Today the premiere specialized savings bank of Sri Lanka, the NSB is chaired by a woman and as a Government institute, we are proud of it. Being a socially responsible corporate citizen we practice such equality in our processes of decision making.
To be treated equally with an open mind without any prejudice, stigma, social barriers, role, occupation or physical harassment is a future women need and want. We look forward to a sustainable future where men and women are seen as equal contributors to the betterment of mankind.
To see the day that we all dream of, the day where men and women are equal in the eye of society we must make sure that women take part and participate when decisions are made. Whether it’s a family discussion, an office meeting, round table, director board and even at the helm of the political arena we should see the active participation of women.
We are celebrating International Women's Day 2021 in a period where the very survival of the human species is being threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. One year ago our country and the whole world got locked down due to COVID-19, the world got together, and humanitarian organizations worldwide funnelled their resources to save the world from the ongoing global health emergency.
When these efforts were broadcasted via mainstream media, printed media and social media platforms we saw something that people from around the world got amazed at. Women were fighting against this brutal pandemic, as doctors, as nurses, as scientists who are at the front line, officials of public administrative bodies, political influencers and as entrepreneurs of the private sector women were leading the world. As a result, this year’s International Women's Day was themed as “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.”
Women are practical and active in their line of duty at home or work, they make sure that they contribute to uplift the society at large. But still, we see many shortcomings in opportunities for women to play the role of leadership at the highest level.
As per the latest report released by the General Secretary of the United Nations on gender parity, there’re only 22 heads of state out of 193 member countries. Also, there are only 24.9% of women legislatures who represent people at democratic councils around the world. At this phase, it’ll take another 130 years to achieve gender parity in the political spectrum.
Another clear cut finding of this study is about the pay gap between men and women. It reveals that even among the front line workers who face the threat of COVID-19 on daily basis the women who work shoulder to shoulder with men are paid 11% less.
Though women bear the same level of responsibilities, the same level of physical and mental stress, the same amount of duties women have been paid less to men in many industries across the world. As an institute that ensures women’s rights, the NSB has taken significant steps to equalize pay among genders without any discrimination.
In the wake of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka we saw our countrywomen become leaders, from the Minister of Health, lady doctors across the country, nurses, lady scientists, front line workers became perfect examples and role models to our daughters and reignited that inner strength to achieve anything in life.
Also, the women segment which we were unable to see in media, the women who did their part for the family and those who are entrepreneurs, women who are employed in the private sector were hit hard by the pandemic yet they prevailed challenging the obvious.
The world is heading in a new direction today. Society accepts that women are pivotal for the betterment of the world and their rights are sacred. As we have witnessed whenever our society faces a threat, women come forward. It may be to fight against a pandemic, to voice against human rights violations, religious extremism, global warming and violations against basic rights of people. The women's organizations both local and international also listen to these women irrespective of the social status or even you are just one person out of many.
Since we represent the ideology of thrift and saving which is common to all women, we wanted to find out how our women stood against the juggernaut of the pandemic. Therefore, we launched a Facebook competition to identify brae women and as we expected we found many and we are ready to award some for their efforts along with the International Women's Day 2021.
Also, we have found ten outstanding lady figures of Sri Lanka who made our country and women all across the world proud amidst the Covid 19 pandemic by doing their duty when the need was dire. At the ceremonial event for International Women's Day 2021, the NSB will accolade these women with the highest honour.
Compared to other countries in the Asian region, Sri Lanka is often hailed for success in protecting women's rights. At present, our women have an equal right to free education and free access to public health. Being a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country where Buddhism is the main religion our people are accustomed to treat women with respect and dignity.
Today the women participation of our labour force is just 32.5% and its simply because they sacrifice their life for the family, they care for the future of kids because of lack of infrastructure to support child care in Sri Lanka and also they are short-handed in support from the counterpart in caring for children.
Another huge factor is that the pressure and unjustifiable treatment at the workplace. Therefore, at the awake of International Women's Day 2021, we would like to urge our community to think again and support women irrespective of raise, religion, social status, wealth or physical appearance to achieve the equality which they deserve.
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