Sri Lanka formulates policies and implements social and economic empowerment programs for women:

Empowering women in our communities

Statement by Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe at the meeting Advancement of Women Third Committee of the UN General Assembly New York on October 13, 2009

The adoption of the Beijing platform for action and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) are major achievements in our efforts to empower women in our communities.

The 2000 Millennium Summit, it may be recalled, set goals to be achieved by 2015 in respect of providing equal opportunities to women, in fact gender is an overarching theme in all the eight Millennium Development Goals.

The ‘Unite to end violence against women’ campaign 2008-2015 initiated by the Secretary-General has added impetus to our efforts to ensure the protection of women in vulnerable environments. We also appreciate the work of UNIFEM in supporting the efforts of developing countries to implement national development strategies.

Uniting the four UN gender

We welcome the General Assembly Resolution during the last session on System Wide Coherence which expressed strong support for uniting the four UN gender specific entities into one entity led by an Under-Secretary-General.

Violence against women remains a global challenge. According to the reports before us, in 2002 alone, some 150 million girls under 18 suffered from some form of sexual violence. Some 140 million girls and women have experienced genital mutilation and live with its repercussions. Over 60 million girls worldwide are child brides and 80 percent of the people trafficked annually are women and girls. These are matters that need to be addressed as a matter of utmost urgency and we need a global fund and high level support to address these issues.

The Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees equal rights to all irrespective of gender. We have ratified the CEDAW and implemented a Women’s Charter which embodies the principles set out in the Convention. We have also set up a Ministry of Women’s Empowerment to formulate policies and implement social and economic empowerment programs for the advancement of the social and economic status of Sri Lankan women. Sri Lanka has achieved impressive gains in the advancement of women and is proud that it has recently been ranked 36 out of 155 countries in terms of the Gender Development Index as a percentage of the score on the Human Development Index. In the recently published UN Human Development Report 2009.

We have also been ranked 12 in the UN Index on Equal Opportunities. Sri Lanka’s free health and education systems have resulted in the life expectancy of a woman rising to 79 years. We have very low maternal and infant mortality rates comparable to those of developed countries. An ever increasing number of women are entering higher education.

Gender balance

The number of women being elected to our legislative bodies, to the bench of our Supreme Court and the Public Service has also been systematically increased in our endeavour to reflect gender balance.

Our Government has also initiated program to encourage women to generate income to their families by developing skills through numerous training schemes including self employment projects. We have also encouraged women to be entrepreneurs and have introduced credit schemes specifically designed to help rural women to break out of the cycle of poverty.

Today, these initiatives have borne fruit and as a result, 35 percent of our labour force comprises women. While we acknowledge the challenges we have to overcome in achieving the Millennium Development Goal No. 3 by 2015 Sri Lanka has taken definite measures to ensure and guarantee the rights of women as outlined. In our periodic reports submitted in pursuance of our obligations under CEDAW.

My delegation also considers combating violence against women migrant workers to be a high priority. 48 percent of Sri Lanka’s migrant workers are females. Violence against women migrant workers persists, undocumented women migrant workers remain particularly vulnerable to violence, exploitation and discrimination.

We strongly support efforts by UN agencies to promote targeted measures including strengthening of contractual agreements, control over recruitment agencies, information campaign besides efforts to encourage Member States to implement relevant legislation. We have also recently developed a National Labour Migration Policy, which inter alia, seeks to protect human rights of female migrant workers.

Sri Lanka has also been successful in negotiating bilateral agreements with several countries to which we send our migrant workers to ensure their welfare and protection.

As a country that has just emerged after three decades of internal conflict following the defeat of the terrorist group, we have initiated special post conflict programs in the Northern and Eastern provinces to uplift the situation of women, some of whom were forcibly recruited as combatants, or who have become single parents or lost.

Some or all of their children. Many of these women are internally displaced and currently in IDP centres etc. Women from over 50 percent of the IDP population. Our process of recovery from this long period of conflict has just commenced and we consider the welfare of especially women and children as a high priority. In this regard, my Ministry is in the process of developing a National Plan of Action for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and have taken special note of the need to place special emphasis on the rights of women.

Voluntary pledge

This is also a voluntary pledge Sri Lanka made when it participated in the UPR process last year in the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Our Government has taken its responsibilities very seriously in this respect to care for the needs of women affected by the conflict. Counselling centres have also been set up to provide psychosocial support to displaced women and girls. We are committed to ensuring that women in this post conflict environment are not only treated as victims but also being involved in peace building within their communities.

My Ministry is charged with the subjects of Disaster Management and Human Rights.

We also enjoy a coordinating mandate in respect of the provision of humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters and at the same time, we have the responsibility of promoting human rights.

Terrorism and civil strife are among the worst forms of human-made disaster. It is our view that our response to and recovery from such a disaster should be informed and guided by considerations of human rights protection.

In this connection we must pay special attention to the needs of the affected population which includes children, women, in particular, pregnant women and mothers with infants, the disabled and the aged. This is why we have placed a special emphasis on a structured program of release of persons from relief villages and welfare centres giving preference to vulnerable persons and others with special needs.

We have, to date, released over 15,000 persons from welfare centres. We have made sure that families who were separated during the conflict are reunified with their kith and kin and have achieved well over 30,000 reunifications.

We have sought to incrementally enable the freedom of movement of IDPs though an increasing number of releases and the initial phases of the resettlement program.

Supported and complemented

We are dealing with just under 250,000 persons being housed and provided with humanitarian relief with the majority of IDPs being housed in what is known as the Menik Farm area.

The provision of humanitarian assistance and relief which encompasses provision of shelter, water and sanitation, drainage, food and nutrition, educational and medical services and protection including physical safety and security. At present this is being provided by numerous Government agencies, supported and complemented by the United Nations and non-governmental agencies, national and international.

For instance in response to the risk of flooding which has been highlighted due to the oncoming monsoon, the Disaster Management Centre of Sri Lanka is coordinating the construction of adequate drainage to deal with the risk of inundation.

The Centre is working in close co-operation with UN agencies and other agencies in this connection. The number of medical staff and health volunteers has been gradually enhanced, family-health centres established and, mortality rates have been brought down to the national average.

Work is underway to ensure better information provision to IDPs so that they are made aware of arrangements to make services available to them and development initiatives being implemented to facilitate their return.

The Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services has taken the initiative of printing and supplying newsletters detailing the progress of de-mining and reconstruction and also providing vital information to IDPs. Measures to improve freedom of movement have been taken.

Authorities

The authorities in charge of maintaining the camps have also put in place a system of day-passes whereby IDPs who need to attend to specific wants, ranging from attending a family wedding to visiting their bank in a nearby town, can leave the camps for a limited period of time.

Our next goal is resettlement of the bulk of IDPs by the end of January next year. We have already commenced programs of resettlement. A total of 11,225 new IDPs, those displaced after 2006, have been resettled from end-March to the beginning of October 2009. In the August to October period alone. 10,182 IDPs from Menik Farm have been returned to their districts of origin in Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Kandy, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavuniya. Resettlement of further IDPs from Vavuniya will continue.

To achieve, this we need to accelerate the process of de-mining. Within the 180-day window we have set ourselves as an initial target for the resettlement program, we also plan to restore basic administrative infrastructure and Construction of administrative buildings such as the District Secretariats, Divisional Secretariats and local Government buildings, schools, health facilities, co-operative sales outlets and agri-service centres have commenced in Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts.

While some of these facilities have already been completed, the construction of remaining facilities is on-going. With regard to de-mining, a condition precedent to any consideration of return and resettlement, from January to August 2009, a total area of 82.08 sq kms in Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar.

The Trincomalee and Vavuniya districts were surveyed and cleared by the Sri Lankan Army and other de-mining agencies and handed over to the Government. In Mannar, de-mining of three-fourths of the rice bowl area will be completed by mid-October 2009 in time for resettlement of IDPs. 13,000 acres have already been cleared and cultivation will begin once resettlement takes place in time with the traditional planting season.

Equipment is key

The Government will provide returners with two acres of land for ploughing, free seed-paddy, fertilizer subsidies and equipment for farming. The de-mining of nine Grama Niladhari (GN) Divisions - small administrative units - in Kilinochchi is expected to be completed soon to facilitate resettlement. De-mining of areas in the Mullaitivu district has also commenced.

The acquisition of new equipment is key to rapid de-mining. We have managed, through the injection of Government funds, managed to acquire some flailing machines and are encouraged that others have expressed an interest in contributing to funding the purchase of more machines. Chairperson, we successfully conducted a National Consultation on protracted cases of displacement last year. These IDPs, including Muslims who were expelled from the Northern Province by the LTTE 20 years ago, pose a challenge due to the complexity of their situation having been in a situation of displacement, in some cases, for 15 to 20 years. We have to revisit the problems faced by these persons and seek to bring them within the Government’s program of reconstruction, resettlement, reintegration and reconciliation.

Reconstruction and development is also a priority on the Government’s agenda. A Presidential Task Force was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in May 2009 for the Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province. It is mandated to prepare strategic plans, programs and projects to resettle Internally Displaced Persons, rehabilitate and develop economic and social infrastructure of the Northern Province.

Development of all

It will oversee the development of all physical infrastructure, restoration of Government and other services and the creation of an environment in which normal civilian life can resume and continue. The Chair of the Presidential Task Force, Senior Advisor to the President, Hon. Basil Rajapaksa MP, is working tirelessly to implement this program. A massive quantum of investment is required to ensure the success of this exercise with an estimated US$ 150 million being committed to date. The Government is determined that the facilities available to the people in the rest of the country will be available to the people in conflict-affected areas.

The smooth transition from early recovery to medium and longer-term economic development is also being planned for. This long term development strategy is being developed and implemented under a program known as the Wadakkin Wasantham, which will usher in a new era for the people of the North. The Government also is committed to focus attention on the long-standing issue of protracted IDPs. The next focus is on reintegration which is perhaps one of the most important initiatives to ensure sustainable recovery in the post conflict era.

To be continued