Women along with men obtained universal franchise in 1931 when Sri Lanka was under British colonial rule. They took a lead role in the resistance movement and was involved in the early left movement. Since then, Sri Lankan women have had the constitutional freedom and the right to vote and participate in political activities without discrimination. Later, the country went on to elect the world’s first female Prime Minister. (Source: https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-25-percent-quota-women-in-sri-lankan-politics/)
Source: http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Gender%20Statistics/MoreInfo.php &https://www.parliament.lk/en/lady-members
Women are 52% of the population and 56% of the registered voters are women. Despite having the world’s first woman prime minister, women’s representation in parliament is the lowest in South Asia. The last parliament had only 13 women legislators out of 225 members (5.8%). Representation in local government is at the same low level.
Sri Lanka that scores well on education and health was ranked 102 out of all 153 countries in the 2020 Global Gender Gap report of World Economic Forum Sri Lanka According to the is due to the low score on political participation. (Source: http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2020/)
In 2019 Sri Lanka’s international ranking by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was 182 out of 192 countries. (Source: http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm)
The reasons for poor representation of women in governance are many. Women are members of political parties but they are overlooked for nominations. High profile women like Sirimavo Bandaranaike, and her daughter Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who became the first woman President of the country, were successful at least in part because they belonged to political dynasties and were seen by the public as surrogates for male relatives. Chulani Kodikara, a women’s rights activist and researcher at the University of Edinburgh, described this practice as “a stop-gap situation; when women relatives of male members were appointed by a political party to replace family members due to death or dislodgement”.
From the first female politician in Ceylon, Adeline Molamure, who was elected in 1931 to the State Council to replace her deceased father, to the first Muslim woman Member of Parliament, Ferial Ashraf, who was elected in 2001 after the death of her husband in a helicopter crash, surrogacy has been the primary instigator of women’s political participation in Sri Lanka’s history. (Although, 24 out of 59 female MPs since 1931 have had no family connections at all). But Kodikara says that even male politicians have had a significant advantage when entering politics with family affiliations. (Source:https://roar.media/english/life/in-the-know/women-in-government/.)
Why did the percentage of women in Parliament since the 1930s never exceeded six per cent? At the municipal and local government levels, women were only 2 per cent of elected officials between 2008 - 2012. (Source: https://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/countries/sri-lanka)
“Women’s voices and issues related to them are not heard enough in Sri Lanka, although they are more than half the population of the country. The main reason for this is the lack of female representation in decision – making positions, especially in the legislature. A mandatory quota of 25% for women was introduced by local the Authorities (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 2017 at the last Local Government Election was held under that but the results were not optimal. (Source: https://ceylontoday.lk/print-more/44246 )
The Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR), in a study conducted recently found that structural barriers such as family disapproval, financial difficulties, dynamics of political parties which cause difficulties in getting nominations to contest the elections, and being compelled to campaign for male candidates discouraged women from entering the political arena. – Dr.Kala Peiries - CENWOR. (Source: https://ceylontoday.lk/print-more/44246)
On the other hand “It is possible to identify many forms of political participation in Sri Lanka, ranging from voting and contesting at elections to attendance at political meetings and rallies, membership in political organizations, participation in political strikes and demonstrations, as well as participation in unconventional and illegal activities like terrorism. Yet women’s representation in the decision making sphere of politics, namely in political representation, remains woefully low despite years of activism.(Source:https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/sri-lanka/commitments/LK0015/)
Way Forward
Low level of women’s representation has always been seen as a conundrum in a country which has performed well on other indicators on women such as education and health.
Women have the right to influence decisions that affect their lives, whether in the household, community, national governments or international institutions. Achieving women’s
participation and leadership requires understanding the power dynamics and working with women and men to ensure equal access to, and influence in, decision-making processes.
But there are issues related to women as well.
Affirmative action needed
Increase the use of Right to Information (RTI) relevant to political participation, among citizens and improve public authorities' response to RTI implementation.
Ensure the nomination and election of qualified women to local government authorities and thereby, strengthen women’s participation in political decision- making.
Raise awareness, provide training for women political candidates, run campaigns on gender equality, lobby for legislative reforms to ensure women’s fair access to political spheres, and elections that uphold women’s rights. All these can all increase women’s political engagement.
Train women to plan to contest local government elections and bring them together to demand nominations.
Political parties provide financial and other support for women who are nominated to carry out political campaigns under party banners.
Political parties nominate trained qualified women for local government elections
Publicity campaign tracking women’s entry into local government from nomination to election.
Names and profiles of all candidates (including women) released to the public ahead of local elections.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
I agree to the following:
- My story is my own work and does not contain plagiarized material or violate any copyright infringements
- My work is subjected to an editorial committee review that may add, remove, or amend my story, if necessary, to enhance its value
- The editorial committee has the right to decide whether or not my story is published
- My story can be shared or reposted on any other platform that iVoice has partnered or affiliated with at any given instance. However, my identity will be protected
- By agreeing to ‘Allow Ideas submission from iVoice community’, I allow anyone to submit an Idea or solution to my story
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