Browsing by Author "Karunaratne, Nirosha"

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    A Desk Review to Assess the Sri Lankan Girls' and Young Women's Economic and Social Empowerment for Leadership
    (Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, 2017) Madurawala, Sunimalee; Arunatilake, Nisha; Madushni, Chethika; Karunaratne, Nirosha
    The causes of women’s less political participation and less managerial positions held by women, and low levels of participation in the labour market, have not been analysed around political economic and social empowerment of girls and young women (i.e. girl’s participation in leadership and decision making at every level in order to catalyse the girls rights movement and bring about change) in Sri Lanka. At the same time, it will be beneficial for Girls and also the duty bearers to explore the policy / program and evidence points around the benefits of promoting more female social and economic empowerment from early childhood (norms and stereotypes) through to employment and later to elections and political parties (quotas, voting age etc.). In Sri Lanka there is very less evidence based research that highlights the causes of gender inequality and barriers to Girls empowerment and leadership. In this backdrop, this study aims to investigate the challenges faced by Sri Lankan Girls’ and Young Women - in social and economic spheres- for leadership roles. The methodology of this study took a qualitative approach, including a scan of national strategic documents, national policies, political and legal frameworks, development programmes of international agencies, complemented with consultations with government partners, corporates and community members, to gather insights and perspectives of the deep rooted challenges face by Girls and Young Women in Sri Lanka to take on leadership roles and engage in decision making. The consultations held nationally and in 5 representative Districts (Colombo, Anuradhapura, Monaragala, Batticaloa and Nuwara Eliya) demonstrate that gender inequality is felt across by the communities, as an important aspect of their community. Nevertheless, their varying degrees of understanding the subtle nuances of gender inequality and how that affects Girls future were based on their levels of awareness and deep analysis of these factors.