Sunday Times 2
International and local Zontians meet at District Conference
View(s):‘Wings for Women 2013′ Zonta International District 25′s 12th District Conference began at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo on Friday, October 25. Justice Shirani Tilakawardena was the chief guest at the grand opening ceremony on Friday evening.
Representatives from India, Bangladesh and Nepal are meeting local Zontians over the weekend to discuss and identify key areas where women need help in these countries and come up with strategies to address them. “Through the deliberations and discussions at the District Conference, we hope to be able to organise better programmes to assist our women, particularly focusing on health advocacy and prevention of violence against women,” said conference Co-Chairs Ramola Sivasundaram and Renuka Fernando.
The Business Sessions taking place on Saturday and Sunday see International Director Joy Orlich and Past Governor of District 25 Dilruba Ahamed heading a discussion on the structure of Zonta and best practices.
President of Zonta Club I of Colombo, Prof. Chandrika Wijeyeratne chaired a workshop titled ‘On achieving Millenium Goals 
four and five and beyond’ with a focus on health related issues. “To achieve empowerment of our women, health plays an important role. When we have good health of women we can have healthy children and families,” said Prof. Wijeyeratne.
‘Zonta says No to violence’, a workshop to be held today, Sunday, October 27 will be presented by member of Zonta Club II Lilamani Dias Benson. Talking about her workshop Ms. Benson said that acts of violence cause more death and disability to women between 15 and 44 years than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined. Aiming to convert public apathy to public empathy, the workshop will look at coming up with actionable initiatives to address this grave issue.
“We are a network of women combined to work against violence against women. Our obligation is to make a voice on behalf of women who need to be heard,” said Ms. Orlich speaking to the Sunday Times.
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