Future of war affected women
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They have to start from scratch |
Ishara Jayawardane
Following its establishment in 2000 the association of war affected
women are concentrating on the political arena namely the representation
of women in politics. The Daily News spoke to chairperson of Association
of War Affected Women Visaka Dharmadasa. Excerpts:
When did your organization begin?
Our organization was established in 2000 following the establishment
of Parents of Servicemen Missing in Action.
How many women are there in your
organization?
It is loose membership we had more than 2000 when we started but now
it has grown with all our associates in all 25 districts.
How do you intend to train women for
parliament/politics?
We are training women at the moment, we have concluded training 500
in 10 districts and now at the moment we are conducting training further
750 in 15 districts. We train them in 5 broad subjects namely
i. Advocacy and lobbying,
ii. Media and public speaking,
iii. Our constitution specifically 13th and 17th amendments to it.
and local government act,
iv. Campaigning, proposal writing and budget preparations,
v. Coalition building and networking. And also on responsibility and
accountability to the public and voter right and the supremacy of the
constitution.
Compared to other countries how is
the representation of women in politics?
Sri Lanka stands among the lowest not only compared to the world but
to even South Asia.
You are an association of war
affected women. What are your future goals?
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Mothers become single parents when their husbands lose their
lives in the battlefield |
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Mothers, wives longing for their loved ones to return home |
Our future goals are many but first and foremost a peaceful country
where all its people will have enough to eat, shelter over their heads,
clothing, good health service and good education system for children and
also where all its peoples are happy enjoying equal rights, most
importantly a law abiding society for our future children to grow up,
Do you feel the future is promising
for women in the political arena?
No not only for women but also for men with integrity, dignity and
education.
What are the challenges and
difficulties you, as women face in politics?
i. First and foremost the violence we face as women in our society
when campaigning for elections.
ii. The election campaigning was becoming too expensive for women and
also if we are politicians with integrity you first have to obey the
election law so women should not put posters in public places.
iii. We need free and fair elections and contestants who have the
education/awareness to accept defeat and victory the same way, We could
have build not only the southern highway but Kandy-Colombo and Jaffna-Colombo
highways from the money spent on election utter nonsense campaigning.
This kind of campaigning will not only hurt us women but this will have
serious implications on our country’s future development.
iv. Women need a 33 percent quota in the nomination lists of all
levels of governance bodies.
Do you feel that Sri Lankan women
have role models in politics?
We have role models not only for our women who wish to be in politics
but for the women of the world. If I can name a few-Sirimavo
Bandaranaike, Adline Molamure, Nesam Saravanamuttu, Shiva Obeysekara,
Tamara Kumari Ilangarathna, in recent times HE Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga, Amara Piyaseeli Rathnayake and Ferial Ashraff. All these
women were very special and did their utmost to the nation. |
