Help Sri Lanka | South Asian Women Leaders Association

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In Sri Lanka

The majority of people in Sri Lanka are women. Sri Lanka faces an economic crisis partly resulting that its domestic expenditure exceeds its national income. The economic crisis is affecting the daily life of the population. Hospitals have reported shortages of medicines, price increases have made food unaffordable for part of the population. Food production in 2022 has also been lower than usual because of the ban on chemical fertilizers, which will likely affect food access for several. More than 5.7 million people, including 2.3 million children, require humanitarian assistance. Sri Lanka is among the top ten countries with the highest number of malnourished children and the numbers are expected to rise further. Loss and precariousness of income means that children are being exposed to violence and stress, and increased school absenteeism/dropout due to the current crisis could further increase such risks. In addition, more families are soliciting to institutionalize their children in face of aggravating poverty.

The majority of Sri Lankan women earn their living through agriculture, domestic work, handwork, and self-employment. Their income has now been lost. The crisis primarily affects women and children. For them, daily bread is a challenge. We determined that we needed to launch a national food program to keep the poorest people from going hungry. Women in Sri Lanka are suffering as a result of various forms of violence against women. Many women lost their beloved husbands, fathers, and sons who were the breadwinners of the family after three decades of bitter war. Following the war, many women took on the role of family breadwinners. Sri Lanka is also still a developing country. More than 65 women are employed in agriculture and domestic work. Their jobs are not secure. Because of the covid 19 and economic crisis, these women have no income and struggle to meet their daily needs, particularly food.

Women are culturally and religiously bound in Sri Lanka because it is a patriarchal society. Women lack the mental and social freedom to stand up for themselves. Despite the fact that women constitute the majority of the Sri Lankan population, maltreatment is prevalent in all sectors. The gender pay gap is high in Sri Lanka, as are workplace harassment, sexual bribery, and domestic violence, as well as being forced to live in a bitter marriage life. Furthermore, hunger as a result of the economic crisis is a significant barrier to their survival. Women who live on a daily basis have lost their income. They don’t have a plan for survival or food. The health of children is jeopardized. This is the time to stand up for women and help them stand on their own two feet. We are immediately faced with the challenge of feeding them and keeping them from going hungry. We are planning a national food program to assist widows and women-headed families throughout the country. Our national food program provides dry rations to women-headed households throughout the country.

The program is known as the National Food Progaram. While feeding the country’s needy women, we must start a small microbusiness to sustain their income. Due to corruption and nepotism in Sri Lanka, no government has addressed women’s issues directly. We can only help them overcome poverty because we are members of society who understand their anguish. Not only is it our primary goal to empower women to speak up for themselves and to end inequity and inequality within the system and the country. To accomplish this, we must identify and train women leaders from the grassroots level. Many female leaders may come forward if they have a secure platform on which to stand. We’ll do it for them. We can’t do it on our own. As our neighboring country, as equals in culture and values, as a wealthy country that values women’s rights, we would like to request your assistance in this wonderful project.