International Women's Day messages:

National programme needed to ensure protection of women - Prime Minister

A long term national programme is needed to ensure honour, protection of life and mental relief of women in place of merely reserving a day of the year for her, said Prime Minister D M Jayaratne issuing a message to mark International Women's Day.

The message: It is with much pleasure that I add my best wishes to the International Women's Day celebrated this time based on the theme "Let's Protect Girls", also conferring paternal love to all Sri Lankan daughters.

Prime Minister D M Jayaratne

Who else is there to claim the ownership of a noble life mixed with the rule of Nature, existence of the world and the warmth of affection? Even though all those realities with regard to the woman remained the same, I feel that we, as a society, are still in a retrogressive vision in the matter of giving her the due share of respect and protection.

It is the generation of women who became the most affected by terrorism that gripped the entire nation throughout a period of thirty years.

We must never forget that it is because of the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa that such untold sufferings she underwent came to a close.

It is also with a certain sense of dignity that I state that, being a nation that stood above all other nations in the matter of establishing male-female social status and equality in position by introducing the first woman Prime Minister to the world. We, also under the present regime, never hesitated to give her the due respect and status based on professional skill.

We can state with pride that Sri Lanka is the only country in Asia where leading positions establishing legal rights in the country such as the posts of Chief Justice, Attorney General as well as the chief Legal Draftsman are being held by women. I cannot recall any other period during which the woman was so well empowered in the professional as well as political field.

We have now reached a moment necessitating a long term national programme capable of ensuring honour, protection of life as well as mental relief of the woman in place of merely reserving a day of the year for her and taking colourful topics to the platform to cover the day's agenda.

I strongly believe that, while facilities for the same are supplied from the government, socially, the Nation as a whole should join hands for achievement of that mission.