The Advocata Institute launched the Women's Policy Action Network on Thursday, the 30th of March, 2023 at the Lavender Hall in BMICH at 6.30PM. The Women's Policy Action Network aims to bring about policy reform through advocacy for the economic empowerment of women. It will be a network run by individuals who are committed to women's empowerment. Harnessing advocacy, collating research, and identifying key problem areas that will impact the lives of women are a few of the targets to be achieved. The group will comprise representatives from Civil Society Organizations, policymakers, and women leaders to generate strong conversations advocating for women.
In light of the disproportionate impact of both the pandemic and the economic crisis on women , enhancing women’s participation in the workforce is even more critical. Therefore, the launch of WPAN was followed with a panel discussion on the thematic area of “Reforms to Empower Women During an Economic Crisis”.
The keynote speaker was Ms.Shiromal Cooray, the Chairman and Managing Director of Jetwing Travels. Remarks were given by the Deputy Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Anouk Baron. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Roshan Perera, Senior Research Fellow, Advocata Institute.
The panel included, Shan Yahampath (Advisor to the Labour Ministry and the Foreign Employment), Sampath Thrimawithana (Director at Virtusa), Anarkali Moonesinghe (Former CEO, CIMB Investment Bank Sri Lanka) and Sumini Siyambalapitiya (Senior Research Analyst, Verite Research)
This WPAN launch was supported by the Kingdom of Netherlands and facilitated by the Advocata Institute
You can access the policy brief here
The full video of the launch of the Women’s Policy Action Network can be found here.