The Hon. (Mrs.) Hemali Weerasekara - Deputy Chairperson of Committees

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, the people of Gampaha District gave over 1.75 million votes toward a democratic administration. I salute them.

¶ 02 An African proverb says: the world rests upon the woman. She gives life to life. Although women are an integral part of society, they have long been placed in an unequal position in the main social, economic, cultural, and political processes — at home, in the community, the workplace, and politics. Neoliberal economic policies in recent decades have exacerbated these inequalities. Women were directly affected by the weakening of education, health, the economy, and social protection. Most women lacked awareness that politics drives these outcomes. Although women are 56.1 percent of voters, many did not fully realize the value of their sovereign power.

¶ 03 From the outset, as NPP women under the leadership of the Prime Minister, we organized “Women, Together as One” — mobilizing women village to village, home to home; politically empowering and ideologically strengthening them to raise their voices for their rights; and engaging them intellectually in politics beyond the confines of care work. We have taken women from school and temple committees and welfare and microcredit societies into the heart of political life. “Women, Together as One” has become the largest women’s activation programme in our history.

¶ 04 Globally, Sri Lanka lags far behind in women’s political representation. In 2023, Rwanda’s Parliament had 61.3 percent women; Cuba, 55.7 percent. In our region too, except perhaps the Maldives, others are ahead. We aim to introduce policies to increase women’s representation in political structures to at least 50 percent. We are bringing women’s representation from elite family politics to the grassroots.

¶ 05 Women contribute significantly to the economy — in teaching, nursing, tea plucking, apparel, and domestic work in the Middle East — yet their representation in administration, the executive, and governance is very low. Only about 30 percent of women are in the national labour force, with over 70 percent in the care economy. Those in the labour force face wage gaps, fewer opportunities, and physical and psychological harassment at work. Those migrating for domestic work face family separation, with children losing maternal care, strained marriages, vulnerable youth, and social harm, while the women themselves face mental stress, safety risks, health issues, and abuse.

¶ 06 We will reform labour laws and policies to ensure working women’s job security and dignity. We will ease the burden on women trapped in the care economy by socializing a significant share of care work. Based on skills and capacity, women must be given rightful space in political, administrative, and economic arenas. Fifty-two percent of our nation’s human resources are women; their potential must drive national progress.

¶ 07 In the development we envision, we will expand women’s entrepreneurship, provide banking and credit facilities, identify and train talented women with structured awareness programmes, and build “industrial villages” at the village level to bring women’s labour into the national economy.

¶ 08 Many women in our country do not enjoy life; they endure it — confined from living room to kitchen, rarely having time for joy, and many hardly seeing beyond their village. Philosophers say a nation’s development can be measured by women’s condition. By that measure, much remains to be done.

¶ 09 In 2023, Rs. 152 billion was allocated for women, children, and social welfare; in 2024, it was cut to Rs. 76 billion — showing how past governments treated women and children.

¶ 10 The NPP’s goal is a free society where women — who are half the population — enjoy social rights without physical, verbal, or psychological violence. We will change mindsets, reform institutions, and establish protective mechanisms through domestic laws aligned with international conventions we have signed. We aim for at least 50 percent women’s participation in decision-making bodies from Parliament to local authorities. Then women of all ethnicities and religions can live with dignity. Across North, South, East, West, and the Hills, Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Burgher women — Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Christian and others — are united under “Women, Together as One,” to build a prosperous country and beautiful life for our children. I conclude:

¶ 11 “To build tomorrow for our nation, Victory, together in one station, For the world we shall aspire, Women, together, one strong choir.”

¶ 12 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker.