Sri Lankan businesses need to adopt more transformative initiatives to address infrastructure deficiency by improving transportation infrastructure and childcare facilities to promote women participation in the workforce.
Sri Lanka lags behind in women participation in the workforce compared to other middle income countries in the region. In Sri Lanka, family and childcare responsibilities are often put forward to explain the low labor force participation rate of women with young children.
These sentiments were expressed at the second edition of International Conference on Future of Women 2019, organized by the International Institute of Knowledge Management, held in Colombo last week.
SANASA Development Bank Chairperson Samadanie Kiriwandeniya speaking at the event said systems and structures at most workplaces have been made for a male dominant economy.
People need to be mindful about setting the structure right to make sure they’re not trying to fix the women into somebody else’s structure. Rather than saying employers need to be sensitive to women in workplace, Kiriwandeniya said she always promoted the idea of intelligence and rather than being gender sensitive.
She stressed that women need to be intelligent to use diversity rather than complaining about it and not looking at everything through gender lens. Speaking on financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs, Kiriwandeniya said, “ If you’re talking about entrepreneurship, you’re not talking about charity. You’re talking about serious business. For the last 10-15 years, entrepreneurship is treated as a synonym with microfinance and start ups in Sri Lanka.
You’re doing something to hang on the periphery because you need some money. But doing so and doing a business are two different things. The way you approach micro finance and the way you approach entrepreneurial financing are two different things. By providing micro financing, some people might start businesses; and some people might not.
You need to really know what you need to do. First, you need to get hold of the business idea before you even think about finances.”
She said people think in every bank, there is money available for anybody to walk in and take.
“Many people complaint that they are ready to do things, but banks are not ready to give them money. They should first understand that banks are giving somebody else’s hard earned money to someone else’s dream. When negotiating with the bank, you can’t just go and tell a dream. You have to convince the banker that you have something that is going to work and you know how to make it work. It’s a transaction; it’s a partnership, which you establish with the bank for a long term period. To this end, you need to make sure you establish that ground properly rather than going and expecting financial institutions to fund your project.”
Kiriwandeniya said she did not think there is anything lacking in women in Sri Lanka.
“I don’t think there is a different character of women entrepreneurs and male entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur is an entrepreneur and someone who knows what that person wants to do and who is prepared to run a business.”
She noted that women will always take risks when it comes to starting a new business venture only if the exisiting eco system supports them.
“So it’s not the problem of women. Besides, I always advice my bankers not try to fix the customers with financial literacy, capacity building or business plantings. It is up to us to fix our structures, get the products and accessibility right and most importantly to make our language simpler. So that people don’t have time to come and wait at the lines,” Kiriwandeniya said.
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