EU Delegation discusses challenges in female labour force participation

In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017, the EU Delegation hosted an event titled ‘Mind the Gap’ – a conversation on what’s holding Sri Lankan women back from workforce participation on the March 7th at the Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala  Lionel Wendt Art Centre. 
Speakers/Panelists were Dileni Gunawardena, Professor of Economics at the University of Peradeniya, first Sri Lankan to Summit Mount Everest and Women’s Rights Ambassador, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, Ambika Satkunanathan, Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and Dinesh Weerakkody, Chairman of the National Human Resource Development Council of Sri Lanka. 
The topic is in line with the UN’s IWD theme which focuses on “Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030”.  
In Sri Lanka women’s labour force participation continues to be a concern in Sri Lanka. In spite of impressive achievements in girls’ and women’s education and health, Sri Lanka is placed 100th out of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2016 due in part to a lack of parity in economic participation and opportunity.