18 June 2016 12:00 am
The Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) Sri Lanka forum celebrated the WiLAT Founders Day with a mini walk with the participation of WiLAT Executive Committee and International Vice President South Asia Romesh David at the EFL Campus to mark the occasion.
WiLAT was founded in Nigeria by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) on June 12, 2010 during the tenures of the late Professor Emeritus Micheal Filani, CILT Nigeria President and Professor Allan Waller, then CILT International President.
Hong Kong, Middle East, Uganda, Sri Lanka, India and South Africa followed suit and successfully formed their WiLAT fora. The WiLAT Global forum was launched on June 3, 2013 in Colombo, when Sri Lanka hosted the CILT International Conference during the tenure of Dr. Dorothy Chan as CILT International President, the first female to hold this position in CILT’s 94-year history.
Dr. Dorothy Chan is currently the Global WiLAT Advisor. Founder of WiLAT, Aisha Ali Ibrahim is the Global Convenor. To mark these occasions, WiLAT has annual events across the WiLAT communities around the world. WiLAT founders, Nigeria celebrated the occasion by organising a walk on June 12, on the sixth year of WiLAT existence. The walk was attended by 100 participants.
WiLAT Sri Lanka co-founder and Chairperson Gayani de Alwis said that it was a momentous day for WiLAT and excited to be part of this journey. She further said that CILT’s decision to launch WiLAT fora globally to attract females to the sector had paid rich dividends and would definitely pave the way for more females to engage and create value to this sector.
WiLAT is the women’s forum of CILT. It is part of an ever expanding global network within CILT. The main objective of WiLAT is to promote and encourage the art and science of logistics and transport among women. Currently WiLAT is present in 17 countries in three continents with over 1600 members in the global network, which is expanding rapidly.
WiLAT Sri Lanka is one of the five pioneering fora of the global network which was established on March 21, 2013. In Sri Lanka female representation in logistics is at 2.9 percent. WiLAT membership is open to all women working in public and private sectors and in academia in the areas of logistics, transport, supply chain and supporting functions in organisations. WiLAT Sri Lanka forum is expected to provide a platform for women engaged in the industry to maximize their true potential both professionally and personally.