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Parliamentary Committee to look into women’s issues to be tabled
A motion to establish a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to look into gender-based discrimination and violations of women’s rights in the country will be presented to Parliament on Tuesday (9).
The motion will be presented jointly by all 12 female MPs in the current Parliament, who make up the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus.
Their motion seeks to establish a PSC to report to Parliament its recommendations to ensure gender equity and equality with special emphasis on looking into gender-based discrimination and violations of women’s rights in Sri Lanka.
The PSC and its Chair shall be appointed by the Speaker and will consist of not more than 25 members comprising all members of the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus and other male MPs representing all political parties.
Matters the PSC will look into include hearing grievances of women on all sorts of gender-based discrimination including employment, promotional opportunities and harassment in the workplace; reviewing and advocating for the allocation of adequate domestic resources in all sectors and at all levels, and access to improve gender equity and equality in Sri Lanka; scrutinising and reviewing relevant laws, ensuring gender mainstreaming to prevent discrimination and negative impact on the lives of women and girls, and reviewing measures for integration of gender equality principles at national, provincial and local levels.
The PSC’s report is required to be presented to Parliament within a period of one year from the first meeting of the Committee and once tabled in Parliament, it is expected to be referred to the Ministers in charge of the relevant subject to submit their observations and steps taken on the matters raised within eight weeks.
The motion will be presented by Dr Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus Chair, along with Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, Dr Seetha Arambepola, Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Rohini Kumari Wijerathna, Thalatha Athukorala, Geetha Kumarasinghe, Kokila Gunawardena, Muditha Prishanthi, Rajika Wickramasinghe, Manjula Dissanayake and Diana Gamage.