Empower women; build economy

5 April 2015 06:23 pm

The world is in a constant state of change and economies are growing faster than ever. If Sri Lanka fell behind this rapid change, we would never be able to get back up again.

Let us take a moment to think about what we are missing…We once had the highest literacy rates in South Asia but our economic growth rate has dropped from 7.7 to 6.4 this year. Is this progress?

One of the major issues we face is gender inequality. Many females in our country are subjected to great discrimination in homes and our culture sometimes promotes this.

Would it not be more beneficial to society if all women who are willing and able, could be out there saving lives, fighting in court or discovering ways to make the lives of differently abled-children easier?
 

"We Sri Lankans need to open our eyes and accept the reality. It is the 21st century; all women need to feel empowered and accepted - they must all be able to study and work. We as the youth are demanding this change"

The deprivation of women from work places is not just a loss to our country but to the world. Of our unemployed population 70 per cent are women. Other countries are fighting for equal-pay laws, but in our country a lot of women, who wish to be employed, do not even have that option.  There are immense benefits of having a more productive population. There will be higher incomes in each household. This would allow them to experience a better standard of living so they could obtain better education and healthcare. It is a chance for the people to get out of the poverty circle. It is a chance for a better lifestyle.
One major dilemma our country will face in 20 years is a demographic dividend.

In theory, it should spur economic growth since dependency rates fall as fertility rates fall. In Sri Lanka however, the reality is that the current working population is 60 per cent and as years go by, this working population will grow older and retire, causing dependency ratios to rise rapidly since a disproportionate number of old people rely upon a smaller population of young working people. Evidently this will not be beneficial to our economy.  So let us just take a moment to think.

We Sri Lankans need to open our eyes and accept the reality. It is the 21st century; all women need to feel empowered and accepted - they must all be able to study and work. We as the youth are demanding this change.