Women and Media Collective held a press briefing on the 8th of September 2015 to demand for a 30% increase in women’s political representation at Local Government. Compared with the rest of South Asia, Sri Lanka is in an unfortunate position when considering women’s representation in politics. Local Government is the first step in entering … Continue reading Press Conference: Ensuring a 30% increase for women at Local Government

සුනිලා අබේසේකර දෙවර්ෂ පූර්ණ සැමරුම ”ආදරයේ ඔබ ඔබමයි මා ඔබ නොව ඔබ මා නොව දවසක්දා……. හ`දුනා ගත්තොත් ඔබ මා…….” ඒ මියුරු යුග ගීයෙහි නින්නාද දෙන ගැඹුරු, භාවපූර්ණ, ස්ත‍්‍රී හෙ`ඩහි හිමිකාරිය වූ සුනිලා අබේසේකර සොයුරියගේ දෙවර්ෂ පූර්ණ සැමරුම වෙනුවෙන් ඇය විසින් ගායනා කළ මෙරට ගීත රසිකයින් ගේ ආදරයට පාත‍්‍ර වූ ජනප‍්‍රිය චිත‍්‍රපට පසුබිම් ගීත ඇතුළු ගීත … Continue reading සුනිලා අබේසේකර දෙවර්ෂ පූර්ණ සැමරුම, ජාතික ගුවන් විදුලියේ වෙළඳ සේවය ඹස්සේ

3 September 2015 Click here to read full screen or download statement Women in Sri Lanka have had the right to vote from as early as 1931, but very little opportunity to become the people’s elected political representatives—either in Parliament or in Provincial or Local Government. Therefore we welcome this government’s commitment to a 30% … Continue reading Political Representation of Women at Local Government – Towards ensuring 30% increase

It’s now two years two years of such great loss since Sunila left us the political change of this year are those she worked for unceasingly and it is indeed something she would have welcomes and worked to strengthen At this 2nd anniversary commemoration of her life and work we hope to look back at … Continue reading Sunila Abeysekara, two years on…

Women and Media Collective mourns the demise of prominent human rights activist and Chief Executive Officer of Viluthu, Shanthi Sachithanandam as it is an irreplaceable loss not just for the women’s movement of Sri Lanka but to the nation as a whole. Shanthi was an admirable activist and inspirational woman to us all. Her relationship … Continue reading WMC mourns the demise of Shanthi Sachithanandam

Source: The Sunday Times A total of 556 female candidates from 21 political parties and independent groups contested the general elections but only 11 of them won seats. That is a drop of two female members from the previous 225-seat parliament that already under-represented the 52 per cent-strong female population. These 11 women represent only … Continue reading 11 women MPs a poor result for electoral reform say activists – The Sunday Times

A press briefing on the Campaign for Sound National Policies was held yesterday at the Organisation of Professional Associations in Colombo. Dr. Sepali Kottegoda, Executive Director of Women and Media Collective (WMC) was on the panel that discussed the proposed 35 Ministry Cabinet under the 19th Amendment and the proposed ministry clustering for an enhanced … Continue reading Campaign for Sound National Policies

The Vote for Women campaign was launched on the 5th of August to coincide with Sri Lanka’s upcoming General Elections scheduled to be held on the 17 of August 2015. There are total of 6,151 candidates from 21 political parties and independent groups competing for the 225 seats in parliament. Of the total candidates nominated, … Continue reading Vote for Women Campaign Launch

We bid farewell to Gigi Francisco with a sense of deep loss and sadness. Gigi was General Co-ordinator of DAWN (Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era) from 2008 to 2014 when her struggle with cancer forced her to step down. Yet, she continued to engage with us when she could particularly during last … Continue reading WMC bids farewell to Gigi Francisco

A large gathering attended the Veediye Virodaya movement protest also known as the Black Protest at the Colombo Fort railway station on the 10th of July 2015. Some of the demands made at the protest were for clean politics and good governance. Several women leaders from civil society organisations that spoke at the protest highlighted … Continue reading ‘Veediye Virodaya’ protest