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A consultation with Kare Vollan, an expert on electoral reforms, was held yesterday to discuss the prospects of increasing political representation of women in parliament in the current context of constitutional and electoral reforms. For the first time the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe has proposed reforms that will ensure a substantive increase … Continue reading Increasing women’s political representation: a discussion on current reforms

The Action Network for Migrant Workers (ACTFORM) met with the newly appointed Minister of Foreign Employment, Thalatha Athukorala to discuss the current status of women migrant workers and the measures that need to be taken to further improve their status at home and abroad. This was the first meeting between Sri Lanka’s ACTFORM network and … Continue reading ACTFORM meets Minister of Foreign Employment, Thalatha Athukorala

This film documents the electoral struggle of Aynoon Beebi, a 39-year old Muslim woman from Kinniya, in Trincomalee, at the 2011 local government elections. While celebrating Aynoon’s political ambitions, the film explores the ways in which she challenges mechanisms of power and dominance that are naturalised within her community and political party structures. Women account … Continue reading Film: Don’t think of me as a woman, an election story from the margins

A group of human rights law students from the University of Colombo and the Gallatin School, New York visited Women and Media Collective to learn more about WMC’s role in addressing women’s rights issues in Sri Lanka and its applicability in achieving gender equality. Women in politics, women in trade unions, migrant workers rights and … Continue reading University students from New York and Colombo visit WMC

The 2014 women’s photography exhibition by Women and Media Collective was held alongside WMC’s 30th anniversary exhibition Women’s Struggles, Women’s Pride. From the 11 – 13th of February 2015 the photography exhibition was open for viewing at the Public Library Hall in Colombo. It featured the work of nearly 30 female photographers, amateur and professional, … Continue reading WMC Women’s Photography Exhibition 2014

Source: Search for Common Ground Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe spoke at an event to mark International Women’s Day organized by the Women Parliamentarian’s Caucus in partnership with us, UNFPA, UN Women and the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office. During his speech, he pledged to increase the political participation of women by 25% at the … Continue reading Prime Minister Wickramasinghe Pledges to Increase Women Participation in Politics

The awards for the winning short films of the Women and Media Collectives short film competition were presented at the opening ceremony of WMC’s 30th anniversary exhibition on the 10th of February 2015. This year first place went to J.P. Kusum Jayaweera for ‘Weegawath Gahaniya’ (Speed Woman). Kusum is a nurse from the Anuradhapura teaching … Continue reading WMC Short Film Competition 2014

Women’s rights groups from all parts of Sri Lanka made it happen on the streets of Colombo to mark International Women’s Day 2015. On the 9th of March, women’s groups were demanding for an increase in political representation for women by introducing at least a 25% quota in all political bodies and to establish an … Continue reading IWD 2015: International Women’s Day March

On International Women’s Day as Women and Media Collective celebrates 30 years of activism we take a moment to celebrate the life of founder Sunila Abeysekara. Source: Isis International Why Sunila loved March 8th I visited Sunila around 8th March 2013 to spend some time with her after she’d been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. … Continue reading IWD 2015: Celebrating the life of our founder Sunila Abeysekara