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| A lady working with the Women's Empowerment Unit in Jaffna producing coir |
Sewalanka Foundation works to assist Sri Lankan women and girls in improving their social and economic status in society through the provision of targeted programmes. Sewalanka’s overarching mission is to improve conditions of the poorest of the poor, and the economic and social empowerment of women and girls at the grassroots level is essential.
Therefore in 2003/04, Sewalanka Foundation
demonstrated this commitment by establishing the Women’s Empowerment
Unit (WEU). The WEU functions are to:
• Initiate women
focussed projects and create a central organisational focal point for these
projects/programs
• Empower
women beneficiaries and staff capacities by improving leadership qualities
• Undertake
coordinated networking with other Sri Lankan women groups and organisations
As the first step, the WEU established a National Women’s Steering Committee consisting of female staff members from each Sewalanka district office. This committee is initially engaged in identifying and selecting female-based CBOs and collecting information about their problems and needs, and their strengths and weaknesses.
Secondly, the division focussed on designing more women targeted projects in order to improve or rebuild the lives of those vulnerable groups of women in the country. The Social and Economic Empowerment of Women in the North and East of Sri Lanka Project is an outcome of this effort. This is a World Bank initiative through the Japanese Social Development Fund, executed by the National Development Bank and implemented by Sewalanka Foundation. The project operates in nine villages in Jaffna, Vavuniya, and Trincomalee over a three-year period and aims to enhance woman’s sustainable participation in social and economic activities both at the domestic and community levels. Amongst other things, this project supports women in starting their own businesses.
The WEU also assumed responsibility in 2003/04 for the Helvetas-funded Psychosocial Programme in Vavuniya and Mannar. Specially trained officers meet villagers individually and informally through “befriending”, they conduct awareness workshops and seminars on issues including women, children and alcohol, and host also special events.
Finally, Sewalanka Foundation is very proud of the partnership formed in
2003/04 between Oxfam GB and our Ampara office. The partnership supports
the strengthening of the Ampara Office as a model of gender sensitive interventions
across all projects and programs. This is being achieved through the employment
of a Gender Project Coordinator, who works with existing field officers
and volunteers to ensure issues of gender sensitivity are incorporated into
their everyday work, networks with other district organisations and undertakes
ongoing training.
>> To find out more, contact:
Ms. K. Navaratne, Director - Women’s Empowerment.
