Making Public Policy Work for Women: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 Response

  One night during the pandemic, Nishanthi, a garment factory worker living in a boarding house in Katunayake, was suddenly told by military officers to pack her belongings and leave with the other women. There were 54 of them in …

Beyond the Numbers: The Real Costs and Benefits of Migration for Migrant Mothers

The female migration pattern in Sri Lanka has fluctuated notably over recent years. In 2018, considered a normal year before the economic crisis, women made up 38.6% (81,499) of total departures for foreign employment. However, in 2023, during the peak of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, their share increased to 44.7% (133,048).

Although women made up less than half of all migrant departures (44.7%) in 2023, they accounted for 80.3% of the total complaints (6,051 out of 7,535) received by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), indicating that complaints are proportionally higher among female migrants. Among these, wage-related grievances stand out. Of particular concern is that in 2023 alone, the SLBFE documented 694 complaints about wage non-payment, over half of which were lodged by FMWs. But behind the statistics, personal struggles often go unnoticed, and these untold stories deserve to be heard.

DigitALL: Are Sri Lankan Women Abandoned in Digital Transformation?

Technology plays an important role in modern society. It connects, innovates, and transforms economies and societies at large. Yet, women and girls continue to have limited access to technology. This gender bias is also present in Sri Lanka, where women comprise of over 50% of the population.
This year, the United Nations marks International Women’s Day with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, focusing on the digital gender gap’s impact on widening socio-economic inequalities. This blog explores the factors hindering Sri Lankan women’s access to technology and discusses some ways to overcome them.

Good Riddance to the FBR: What Next to Increase Migrant Remittances to Sri Lanka?

The decision by the Cabinet to partially lift the Family Background Report (FBR) requirement for female migrants is long overdue and a welcome move to promote female labour migration from Sri Lanka. The FBR policy was introduced in June 2013 to restrict females with children under the age of five and to discourage females with older children from taking up foreign employment. The FBR initially covered only female domestic worker departures but in August 2015, this was expanded to cover all females. As a result, from 2013 onwards the dominance of women among worker departures declined significantly. The partial removal of this discriminatory requirement is likely to increase female departures by enabling women to decide independent of their maternal status while minimising delays and vulnerability in the recruitment process. However, to reap the desired outcome of more remittances, the new stock of females departing for foreign employment in the absence of the FBR must be convinced to remit through formal channels.

Breaking the Bias: Increasing Women’s Political Participation in Sri Lanka

Although Sri Lanka elected the world’s first female Prime Minister in 1960, over six decades later, the country’s political arena continues to be male-dominated. Sri Lanka currently ranks at 179 out of 189 countries for the percentage of women in national parliaments. This is far below the country’s South Asian counterparts. Women represent over 52% of the country’s population, yet men continue to play a dominant role in the national legislature. Insufficient female representation is a prominent weakness in Sri Lanka’s political landscape. The 2019 Presidential Election recorded the highest number of contestants in a Sri Lankan presidential election. Of the 35 presidential candidates, only one was female. With an overwhelming majority of the current administration being male, the current share of female members of parliament stands as low as 5.33%. This blog explores the gender disparities in Sri Lankan policymaking and outlines actionable steps to increase the share of women in politics.