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, 556 candidates are women and this is merely 9.2% of the total nominations.
As a nation striving towards development, good governance and democracy an equal representation of women in politics in the highest level of government is important particularly when women represent 52% of the population. Through the Vote for Women campaign we hope that the public will recognise capable women and vote for them with an understanding that without women in parliament Sri Lanka cannot achieve a holistic political outlook.
Therefore, Women and Media Collective (WMC) together with Search for Common Ground and the Association of War Affected Women introduced a social media campaign, song, video and poster campaign to encourage the public to vote for at least one woman candidate at the General Elections.