Int'l Women's Day was declared 149 years ago - CAA Chairman

"YESTERDAY the whole world celebrated International Women's Day. I feel privileged to address you as the Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority, states Consumer Affairs Authority Chairman Sarath Wijesinghe in a message to mark International Women's Day.

Let me trace the history of the International Women's Day. It was the socialist women's conference held in Copenhagen on March 08, 1910 that the International women's day was declared to mark the agitational campaign for equal pay by garment factory workers on March 08, 1857 that is 149 years ago.

The theme of the International women's day, this year is to ensure the security of women.

The majority of women in Sri Lanka contribute not only to the economic well-being of the family but also to the economic development of the country. Female factory workers who work until dark, estate labourers manual female labourers on work sites and nurses, teachers and clerks and above all, housewives in their own way, contribute to our economy. Unfortunately, the majority of them receive lower pay than the males.

Especially we cannot be satisfied with the living conditions and security of the female garment factory workers, female workers working abroad. Though the State and various organisations endeavour to raise their living conditions, there is much to be realized.

The security of both female factory workers and the housemaids who work abroad are not satisfactory. Many of them are victims of bogus employment agencies. We urge the government to rectify this situations.

The percentage of widows and displaced women is over 37%. The Ministry of Women's Affairs should launch a program to ameliorate their conditions; by ensuring their safety.

Achievements of Sri Lankan Women are impressive. 52% of university students are women. 33% of the labour force and 33% of the public and private sector employees are women.

Women's contribution to industrial production is 65% and 65% of foreign employed are female. 50% of the estate labour is women. At village level, micro industries are run by women.

Other achievements in human development are the maternal morality rate which is 2 per 1000 birth and infant morality rate 12.2 per 1000 births and the longevity of women is 75.4. However, we cannot be satisfied with the literacy rate of women of the plantations and the urban slums.

From time immemorial, women have played the role of care-givers. They fostered the family physically, emotionally and spiritually without this CARE-GIVING role, the institution of family will not exist, and without a strong family, social values will erode. In other words, the family is the solid foundation of a fairly society.

We are proud of the fact that Sri Lanka elected the first ever Women Prime Minister in the World.

Unfortunately, women do not enjoy their basic human rights. Though, the legal frameworks in 95% of the member states of the UNO ensure Women's rights, practically, they are not realized. In this context, women have to go a long way in achieving gender equality.

The Consumer Affairs Authority has decided to cooperate with Women's organisations in achieving women's aspirations.

That is why, the vision of the President's - "Mahinda Chinthana" has a separate section for the well-being of women. The Consumer Affairs Authority is endeavouring to implement relevant section of the "Mahinda Chinthana".