Volume : 12

Issue : 128
E Mail : nandmana@gmail.com
www.humanrightsofficekandy.org

Women make change -

Empower them
We know that education is the best tool to tackle
harmful gender inequality and build confidence of
girls’ and young women’s and equip them with the
skills they need to lead.
Girls and women in every corner of Sri Lankan
society face injustice simply because of their
gender. So, what makes this year 2021 and the
years to come any different. Education as a means
to achieving gender equality was firmly believed by
the Human Rights Office.

Focusing on the theme "Women make change-

empower them” the Human Rights Office Kandy
prepared a poster that was distributed island wide
and organized the International Women's day on the
06th March 2021 at the Parish hall of Fatima
Shrine Padiwatte Kandy Sri Lanka along with the
women headed families.
More than 150 participants from the families of the
disappeared, families of the prisoners, the survivors of torture,
rape, sexual and gender based violence and their families, the
members of the support group and the staff of the Human
Rights Office participated in the day’s programme.
Mrs. Deepika Navaratne was the guest speaker, a reputed
teacher at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy. As customary
invoking blessing on all the participants, the traditional oil lamp
was lit, followed by an introduction to the theme on
“Empowerment of Women” by Fr. Nandana Manatunga, the
director of the Human Rights Office.

Mrs. Deepika Navaratne, the guest speaker shared her experiences as a

widow and a mother of two, stated that it was her courage paved the way
to educate, form and empower her children after the demise of her loving
husband. Further she noted that in the Sri Lankan education system
reinforce harmful gender stereotypes through textbooks that exclusively
depict men in high-powered careers and women in caring roles and “this
has to be uprooted if we are to empower the younger female generation
from the very beginning”.
With her long years of experience been a member of the staff of a girls’
school, she said "School should provide a space in which girls exercise their
agency, make their voices heard, and discover their own power as leaders".
Further, Deepika encouraged the women present, and said that women
should not be demoralized just because they are single parents or widows
but should accept the challenges and go forward and thus she enumerated her life examples and how she overcame challenges to
educate her children.

Participants from different categories, shared their own life stories and road towards achieving their successes. Further the
families of the disappeared staged a short drama on women’s power and a song in expressing their sentiments of gratitude to
the organizers. The day's programme was concluded with a fellowship lunch shared by all the participants.