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Gender Equality Policy to Cabinet by end Oct.

28 Sep 2022

  • Drafter says CEDAW and Women’s Charter being used as blueprint
  BY Mirudhula Thambiah   The Gender Equality Policy is to be submitted to Cabinet by the end of October, The Morning learnt.  Accordingly, the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act is expected to be drafted based on the main features of the said policy. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (27), Dr. Ramani Jayasundere, who is currently drafting the Policy on Gender Equality, confirmed that the final draft would be handed over to Cabinet by the end of October.  “We are looking forward to speeding up the process. The preliminary draft of the Policy was translated into Sinhala and Tamil languages. It has been made available to all Parliamentarians via the Women’s Caucus in order to obtain comments,” she added.  All the comments are to be incorporated into the final draft, following which it will be shared with a very wide circle of people, and then finalised and submitted to Cabinet, she noted. Dr. Jayasundere noted that this policy will mainly focus on governance and institutional mechanisms. Apart from these aspects, special attention has been paid to the impact of the economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic on women. She further pointed out that President Ranil Wickremesinghe, as Minister of Women’s Affairs, has come up with the idea for a Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Act. The Cabinet paper in this regard highlights a women’s commission and an ombudswoman. “All these features will be included in the policy, and it will have some power. It will also pave the way for monitoring and establishing a grievance-related redress mechanism and institution. Although the Women’s Charter established the National Women’s Committee, there is a lot of discussion that the Committee has no teeth. Thus, attempts have now been made to introduce an Act,” she added.  Dr. Jayasundere also noted that a section shall identify government allocations for the implementation of the Policy, and for facilitating other forms of resource-related support. “I am drafting the policy with advice from the Gender Equality Select Committee and the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus. There is also an advisory committee appointed by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to look into the drafting of the Bill,” she added. She also said that the preliminary draft is very much based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Women’s Charter of 1993.  “We are considering all aspects in the CEDAW, as well as violence against women, which is highlighted in our Charter. The rights of women including education, health, other basic needs, decision making and access to justice will be considered”. This Policy will not only be confined to women’s empowerment, but also include gender minorities and marginalised men, she said. “A section on the girl child has been included in the CEDAW, but we are looking at it from the perspective of girls and boys, with special emphasis on issues raised by girl children. It is quite inclusive and the title in this regard was chosen carefully,” she added. Accordingly, the Parliamentary Women’s Caucus will meet on 5 October to discuss views on the policy, as well as the Bill.  


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