A new paradigm– reforming women’s political participation in Sri Lanka
Source: Daily Mirror
As election cycles come and go, the conversation around the low female representation in Sri Lanka’s political sphere is frequently revisited. After all, while Sri Lanka boasts of having the first female Prime Minister in the world, the actual percentage of women in politics still stands at a disappointing 5.4% decades later. A recent regional report analysed Sri Lanka’s legal environment and its application over the past decade, examining the obstacles women faced in politics to provide actionable recommendations.
The regional report titled “A New Paradigm– Building a Regional Coalition to Promote Political Participation of Women in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka” was launched on October 29. In this report, the research on Sri Lanka was conducted by People’s Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) in collaboration with The Asia Foundation (TAF).
Speaking at the launch, PAFFREL’s Executive Director, Rohana Hettiarachchi remarked that most South Asian countries didn’t have fair representation of women at the policy-making level. “In Sri Lanka there are a lot of women leaders at administrative level, but not many in policy-making and parliamentary level. The future target is to increase meaningful women’s participation.”
Read here the full article published by the Daily Mirror on 4 November 2024.
Image by Daily Mirrors
As election cycles come and go, the conversation around the low female representation in Sri Lanka’s political sphere is frequently revisited. After all, while Sri Lanka boasts of having the first female Prime Minister in the world, the actual percentage of women in politics still stands at a disappointing 5.4% decades later. A recent regional report analysed Sri Lanka’s legal environment and its application over the past decade, examining the obstacles women faced in politics to provide actionable recommendations.
The regional report titled “A New Paradigm– Building a Regional Coalition to Promote Political Participation of Women in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka” was launched on October 29. In this report, the research on Sri Lanka was conducted by People’s Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) in collaboration with The Asia Foundation (TAF).
Speaking at the launch, PAFFREL’s Executive Director, Rohana Hettiarachchi remarked that most South Asian countries didn’t have fair representation of women at the policy-making level. “In Sri Lanka there are a lot of women leaders at administrative level, but not many in policy-making and parliamentary level. The future target is to increase meaningful women’s participation.”
Read here the full article published by the Daily Mirror on 4 November 2024.
Image by Daily Mirrors