A meeting to discuss the Local Authorities Elections Amendment Act within the purview of the newly introduced provisions for women’s representation in Local Government was organised by the Women and Media Collective, on Friday 6th of October 2017. The new electoral system and the 25% quota allocation for women were discussed at length among women … Continue reading Discussion on LA Act. – 25% quota for women
පළාත් පාලන ආයතන තුළ ස්ත්රීන්ගේ නියෝජනය 25%කින් වැඩිකරන බවට රජය විසින් පොරොන්දුවක් ලබාදෙන ලදී. ඒ අනුව පසුගිය කාලය පුරා මේ ඉල්ලීම තහවුරු කරගැනීම පිණිස අප කාන්තා ක්රියාකාරිනියන් විසින් අදාළ දේශපාලන නායකයින් සමඟ සාකච්ඡාවට ද ලක්කරන ලදී. පසුගිය අගෝස්තු 25 වන දින පළාත් පාලන ආයතන ඡන්ද විමසීම් සංශෝධන පනත සම්මතවීමත් සමඟ ඒ පිළිබඳ කාන්තාව සහ මාධ්ය … Continue reading Comments on the Amended Local Authorities Elections Act (Sinhala)
Source: Daily News When women are in government, the benefits are boundless: corruption lessens, the economy improves, and governance itself is more efficient. One would think such positive results would mean female participation in politics would be high, and ever-increasing. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, like elsewhere, this is hardly the case. Since 1931, Sri Lankan … Continue reading Fair hand for fair justice – Daily News
The Women and Media Collective (WMC) together with 23 Women’s organisations expressed their concern to the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government on the reported negotiations to reformulate the enacted 25% quota for women in Local Authorities. In order to ensure that the current provision of a 25% quota … Continue reading Women’s groups move to secure 25% quota
The move to reform electoral systems in the country has generated a broad discussion, particularly around the participation of women in the political process. The proposed Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral systems is expected to use the First Past the Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR) voting systems enabling voters with greater privilege over the … Continue reading Consultation on Gender and Electoral Systems
Call for script submissions for this year’s short film competition. This is an opportunity for anyone who enjoys script writing and making films or anyone who would like to give it a try. Theme: Increasing Women’s Political Participation Deadline: 8th August 2016 for sending in your scripts only. We are looking for creative short film … Continue reading WMC Short Film Competition 2016
The Women and Media Collective held several discussions with women’s rights activists and groups from over 20 districts on the new constitution making process. The drafting of third constitution since Sri Lanka’s independence encouraged public opinions for the very first time. At this historic juncture it was important that thoughts and concerns of women were … Continue reading Women’s submissions to the PRC on Constitutional reforms
To further engage women in identifying key provisions for electoral reform and women’s political participation in the constitution the Women and Media Collective organised a workshop for women’s rights activists and groups from across the island on the 3rd and 4th of March 2016. This was following a series of meetings undertaken by the WMC … Continue reading A consultation on Gender and Electoral Reforms in the Constitution
Source: Groundviews By Chulani Kodikara The theme for International Women’s Day this year is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it up for Gender Equality”. A good day to reflect on the 25% mandatory quota for women in local government passed by parliament almost exactly one month ago amidst an uproar created by members of the … Continue reading The Quota for Women in Local Government: A pledge for parity and a parody in parliament?
This book launched on the 30th of January 2016, provides a ‘thick description’ of the references made to women in Parliament. In this regard, it is different to other attempts at quantifying Parliamentary discourses around women1, adopting instead a qualitative approach. While recognizing the value of quantitative research, the aim of this volume is to … Continue reading Parliament’s Representation of Women: A Selective Review of Sri Lanka’s Hansards from 2005-2014