Break the circle of gender inequality and violence

Publié: 11 Mars 2013
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Mr. Rohana, Post Master General, Sri Lanka Post



 UNI Sri Lanka Affiliates Council (UNI SLAC) Women’s Committee celebrated International Women’s Day with more than 100 women and men on 8 March 2013 in Colombo.



Lankika Ariyasinghe, Secretary of UNI SLAC Women’s Committee welcomed audience and honorable guests, Mr. Rohana Abeyaratne, Sri Lanka Post Master General, Anjali Bedekar, the former President of UNI Apro Women’s Committee and Yoko Ogawa, Director for UNI Apro Women’s Activities.



A token of appreciation was presented to Mr. Rohana in recognition of his support to the unions and cooperation specially extended to the Women’s Committee to hold this commemorative event in Sri Lanka Post Auditorium and his inspiring keynote speech.



Following the opening, Mr. Viranjan Dias Sumanasekara, Regional Coordinator, Central Province Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka gave a lecture on “The rule of law and human rights against women abuses and harassments taking place in today’s life” and Ms. A.V. Pramuditha Madhavi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Health Science, Open University of Sri Lanka spoke about the women’s health.



Yoko Ogawa opened the panel discussion and introduced UNI’s “Break The Circle” campaign which fights against gender violence - a global issue. She explained that gender ineqaulity leads to gender violence which in turn increases inequality, resulting in a vicious cycle. Five speakers from UNI affiliates shared the situation on gender inequality and challenges from their sectors and unions. Anjali Bedekar also reported on the situation in India.



This event was a great success because of the well-organized preparation, the women’s teamwork, creativeness, dedication, and thanks to sponsorship and cooperation from Sri Lanka Telecom, Sri Lanka Post, Lanka Hospital, Bank of Ceylon etc. as our affiliates have good relations with their management. The traditional dance performed by local students also added grace to the ceremony.



The new UNI SLAC Women’s Committee was elected after the commemorative symposium. It has ambitious work plans for 2013 including a charity program and intensive women empowerment courses island-wise throughout the year.



For the list of elected officials and members of UNI SLAC Women Committee and presentations, please refer to RELATED FILES.



For more pictures, visit Flickr