Women's Development Centre

The Women's Development Centre hosted a dynamic 5-day Training of Trainers workshop for the Youth Civic League of Kandy, with the support of the Hillcountry Women's Forum! 🤩📚

📅 From August 29th to September 2nd, the workshop focused on Civic and Voter Education, empowering our young leaders with the knowledge and tools to engage meaningfully in the democratic process.

Together, we're equipping our youth to be active, informed, and responsible citizens. 🗣️🗳️ Let's continue working towards a brighter, more inclusive future! 💪🏽🌟

The second Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop was conducted in the district of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, at the National Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Training Institute Kalawewa-Vijithapura from August 23rd to 27th, 2023, in collaboration with Rajarata Praja Kendraya. This workshop aimed to provide participants with a strong theoretical foundation in Civic and Voter Education, along with practical skills to share this knowledge within their communities. Furthermore, it served as an inspiration for YCL members to actively promote civic engagement and to ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups in politics.

Representing the YCL Anuradhapura chapter, a group of 25 youths from the Anuradhapura district took part in this workshop. It's noteworthy that the participants included individuals from the differently-abled community as well as representation from the LGBTIQ+ community.

As first-time voters, the participants gained a deeper understanding of the voting process in Sri Lanka and learned about the essential factors to consider when selecting competent representatives. In addition, through in-depth discussions, participants acquired insights into the country's existing political culture and the prevailing issues related to Nepotism and Party Politics.

The "Youth Civic League" is a group of youth that champion the right to civic and voter education. This dynamic group is dedicated to fostering enhanced civic and political literacy, cultivating healthy democratic attitudes, and building the capacity to raise community awareness about the importance of inclusive and clean politics. Their mission is also focused on launching Attitudinal Change-Oriented Action and influence initiatives designed to reshape the civic culture and promote the inclusion of marginalized groups in civic and political processes.

Along with the funding support of the International Republican Institute (IRI), the WDC with the Women Development Federation facilitated a five-day Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop for the Youth Civic League (YCL) at the Viharamahadevi Human Development Center in Hambantota during the month of August. The aim of this workshop was to equip YCL members with the skills and knowledge necessary to become proficient trainers in Civic and Voter Education (CVE). Participants received both theoretical insights into democracy, the rule of law, civic and voter education, and gender inclusion, as well as enhanced practical skills required for effective knowledge transfer to their respective communities.

A job fair was held in Matale on the 25th of March, 2023 at the St. Thomas College Main Hall with the participation of more than 200 job seeking youth and representatives from companies and higher education institutes around Matale. It was a great opportunity for students who have recently completed their secondary education and are currently looking to enter the job market or pursue higher education. Apart from introducing vacancies and job openings, the Youth Service Council had also organized a career key assessment where participants were able to identify their interests and preferences when it comes to choosing a career path.

This event was organized by the Matale Women’s Forum, Women’s Development Center together with the Youth Service Council, Matale under the project of the Commonwealth of Learning.

A training on conducting a value chain analysis was held on the 16th of March at the WDC headquarters. 31 persons, inclusive of WDC staff, women’s forum leaders and women entrepreneurs participated at this programme, which was facilitated by former resource person from Janathakshana (people’s technology), Mr. Kamal Kumara Kekulandara. The session focused on how value chain is not only focused on business aspects but also on personal and moral values. By the end of the session, participants were able to fully understand the importance of a value chain and how they could apply certain strategies to improve their own business development initiatives.

This programme was facilitated through the project funded by the Commonwealth of Learning

On the 14th of March, 2023 a job bank was held at the department of youth services in Nuwara Eliya in order to create links between job seekers and employers within the Nuwara Eliya district. The target group for this job bank were youth who had completed their Advanced Level examinations and are following their higher education.

Hotels, Insurance companies, Keells, Abans, Damro, RDB Bank and press companies were in attendance to present job opportunities for the 51 youth who were at the event. This was a valuable opportunity for youth to seek well paying jobs particularly during the economic crisis.

The event was organized by the Nuwara-Eliya women’s forum together with the national Youth Service Council under the project of the Commonwealth of Learning

Happy International Women’s Day! 💪

This year we want to acknowledge the importance of ‘Innovation & Technology’ for gender equality. The ability to use a computer, a laptop, a tablet, or a smartphone and internet access is not always encouraged the same in many countries. According to a digital report on national averages in Sri Lanka, digital literacy was at 53% for men and 46.2% for women in Sri Lanka, while internet usage was at 38.6% for men and 30.6% for women. Poor economic conditions, increased work burdens, lack of time as well as socio cultural attitudes, limited digital infrastructure and geographical barriers prevent women from affording digital technologies.

We also want to point out the obstacles that women experience more often than men. Cyberbullying, sexual harassment, doxing, threats, disclosure of private photos and videos without permission are problems women and girls face in cyberspace.

“Let's keep working for a gender equal future where our next generation can be free from gender inequality on all levels. And keep encouraging women and girls to digital access and education, thereby helping them unlock their full potential”

“Even though I’m visually impaired, the knowledge I received today was felt in my bones. Now I can spread this knowledge to everyone” - feedback from a participant

An advocacy training session was conducted under the project funded by the Commonwealth of Learning on the 10th of February. 34 members representing Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), and women entrepreneurs participated at the session, which was led by a resource person from WDC.

What was interesting about the session was the overall interaction of the participants. People with physical disabilities were able to communicate and engage themselves within the programme. Topics on issue identification and mediation were also discussed at the session.

Would you like an opportunity to develop your skills and become an entrepreneur? If so, contact Sthree to know more about the courses we offer.

📞 081-4933593 and book your place before they run out!
📍 327 Peradeniya road, Kandy

Improving the right to health for marginalised communities - Commonwealth Foundation Marginalised Tamil plantation and Muslim minority communities in Delthota, Sri Lanka face barriers in exercising their right to health, including access to sexual and reproductive health and clean drinking water.

After two years of holding meetings online, the Network of Women (NoW) organisation was able to hold its first quarterly meeting face to face for the year 2023. Representatives from the forums of Kandy, Delthota, Matale, Hanguranketha, Nuwara Eliya, Galle, Monaragala, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Ampara, Mannar and Kilinochchi were able to participate at the programme.

The two-day meeting, which was held on the 19th and 20th of January, focused mainly on the component of organisational capacity building, with a special focus on gender equality, SGBV intervention and child safeguarding. During the past year the WDC was able to conduct organisational assessments of each member forum of the NoW and present the findings at this meeting. This provided an opportunity for the forums to analyse themselves and identify the gaps that need to be filled

Through this analysis we hope to conduct more organisational capacity building workshops for our women's forums around Sri Lanka and enable them to become strong change agents, ensuring the rights of women, children and marginalised communities.

This programme was conducted with the funding support of Save the Children in Sri Lanka and UNFPA Sri Lanka

The first Entrepreneurs’ Society Meeting for the year 2023 was held yesterday (11th January, 2023) at the WDC main hall with a participation of 47 members. The main focus of the meeting was on the exhibition that was held last month at the Kandy City Centre. All members were able to shared their own experiences of the event and encourage fellow entrepreneurs in their business development ventures. We received positive feedback from the entrepreneurs who greatly appreciated the continuous support provided through the WDC.

Welcoming the New Year at WDC

Wishing you all a Prosperous and Happy New Year 2023 🎉

මහනුවර කාන්තා සංවර්ධන මධ්‍යස්ථානයේ ප්‍රජා මූලික පුනරුත්ථාපන අංශය වාර්ශිකව සංවිධානය කරනු ලබන නත්තල් දින සැමරුම් වැඩසටහන 2022.12.20 වන දින මහනුවර ප්‍රෙස්බිටේරියන් දේවස්ථානයේදී පවත්වන ලදී. ගරු සමන් පෙරේරා දේවගැතිතුමා විසින් වැඩසටහන මෙහෙය වන ලදී. මෙම වැඩසටහන සඳහා සියළුම ප්‍රජා මූලික පුනරුත්ථාපන මධ්‍යස්ථානවල පුහුණුව ලබන ආබාධ සහිත දරුවන් සහ දෙමව්පියන් සහභාගිවිය.

The annual Christmas service of the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme was held on the 20th of December, 2022 at the Presbyterian Church - Scots' Kirk - Kandy, led by Rev. Saman Perera. Students and parents representing all CBR centres participated at this joyous event.

With the funding support of UNFPA Sri Lanka, the WDC together with FPA Sri Lanka, the Nawalapitiya MOH and the Pasbage Koralaye Divisional Secretariat’s office conducted a mobile women’s wellness clinic at Hyde Estate in Nawalapitiya yesterday.

The clinic provided an opportunity for participants to gain awareness on eating healthy on a budget, family planning services and opportunities for income generation. Furthermore, donations of maternity and dry ration packs were distributed to pregnant mothers within the area. Over 100 women and children were able to receive valuable services through this initiative.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ජනගහණ අරමුදලේ අනුග්‍රහය ඇතිව, කාන්තා සංවර්ධන මධ්‍යස්ථානය, ශ්‍රී ලංකා පවුල් සැලසුම් සංවිධානයේ නුවර එළිය ශාඛාව, නාවලපිටිය ප්‍රාදේශීය සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරී කාර්යාලය සහ පස්බාගේ කෝරළේ ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කාර්යාලයේ සහාය ඇතිව හයිඩ් වත්තේ ජංගම සෞඛ්‍ය සායනයක් 2022.12.29 වැනි දිනදී පැවැත්වුනි.

මෙහිදී, වයස අවුරුදු 35-45 අතර කාන්තාවන් සඳහා සුවනාරි සායනයක් පෙර පාසල් දරුවන්ගේ මව්වරුන් සඳහා අඩු වියදම් පෝෂණය පිළිබඳ දැනුවත් කිරීමක්, පවුල් සැලසුම් සේවාවන්, ආදායම් උත්පාදන අවශ්‍යතා තක්සේරුවක්, ගැබිණි මව්වරුන් සඳහා අවශ්‍ය උපකරණ කට්ටල සහ වියළි ආහාර ද්‍රව්‍ය බෙදා දීමක් සිදුකරනු ලැබීය. මේ තුළින් ප්‍රදේශයේ කාන්තාවන් සහ දරුවන් 100 කට අධික සංඛ්‍යාවකට සේවාවන් සැපයීමට හැකි වූ අතර, හඳුනා ගත් අවශ්‍යතා සඳහා ඉදිරියේදී වැඩිදුර සේවාවන් ලබාදීමට අපේක්ෂා කෙරේ.

ஐக்கிய நாடுகளின் சனத்தொகை நிதியத்தின் உதவியுடன் பெண்கள் அபிவிருத்தி நிலையம், இலங்கையின் குடும்ப திட்டமிடல் அமைப்பு நுவரெலியா மாவட்ட கிளை, நாவலப்பிட்டி பிராந்திய சுகாதார வைத்திய அதிகாரி அலுவலகம் மற்றும் பஸ்பாகே கோரளை பிரதேச செயலகத்தின் ஆதரவுடன் ஹைத்ரி கிராம சேவகப்பிரிவில் 2022.12.29ம் திகதி நடமாடும் சுகாதார சேவை ஏற்பாடு செய்யப்பட்டது.

இதன் போது 35 முதல் 40 வயது வரை உள்ள பெண்களுக்கான நல மருத்துவம், முன்பள்ளிக் பிள்ளைகளின் தாய்மார்களுக்கு குறைவிலை மூலமான ஊட்டச்சத்து விழிப்புணர்வு , குடும்பக் கட்டுப்பாடு சேவைகள், வருமானம் ஈட்டளுக்கான தேவைகள் மதிப்பீடு, கர்ப்பிணித் தாய்மார்களுக்கு தேவையான உபகரண பெட்டி மற்றும் உலர் உணவுப் பொருட்கள் வழங்கப்பட்டது. இதனூடாக பிரதேசத்தில் உள்ள நூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட பெண்கள் மற்றும் சிறுவர்களுக்கு சேவைகளை வழங்க முடிந்ததோடு, எதிர்காலத்தில் இனங்காணப்பட்ட தேவைகளுக்காக மேலும் பல சேவைகள் வழங்கப்படுமென எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.

Today the Kandy Entrepreneurs' Society kickstarted the 'Femme Creatif' exhibition at the Kandy City Centre - KCC along with distinguished guests. The event was a huge success with the promotion of products made by our women entrepreneurs. The main goal of the exhibition was to secure a long-term customer base and to identify a stable market for handmade, local products.

The exhibition and sales centre will be open tomorrow (17th of December) on the 2nd floor of the KCC. Don't miss this opportunity to purchase handmade, quality products made by our talented entrepreneurs this festive season! 🎉🎄

This initiative is part of the project funded by the Commonwealth of Learning

සෑම මසකම ක්‍රියාත්මක වන Commonwealth of Learning ව්‍යාපෘතිය හරහා ගොඩනැගී ඇති කාන්තා ව්‍යාපාරික ජාලයේ මාසික රැස්වීම 2022/12/08 වන දින ක්‍රියාත්මක විය. එදින සාකච්ඡා වූයේ ආර්ථික අර්බුදතා වලට විසඳුමක් ලෙස දෙසැම්බර් මස 16, 17 Kandy City Centre - KCC හි වෙලඳ ප්‍රදර්ශනයක් සංවිධනය කිරීමයි. මෙම ප්‍රධර්ශනයේ අරමුන වූයේ දිගුකාලීන පාරිභෝගිකයන් ඉලක්ක කර ගැනීමයි.

On the 8th of December, the Kandy Entrepreneurs' society held their monthly meeting at the WDC. The topic of discussion was related to the production exhibition planned to be held at the Kandy City Centre on the 16th and 17th of December. Through this event the group intends to secure a long-term customer base for their products. This initiative is part of the project funded by the Commonwealth of Learning

As we mark Human Rights Day at the end of see below a snapshot of in Asia and the Pacific.

While progress has been made to reduce violence against women in many countries, we still have a lot of work ahead.

[Trigger warning] Victims and survivors of domestic violence sometimes turn to family and friends before seeking formal support services.

They play a critical role in helping survivors escape violence from a partner and providing places for refuge.

Listen to them. Believe them. And help them.

and

If you or someone you know is experiencing violence in any form, call 1938, the national women’s helpline or the Mithuru Piyasa hotline 070 26 11 111

According to research conducted through the National STD/AIDS Control Programme, Sri Lanka, a total of 4404 HIV cases and 49 AIDS related deaths were reported in 2021. This number is gradually on the rise with 282 new cases already recorded in just the 2nd quarter of 2022.

It is important that public awareness on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is conducted, particularly among youth, and that access to HIV services are made affordable and available to everyone equally.

Visit www.aidscontrol.gov.lk or https://know4sure.lk/ for more information

"Among those who do seek help, most look to family and friends as opposed to the police and health services. The percentage of women who seek help from the police, out of all women seeking help, is less than 10% in almost all countries with data" - United Nations

It is important that response mechanisms are established and improved at all levels and that relevant officers are sensitized to appropriately deal with issues such as Violence against Women and Girls. By doing so survivors of violence will be confident enough to seek for support.

From a legal standpoint, Sri Lanka does not recognize marital r**e as an offence. Due to this many cases of intimate partner violence such as marital r**e go unreported. The concept of Consent is something that is alien to a majority of the population.

Therefore, it is important that we call for legal reform so that it becomes a recognized and punishable offence.

Neither your body nor your sexuality belongs to someone else

Speak out and intervene to prevent sexual harassment in public transportation.

One of the first steps towards eliminating violence against women and girls is to promote more awareness among youth on Sexual and Reproductive health

Today marks the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence and WDC together with the funding support of UNFPA Sri Lanka launched the start of the international campaign by raising awareness among the general public around the Kandy town. Similar campaigns are being launched in Nuwara Eliya, Ampara, Monaragala and Anuradhapura districts through the support of our women's forums.

Throughout the 16 days we will be creating public awareness on gender based violence. You also can play a part in sharing this knowledge with everyone you know and lending a hand towards eliminating all forms of gender based violence.

UNITE! to end Violence Against Women and Girls 💪

Last month, the WDC and the Wellassa Women's Forum with the funding support of UNFPA Sri Lanka was able to establish a Women's Resource Centre within the Monaragala district. The facilities available at the centre include psychosocial counselling, legal assistance, opportunities for livelihood development and capacity building as well as temporary shelter/safe house facilities.

Through the establishment of Women's Resource Centres such as these women and girls will have more access to services and resources needed in addressing issues of gender based violence and Violence against Women and Girls (VaW/G)

On Saturday the 24th of September the WDC together with the funding support of Global Shapers Kandy Hub were able to distribute Rs.10,000 worth of dry ration packs for 95 low income families within the regions of Kandy and Matale. Donation recipients from Matale were also provided an awareness session on gender led by the Matale women's forum.

This initiative was carried out in order to assist most vulnerable communities during the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Saroja* was referred to the WDC shelter for survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence a year ago, where she received shelter care, counselling, educational support, skill development training and so on. During her stay at the shelter, Saroja was able to acquire skills in home gardening, knitting, weaving, packaging, shoe making, ekel broom production, coconut shell products, candle making and cookery through our inhouse trainers.

Equipped with the skillset that she has, Saroja was able to successfully complete her stay at the shelter and be reintegrated back to her home, along with the support of her family. We hope that through this she would be able to find employment or start up her own self-employment business in order to support herself and her family. Our field staff will continue to monitor her progress and provide additional support in reaching her personal goals.

*name and image are concealed to protect their identity

On the 12th and 17th of August two programmes covering the topics of the Right to Information (RTI) act and eco friendly fertilizer production were held at Kelebokka and Bambaraella. The initial programme was conducted at the Kelebokka school where students, parents and teachers from the school were able to participate and the second programme was conducted for the women's group in Bambaraella.