee members involved in the NDI political party program in Sri Lanka represent not only 17 different political parties and two different regions of the country, but they also represent different ethnic groups, languages, religions, districts and cultures.The result of this meeting was overwhelming. In addition to discussing the primary issues surrounding the low-level of women’s political participation and realizing that all the women in the room face similar impediments, the women were able to come to consensus on the major reasons why women are not further involved in Sri Lankan politics. The impediments they identified included male domination of the political process; lack of funds and resources for women in politics; violence against women in politics; lack of political knowledge by women; and the structure of the current electoral system. Furthermore, the women together and of their own initiative decided to draft a joint manifesto for the International Day of the Woman, demanding improved support for women in politics in Sri Lanka. The resulting statement signed by all 48 women from the east and from the south, representing different ethnic groups, languages, religions, districts and cultures, was printed to great fanfare in the national press. This statement was published on March 8th in the local Sri Lankan newspapers (Lankadeepa, Lakbima, Divaina, Weerakesari, Thinakural, Daily Mirror and Daily News) in Sinhala, Tamil and English and on March 11th in three major Sunday papers (Lankadeepa, Weerakesari and Sunday Observer).