The Women and Media Collective facilitated a field visit of 24 former women local councilors and women community leaders to the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) and Panchayats in Thrissur, Kerala from the 22^nd to the 24^th of January 2024. The women were from the districts of Kurunegala, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle, Batticaloa, Killinochchi, Mannar and Jaffna.  The women members were all elected at the 2018 Local Authorities Election.

The program consisted of lectures and discussions on the Panchayat System as it operated in the State of Kerala and was supplemented with visits to Panchayats in the Thrissur and Ernakulam districts of Kerala, and included discussions with elected representatives, administrators, health and education professionals implementing decentralized programmes as well as women within the Kudumbershree network from entrepreneurs to members of the Gram Sabhas and the Green Army initiative.  We saw decentralized local governance in practice as well as bottom up planning and monitoring of plan implementation.  An important experience was the women centric, community-based poverty reduction programme, Kudumbashree, which offered valuable insights into a community-driven development model.  This hands-on approach provided us with a firsthand understanding of successful implementation, best practices, and challenges faced in local government and the pivotal role of women in both the decision making and implementation processes.

The overarching objective of this visit was to provide elected and aspirant Sri Lankan women leaders at the local level with a unique opportunity to augment their knowledge of the Panchayat system in Kerala with an emphasis on decentralizing, inclusive planning and methods of participatory democracy in practice.

By facilitating this study visit, WMC aimed to contribute to the growth and development of women leaders, empowering them with the knowledge and skills needed to make insightful and impactful contributions to local government within their local communities.  This immersive experience in Kerala also provided a platform for cross-cultural learning and exchange, fostering a collaborative spirit among women leaders in the delegations who were from different regions in the country, representing a cross section of mainstream political parties and from Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities.

Visiting the Food Security and Livelihood Initiatives of Panchayats – A Banana plantation initiated by 3 women Entreprenuers

Introduction to Kudumbasree by the Assistant Mission Coordinator, Kudumbashree, Dr Monisha U

Visit to a Village Panchayat & Transferred Institutions of Primary Healthcare Cilinics in the Elavally Grama Panchayat

Visit to a Village Panchayat & Transferred Institutions of Primary Healthcare Cilinics in the Elavally Grama Panchayat

Visit to a Village Panchayat & Administrative and Archive center  Elavally Grama Panchayat

Breifing meeting at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration with the former women members of Local Councils of Sri Lanka