Despite the fact that Sri Lankan women are highly educated and literate, only 4.8 percent of parliamentarians are women. To correct this imbalance, proactive action is needed by women and men. Under NPC’s Active Citizens for Elections and Democracy (ACED) project, an event was held aimed at securing a 25 percent quota for women in parliament.

Organized in collaboration with the Association of War Affected Women and the People's Action for Free and Fair Elections, the event, which had 263 participants, featured two panel discussions. The first panel included four women political leaders who focused on women’s roles in local government. Each panellist shared her experiences and discussed the challenges and successes she faced in her political career.

NPC Executive Director Dr. Jehan Perera emphasised the need to enhance women’s empowerment as a critical step toward achieving the 25 percent quota in parliament. “Although women are a majority in this country, they are a minority when it comes to politics. Democracy is supposed to be executed with the majority voice and opinion but a greater part of society is excluded from the main discourse. They don’t have power; this has been the reality in our country since independence,” he said.

While the 25 percent quota in local government represented a step forward, challenges remained in translating policy into action. Dr. Perera pointed out that women were still underrepresented in decision making positions at higher levels of government, underscoring the need for continued advocacy for gender parity. “In countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark, women’s representation at decision making levels is over 45 percent. This should inspire us to pursue similar changes,” he said.

Anuradhapura Municipal Councillor, Supini Sandamali, highlighted a turning point during the 2018 local government elections when some 1,926 women entered politics because of the 25 percent quota for women. “Local government is like a miniature government that looks after the people and implements decisions for them. We hope that this will be done at the parliamentary level as well. There is a good network of female representatives among local government bodies,” she said, noting the challenge of earning respect from male counterparts. “While our male counterparts acknowledge our efforts in silence, they don’t openly acknowledge the contributions made by women in formulating policies,” she added.

Responding to claims of women’s inability to work in unity, Ms. Sandamali stressed the importance of networking. “Female representatives at local government institutions were able to network from north to south and east to west. We spoke out against injustices faced by women politicians in parliament and made tireless efforts to raise our voices,” she said.

The second panel discussion explored Sri Lanka’s position on women’s political participation globally and within South Asia. Several leaders provided insights into the country’s progress, emphasising the importance of increasing female representation at all levels of government. Speakers at the event included founder of the Association of War Affected Women Visaka Dharmadasa, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, former minister Ferial Ashraff, former Colombo mayor Rosy Senanayake and former MPs Chandrani Bandara and Sasikala Raviraj.

Participants expressed optimism about the potential impact of the 25 percent quota, recognising it as a pathway to greater gender equality in politics. They were motivated by the stories of women leaders who have made strides at the local level, sparking discussions on sustaining this momentum. As Moratuwa Municipal Councillor Shiromi Cooray noted, “Social service is more important than politics when it comes to local government institutions. Over the past five years, we succeeded in making significant progress.”

The event, supported by the European Union, marked a significant moment in the effort to secure representation for women in politics. It set the stage for further dialogue and action with the hope that local level success would inspire changes at the national level. The acknowledgment that women, despite being the majority, have been historically side lined in political discourse reinforces the urgency of implementing measures to ensure their rightful representation.