Campaign for women’s representation in politics in Sri Lanka
We women in Sri Lanka simply can not be happy with our representation in politics. Only 5.8% of parliamentarians are women. Only 1.8% of local government reps are women. In other developing countries quotas of some form have been used successfully to increase women’s representation in government, local government in particular.
Women’s groups in Sri Lanka have been been making their case for a legal framework to no avail. For example, the draft bill to amend the local government elections act of 1989 that was gazetted on November 24, 2008 and presented to parliament on February 05, 2009 had no reference at all to women’s representation. The bill had to be withdrawn to get the concurrence of the provinces giving us a little more time to reorganize, but it is expected to be re-presented in late or early June.
The seminar organized by the ministry of women empowerment on March 25, 2009, was a good way to restart our agitation but we need to coordinate our efforts and go for a concerted campaign.
Towards this end, Pragati, a newly established is foundation with a mission of bringing knowledge to bear on societal problems, is initiating a limited campaign to bring together all the stakeholders for a concerted effort. The lankawomen.net is central to Pragati’s effort.
Please bookmark the site and watchout for updates.
