It was stated at the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus that Gender perspectives should be integrated into the budgetary process to promote gender equality and social inclusivity as women’s participation in the formal labour force in Sri Lanka has traditionally been lower than that of men.
This was stated when the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus met in Parliament under the Chairmanship of State Minister Dr. Seetha Arambepola in the first phase and Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle during the second phase to further discuss matters with the relevant stakeholders to discuss the proposed gender responsive budgeting Bill recently (8).
Accordingly, it was agreed that a framework should be developed for incorporating gender considerations into budget formulation, implementation, and evaluation and to establish monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the impact of gender budgeting initiatives.
Furthermore, the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus also took into discussion strategizing the 25 percent quota for women representation in Parliament. Accordingly, the Caucus was of the view that a strategy should be put in place to change the societal perception of women in leadership. The Caucus also acknowledged the importance of working towards championing 25 percent or more female representation in Parliament and mobilizing women, which constitutes 50 percent of the country’s population for this task.
In the third phase of discussions held, the Caucus took into discussion allowing mothers with children of two-five years of age to migrate to work.
State Minister Geetha Kumarasinghe and MPs Rohini Kumari, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Manjula Dissanayake and Kokila Gunawardene were present at the meeting.
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