Sunday Times 2
Feminist defence policy would stop wars: Dr Yvonne Ridley
View(s):By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
Dr Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist, author, and politician who was in Sri Lanka for a series of events organised by the Merci Lanka Foundation, lauded the organisation for uplifting women entrepreneurs.
“Many of the recipients are becoming businessmen and women for the first time and they are guided by the Merci Lanka Foundation micro enterprise relief credit initiative. Being the pioneer interest-free loan scheme in Sri Lanka, which started with a mission to connect people through micro lending free of interest to alleviate poverty makes it even more special,” she said in an interview with the Sunday Times recently.
Discussing how she got into journalism, she said that she believed the pen is mightier than the sword. “If you are faithful in reporting the truth off the ground then you can change people’s lives for the better.”
A committed trade unionist and feminist, she held several branch positions in the National Union of Journalists and was one of the founders of Women in Journalism in London , and is now a member of the more recent WIJ in Scotland.
Among the challenges she encountered in her career, she said misogyny was rampant early on. “It was a very male-dominated boorish culture. Now I am happy to see that the face of journalism has changed.” She lauded citizen journalism but was quick to say that it is no substitute for trained journalism.
In 2001 she was captured by the Taliban after sneaking into Afghanistan, an experience she describes as ‘terrifying’. She was released 11 days later on humanitarian grounds.
Life as an undercover journalist changed for her as her face was plastered all across the media during her captivity. She turned to humanitarian writing on how different donor and aid foundations worked.
She noted that the success rate of the loans provided by the Merci Lanka Foundation is at 80 per cent which is extremely high. She had also met with 20 to 30 young people at the vocational training academy.
She was critical of the current Ukraine – Russia war, saying that “we were fed with a lot of spin and propaganda” and the international community has stood back and let this happen.
She also advocated for women leaders to take a stand stating that they are less likely to strut into a war, unlike men.