20 February 2017 11:20 am
The Sri Lanka Institute of Directors (SLID) and International Finance Corporation (IFC), recently as part of the SLID Power Evening series had a lively and interactive discussion on why there were less women in the corporate sector in Sri Lanka when women achieved leadership roles in professions, academia and judiciary.
SLID Chairperson Shiromal Cooray welcomed those present while IFC Country Officer Victor Navaranjan Antonypillai delivered the opening remarks. Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Managing Director Amit Tandon, the keynote presenter for the evening, shared data and information on women on boards from a global perspective.
He posed the question as to whether we were misreading the data. Are we guilty of stereotyping women? He concluded by sharing actions that can be taken to improve the participation of women in the boardroom such as mandatory provisions and mentoring programmes that have been successful in India. The panel discussion, which followed, was moderated by Cargills Bank and HNB General Insurance Independent Non-Executive Director and SLID Council Member Faizal Saleih. He switched from the panellists to the participants and vice versa making the session interesting and interactive.
The panellists were Women in Management Chairperson Dr. Sulochana Segera, Laugfs Holdings Chairperson W.K.H. Wegapitiya and Tandon.The participants posed questions and shared their ideas and views. The three key recommendations that came out of the programme are as follows:
nCompanies should provide paternity leave,
nIn accordance with best practice, each company should have a minimum of one female director and
nCorporates should support SLID’s mentorship programme to encourage more women to take up board positions, broaden their career opportunities and provide a pipeline to companies of board-ready women.
The closing remarks were delivered by SLID CEO Chamindā de Silva, who thanked SLID’s annual corporate partners Dialog Enterprise, DIMO Technology, Ms. Linea Aqua, Janashakthi Insurance and BoardPac, annual print media partner Wijeya Newspapers, annual magazine partner Echelon and the participants for attending the event. The evening concluded with refreshment being served and the opportunity to network.