Bringing Women Together Across the Divide

Consultative meeting for recommendations on 1325 national action plan

The Association of War Affected Women together with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs   organized a colloquium  on the 19th of August 2008 at the ministry of Women’s Affairs Auditorium where the Hon minister of Women’s Affairs presided.

This colloquium was convened to get the recommendations of the national level women leaders and INGO representatives for a National action plan on UN resolution  1325

The Colloquium was well attended and was very successful and future plans were also decided. .

AWAW have launched a massive advocacy campaign to demand a 33% quota in the nomination lists for women in all political offices, we have taken the below action on this regard  during July 2008

We have written to all leading NGOs appreciating their tireless work on this regard and seeking their support .

 

Women leaders  of all 25 districts have given letters to all members of parliament in their respective districts.

 

Women of Central Province Women’s voice is engaged in a big signature collection campaign from political and administrative heads though out Central province

 

AWAW together with the 25 women leaders of “TEAM 1325” made a highly successful advocacy  visit to the Sri Lankan parliament on the 10th of July and met 22 elected members in person and had very fruitful discussions with the Hon. Speaker, Hon. Minister Diensh Gunewardena, head of parliament select committee of electoral reforms, Hon. Dallus Alahapperuma, Hon.Minister Karu Jayasuriya, Hon. Joseph Michel Perera Hon. Dilan Perera, Hon. Sambandan and many others.

AWAW has recently made connections with London-based Tamil Women’s Development Forum (TWDF),

 a group advocating for the human rights of ALL women in Sri Lanka and the Diaspora. TWDF convened an International conference in May 2008 to look at the ways to promote gender equality and empower women, where AWAW along with women from various other organizations spoke

TWDF chair says, “We work with a few groups in Sri Lanka and this connection with the AWAW a Sri Lanka-based organization is critical for us. We wish to respond to the needs of all Sri Lankan women and partnering and working through experts in the field is a great way to move forward. I look forward to what we can achieve together”

• AWAW /IRI  summit was held in June at the Hill Top Hotel , Kandy with the able guidance of Daniela Dimithrievska  a very able Mazadonian trainer and Robert Kushing from IRI DC.

• AWAW embarked on a new project called “An Exploration of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices: Women and Conflict” working in Matara, Galle and Kalutara districts with 6 women’s organizations, these are from the initial meetings held with the organizatons

• AWAW held its 1st resource pack preparation workshop at the Hotel Hill Top Kandy on the 11th 12th and 13th of July

Visaka Dharmadasa held a training for North Korean Defector Women’s organization on the invitation of IRI

• AWAW initiated a new project with the partnership with WUSK – Women Defining Peace project, to train selected 60 women from 6 local level women’s organizations two each from Matara, Galle and Kalutara districts,  on three interrelated subjects, Active listening, conflict resolution and women’s coping mechanisms in post disaster situation and also learn from the experience from these women and also look into the possibility of building a local level women’s agency for peace building in Sri Lanka

More than 60 Women from central Province who are politically active participated in this very special event which brought two powerful women ministers and Several parliament members as well provincial council and local level women politicians to share and learn more from each other off not only running to political office but being politically active in their day to day life.

Apart from the Sri Lankan politicians, two parliament members from Philippines and Maldives were also present to contribute with their experience. We also had the privilege of having US ambassador to Sri Lanka Mr. Robert O Blake, Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Madam Angela Bogdon and Swiss Ambassador Madam Ruth Fliint and the secretary to the Sri Lankan Parliament with us.

As it is becoming increasingly evident, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has resulted in gross violations of human rights, decline in the democratic practices and enormous loss of human lives. It is also destroying the society, economic growth, and human development. As a direct impact thousands of women and children as well men have been affected. In a situation where both parties have not withdrawn from the ceasefire but are engaging in open warfare, returning to the negotiating table in the near future has become a distant dream. In a rapidly growing hostile and uncertain political climate, norms of good governance and best practices are even more remote.

Even when the parties return to the table and a final solution is found the deterioration of the society in all aspects will pose a very big challenge in implementing the agreement. Taking this ground reality into consideration and the necessity of women in decision making levels if we are to envisage a country where the democratic practices are upheld and good governance is in place, AWAW together with IRI has proposed a series of workshops to train women to run to political office, specifically in the central province of Sri Lanka.

The first round of workshops on Advocacy conducted by Representative Hon. Leslie Waters-Florida, USA. Was held in August 2007 in Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya.

The 2nd round on Funding your Programs: Successful Proposal Drafting workshops were conducted by Sondra Govatski of IRI in Kandy Matale and N’ Eliya on September 2007

The Association of War Affected Women with the cooperation of Forum of Federations of Canada did organized a seminar on women’s perception on Power sharing in Sri Lanka. As we all knew, a viable power sharing arrangement is a must, if we are to see an end to the armed conflict which has engulfed our country for the past two and half decades.

As this issue is directly impacting on our country’s future, It is important that as women, for us to engage in broader consultations with women of all walks of life in this country. Though there have been numerous opinions expressed and several proposals tabled to address this issue, a collective women’s voice is yet to be heard.

We believed that this conference can be a major milestone towards that direction. As much as this conference is important for the issue it l address, it is also very important for the fact that it brought together all elected women politicians of all political parties for the first time under one roof.

The Tsunami of December 26, 2004 brought a new wave of devastation to parts of the island that had already been badly affected by the conflict. In addition, large parts of the coastal areas of the south and west of the island were also badly damaged. Official estimates are that more than 31,000 people in Sri Lanka were killed and approximately 6,300 are missing. An estimated 4,43000 persons were displaced and the affected population is estimated at 1 million out of an estimated population of 19 million.

Women appear to have suffered disproportionately from the tsunami. The majority of the deceased adults were women, and the majority of displaced adults are women. Many women have lost their husbands and / or financial support of their husbands, and are in need of training so that they can provide for their own financial well-being. As the statistics show the most affected by the tsunami are fisher folks and those women who have lost their husbands are left with no skills or livelihood to fend for themselves and their children. Two years down the road these women are still in camps or in houses of their own but find it difficult to manage the day to day expenses as they have lost their businesses and if they are given a small support to stand on their feet they can start their lives back and make a better live for them as well their children.

Taking the above facts into consideration AWAW with the generous support of Global fund for Women distributed sewing machines, Spice grinding machines, Cake baking ovens and cash for 95 women of the Great Tsunami Women’s organization of Matara, they plan to make this a revolving activity and the women are confident that they can multiply the numbers of beneficiaries,