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Women & Children
458 speeches · 144 speakers
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By the speaker's party · counts only, no scoring. "Unattributed" = speeches not resolved to an MP.
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Speeches
458 on this topic- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Bimal Rathnayake - Minister of Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation and Leader of the House of Parliament JJB AI summary Hon. Bimal Rathnayake marked International Women’s Day by arguing that women must be enabled to participate fully as citizens, including in social, cultural and political life beyond employment, household work and childcare. He said public policy should create conditions for women to freely engage in civic life after work, and linked this to the historical denial of women’s opportunities in knowledge, science and public life. He noted that women hold 22 seats in Parliament, about 10 percent, and placed on record public commendations of several women Members’ maiden speeches as encouragement for greater women’s representation. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Chamindranee Kiriella, Attorney-at-Law SJB AI summary Hon. Chamindranee Kiriella marked International Women’s Day by acknowledging women’s historical contributions and then raised concerns about whether women and children receive adequate support under the Ministry’s Votes. She questioned whether the Rs. 100 per-meal allocation for preschool breakfasts is sufficient given malnutrition among under-five children, while welcoming continued programmes for pregnant mothers, preschool teachers, children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and sanitary pads for schoolgirls. She urged that menstrual hygiene support be extended to overcrowded women’s prisons, called for legal reforms to increase women’s representation in elected bodies, and highlighted low female labour force participation and maternity leave policy as issues affecting women’s economic participation. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Anushka Thilakarathne, Attorney-at-Law JJB AI summary Marking International Women’s Day, the Member highlighted increased women’s representation in the Tenth Parliament and thanked women who supported that political change. She argued that addressing violence against women and children requires cross-ministerial action, not only allocations to the Women and Child Affairs Ministry, and cited Budget 2025 provisions for education and related sectors as part of this approach. She referred to Sri Lanka’s equality commitments under law and international instruments, noted the historic representation of tea estate women workers, and called for continued awareness and support programmes through relevant state institutions and the Ministry of Justice. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Chanaka Madugoda SLPP AI summary Hon. Chanaka Madugoda used the debate on the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Votes to call for practical support for women and children, including safer micro-credit through Samurdhi banks to counter predatory microfinance debt and stronger local-level development of female leadership. He urged higher allowances, training, early detection responsibilities, and retirement benefits for preschool teachers, and proposed more family-like and open child care models, citing SOS Children’s Villages. He also asked for State support for prenatal anomaly scans for vulnerable mothers, better arrangements for severely disabled children, relaxed welfare rules for widows living in extended households, and more efficient Sathosa pricing to reduce household costs. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Samanmali Gunasingha JJB AI summary Hon. (Mrs.) Samanmali Gunasingha supported the Votes of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, describing the Budget as focused on women’s empowerment, family strengthening, poverty reduction and children’s rights. She highlighted the social and economic contribution of women, including migrant workers, and said the Government would improve protections through training, proper contracts, recognized agencies, a contributory pension scheme, loan schemes and education support for migrants’ children. She also raised the need to address basic service conditions for women police officers, including long-unmet requirements such as proper footwear. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Saroja Savithri Paulraj JJB AI summary Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj supported the proposals of Hon. Faiszer Musthapha regarding the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, emphasizing the need to protect children’s right to education. She stated that reforms to the personal law would not be introduced unilaterally and proposed appointing a multi-sectoral committee involving Members of Parliament, civil society, and religious bodies to consider decisions collectively. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Faiszer Musthapha, PC NDF AI summary Hon. Faiszer Musthapha, speaking during the Women and Child Affairs Ministry Votes on International Women’s Day, highlighted Sri Lanka’s progress in women’s representation while calling for greater workforce participation through expanded day-care, including in the private sector and for children of migrant workers. He urged urgent reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, including setting the minimum marriage age at 18, allowing women to sign marriage certificates, strengthening Quazi Courts with female and qualified adjudicators, and enabling direct access to Magistrates’ Courts for maintenance. He also raised concerns about judicial promotion procedures, estate workers’ wages, gender-based violence, low awareness of domestic violence remedies, workplace sexual harassment, and the need to shift from unskilled female migration to safer skilled employment opportunities. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Kathiravelu Shanmugam Kugathasan ITAK AI summary Kathiravelu Shanmugam Kugathasan argued that women’s representation in politics, higher education and public employment remains inadequate despite women comprising over half the population, and called for legal reforms to guarantee at least 50 per cent representation and access. He highlighted the economic vulnerability of female-headed households, especially in the North and East, and urged expanded training and self-employment support. He criticized reductions in the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs allocations, including cuts to women’s development and child development programmes, and called for substantially increased funding. He also noted that most children in care homes are there due to family poverty rather than orphanhood, proposing income support to families as a way to reduce institutionalization. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration JJB AI summary Minister Harshana Nanayakkara called for stronger gatekeeping in child protection, arguing that admission to orphanages should be properly assessed by probation officers and used only as a last resort, particularly where poverty is the main reason. He urged funding for supervision, transport and victim support, and emphasized zero tolerance for violence against children, family-based alternative care, reunification, adolescent mental health services, drug rehabilitation and vocational training for convicted youth. He welcomed the allocations for child protection and welfare and said amendments to the outdated Children and Young Persons Ordinance, 1939, would be expedited. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration JJB AI summary The Minister marked International Women’s Day by emphasizing that legal protections for women must be accompanied by changes in social attitudes beginning in childhood, including challenging gendered expectations and the notion that “boys will be boys.” He linked the Budget and justice reforms to Sri Lanka’s obligations under the UNCRC, citing allocations for maternal nutrition and preschool meals, and said he would expedite a Bill to outlaw corporal punishment while maintaining non-violent discipline. He also outlined plans for child-friendly courts, rehabilitation-focused juvenile justice, and safer transport for children in institutional care, including a Rs. 250 million Budget allocation for vehicles. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education JJB AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya linked International Women’s Day to the 2024 Polduwa Junction water cannon incident and the ongoing legal case, saying women’s rights must be understood through intersectionality, including class, religion, ethnicity, language and caste. She argued that Sri Lankan women’s advances were strongly supported by free education and free health, and that free education had been preserved through public and student struggles. As Prime Minister and Education Minister, she said education reforms would address gender relations and identities, boys’ declining educational participation and outcomes, and the need to build respectful, inclusive citizens. She also stated that gender budgeting and mainstreaming must be accompanied by structural and social change, not only laws or written policies. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition SJB AI summary On International Women’s Day, Sajith Premadasa highlighted the impact of food inflation, poverty and malnutrition on women and children, citing the Ninth Parliament’s Special Committee report on malnutrition and calling for a coordinated, depoliticized national plan. He referred to UNDP and UN Women findings on women’s vulnerability, workplace discrimination, low labour force participation, digital access gaps, underrepresentation in senior positions and STEM, and high levels of underreported violence against women and girls. He urged stronger implementation of international conventions and domestic protections, and proposed amending the Constitution’s Fundamental Rights Chapter to explicitly include women’s and children’s rights. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Saroja Savithri Paulraj - Minister of Women and Child Affairs JJB AI summary The Minister marked International Women’s Day by highlighting women’s economic and social contributions and said the Government’s first Budget includes gender-sensitive measures, with Women and Child Affairs now elevated to a Cabinet ministry. She said the Ministry is pursuing policy and structural reforms through a National Action Plan, nationwide Women’s Week programmes on empowerment, legal awareness, protection and health, and a focus on women’s equality, dignity and remuneration. She also noted allocations for child and maternal welfare, including Rs. 7,500 million for nutrition support for expectant mothers and an increase in the preschool morning meal allowance from Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 per child. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna SJB AI summary Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna urged the Minister to involve experienced practitioners and subject experts in advancing the Ministry’s work. She asked for an update on the sexuality education programme developed by five ministries, following a decision of the Parliamentary Caucus for Children, to help reduce sexual violence against children. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna SJB AI summary Hon. Rohini Kumari Wijerathna argued that gender inequality in Sri Lanka is driven by discriminatory attitudes and inadequate legal and policy implementation, citing harassment in public transport, intimate partner violence, rape statistics, and under-16 pregnancies. She called for gender-responsive budgeting from the next Budget, with coordinated planning across ministries such as Education, Health, Justice, Finance, Foreign Employment and Women and Child Affairs, including practical measures like girl-friendly school sanitation, nutrition programmes for estate-sector women, and inclusion of transgender persons. She criticised the low capital allocation for the Women and Child Affairs Ministry and questioned policies affecting women, including cost-reflective electricity tariffs and reports of a 15 per cent tax on migrant worker remittances, urging greater investment in women’s economic empowerment. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) Rohini Kumari Wijerathna SJB AI summary Moving a token cut under Heads 171 and 217, Rohini Kumari Wijerathna used International Women’s Day to call for faster action on women’s rights, equality and empowerment, noting the national theme of a sustainable future through women’s empowerment and the international theme “Accelerate Action.” She argued that persistent problems such as domestic violence, period poverty and barriers to girls’ education are rooted in social and policy failures rather than in women themselves. She highlighted that although women comprise 64.8 per cent of graduates, female labour force participation remains only 32.1 per cent, and called for lawmakers to address these gaps substantively rather than ceremonially. Appropriation Bill, 2025 - Committee Stage: Ministry of Women and Child Affairs Read →
- 8 March 2025 The Hon. (Mrs.) M.A.C.S. (Sasthuri) Gangani AI summary On International Women’s Day, Hon. (Mrs.) M.A.C.S. (Sasthuri) Gangani raised an incident of alleged workplace violence against a female teacher at Halwimulla Vidyalaya in the Embilipitiya Education Zone. She said the teacher had been assaulted by a male teacher, reportedly in the Principal’s presence, had made the required logbook entry, and was hospitalized. She asked the Prime Minister whether she was aware of the incident and what action would be taken. Statement on International Women's Day Read →
- 8 March 2025 Hon. (Dr.) Harini Amarasuriya - Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education JJB AI summary Marking International Women’s Day, the Prime Minister paid tribute to women’s struggles in Sri Lanka and noted the increased presence and voice of women in politics, including the 22 women MPs from the National People’s Power. She highlighted Sri Lanka’s low ranking in the Global Gender Gap Report, the limited representation of women in Parliament, and the gap between women’s high educational attainment and low labour force participation. She argued that unpaid care work must be treated as a social and national policy issue, calling for stronger social protection and services such as day-care, elder-care, public transport, health and education to support women’s participation and equality. Statement on International Women's Day Read →
- 7 March 2025 The Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana SJB AI summary Hon. Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana urged legal action on matters tabled in Parliament and raised concern over reported increases in chromium content in a water purification component, arguing it posed public health risks. He called for major reforms in public transport, including digitisation, enforceable timetables, driver testing, better passenger service, safer railway crossings, measures to prevent elephant deaths, improved hygiene, and action against overcrowding, delays and sexual harassment. He also highlighted road accident fatalities, alleged black-market practices in Ella train e-ticketing, and concerns over airport and SriLankan Airlines standards, while asking the Government to address these issues. Debate: Appropriation Bill 2025 - Committee Stage (Heads 117, 123, 306, 307, 309-311, 332, 336) Read →
- 7 March 2025 The Hon. Jeevan Thondaman UNP AI summary Jeevan Thondaman raised an incident in Hatton involving schoolchildren from Nuwara Eliya District who were allegedly abused and forcibly removed from a bus by its conductor. Referring to the Prime Minister’s comments on safety in transport, he asked the Prime Minister and Minister Bimal Rathnayake to take note and act against the conductor, warning against any recurrence of discriminatory treatment historically faced by hill-country communities. Debate: Appropriation Bill 2025 - Committee Stage (Heads 117, 123, 306, 307, 309-311, 332, 336) Read →