Gender mainstreaming and welfare of women IDPs

Nadira Gunatilleke

With the Jaffna Peninsula being liberated by the Armed Forces and influx of refugees to the Government controlled areas in particular, the role of looking after the welfare of women refugees is immense. Here are extracts from an interview conducted with the Chairperson of the National Committee on Women (NCW), Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment Dr. Neela Gunasekara on the welfare of women.

Q - How do you see gender mainstreaming in Sri Lanka?

A - Gender inequity is a glaring phenomenon in many sectors in the country, the most vulnerable being the North-East sector in Sri Lanka. In addition to the normal hazards of the war prevailing in these areas for the past three decades women and children are the most affected and overlooked segment of the population by terrorism and war.

Although women are entitled to the same rights as men, very often they do not get the opportunity and facilities to exercise their rights, be it in the work place, home or in public places. In order to facilitate the exercise of their due rights it is essential to create awareness and educate those concerned, including the women themselves.

The ability to make decisions, organizing power, collective responsibility and protecting spiritual norms protected by her as qualities of her life should be added to the development of the country.

The cessation of the conflict and return to normalization for fostering sustainability should be the frame work. We have to have an integrated development policy as gender inequity is a glaring phenomenon in many sectors in the country, the most vulnerable being the North-East sector in Sri Lanka. In addition to the normal hazards of the war prevailing in these areas for the last three decades women and children are the worst placed segment of the population.

Q - What are the steps that had been taken in this regard?

A - Sri Lanka has a National Physical plan approved by the Parliament. The infrastructure facilities which are planned to be implemented should be provided according to the National physical plan.

The physical infrastructure including roads and bridges, electricity and fuel supply, repairing schools, providing markets and hospitals, restoring water must get priority in post conflict reconstruction.

Even if we get enough financial resources we are not allowed to act as we want as there is an approved National Physical Plan in the country.

Ministry of Housing Public Utilities and Ministry of Construction Industry have to pay special attention when they start new projects as there is a National Physical Plan in this country. Over 180,000 women in the country have membership in “Kantha Karya Samajayas”.

Q - What are the main objectives of the National Committee on Women?

A - There are ten objectives. Increasing women’s representation in politics is one of the main objectives. It is expected to increase women’s representation by 25 percent in Parliament, Provincial Councils and in Local Government institutions.

It is also expected to increase women’s participation in State and semi Government institutions. Ensuring equal land rights for both men and women, allowing both men and women to become `chief occupant’ is another main objective of the NCW.

The NCW also acts to establish agreement in order to ensure the safety of housemaids working abroad and to amend existing laws which treat women differently and discriminatively. It also acts to ensure the proper implementation of Domestic Violence Act and to minimise violence against women. The NCW runs complain centres, hold workshops, discussions etc, conduct media campaigns and collect data.

The Women’s Complaint Centres provide a broad picture of present day society. It is very interesting to see what type of problems women face in present day society. They have to get divorced because of three reasons and the main reason is poverty related problems. The second reason is husbands having extra marital affairs and the third is interferences of husband’s relations.

Q - What is the present situation in connection with women rescued from LTTE clutches and now staying in welfare camps?

A - There are about 200,000 people in welfare camps at the moment and 60 percent of them are women. They have many needs and sanitary towels are one of the main requirements.

The National Committee on Women along with the Women’s Bureau sent shipments of sanitary towels and taking steps to send more soon. Private sector organisations and all the other donors can donate sanitary towels along with women’s under garments, bed sheets, etc.

The second most important and urgent requirement is counselling. They need counselling more than anything else because they had suffered a lot in the hands of the LTTE.

With the clearing of the East and now the North, a huge amount of recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction lie ahead before the country. It is going to be a massive development drive in unprecedented scale and complexity. The people of these areas have suffered enough during the past three decades and majority of the families in these areas are homeless.

The time has come for women to give their fullest contribution towards the development of North. The Government has started the development of the East already and many projects have already been completed. The Northern Region also should be developed, without further delay.

But the Government alone cannot do all the work. What should be the women’s contribution and responsibility in this development? These are the questions we must answer before launching any project or program.

There are many talented and qualified women among displaced women such as trained teachers, writers, women who know handicrafts etc. Their contribution can be obtained.

Q - How about the progress of women in the Eastern Province and in the Jaffna Peninsula?

A - I spoke to Shiva Geetha Prabakaran, newly appointed Mayoress of Batticaloa Municipal Council, and she said that women cannot be left out when conducting reconstruction projects in this country.

Specially in the Eastern Region, there are several registered women organizations such as Women Rural Development Societies and `Kavya’ Organizations. The Mayoress said that women are the working hands in East.

(Ulaikum Karangal) Being the single woman appointed to this Local Government body (Batticaloa Municipal Council) she plays a vital role in North-East reconstruction.

I also contacted Saroja Sivachandran, Directress, Centre for Women and Development in Jaffna District and she said that Jaffna District is considered politically important in determining the resolution of ethnic conflict and bringing lasting peace to Sri Lanka. Traditional social structures and normative practices have inevitably been affected by 30 years of war.

There are over 20,000 households headed by widows or women whose husbands have disappeared. Relief efforts addressing immediate needs are slowly giving way to resettlement but long-term recovery cannot take place in a vacuum. The physical economic and social security of the people will be one of the biggest challenges in the recovery process of the Jaffna District.

Within this context, the Centre for Women and Development, which is the only women centred organization based in Jaffna focused attention in empowering women and building up their capacity to manage with their livelihood activities and to engage in the reconstruction process.

The Centre for Women and Development is legally registered as a national organization. During this crucial period the organization has tried its best to develop the damaged economic activities to some extent concentrating on areas such as gender issues, women headed families and 80,000 unemployed persons.