OnlineWomen: Sri Lanka's Women Leaders

Women leaders

Sunila Abeysekera
Sunila Abeysekera was born in 1952 in Sri Lanka and has worked on women's rights and human rights issues in Sri Lanka and in the South Asia region for over 20 years as an activist and scholar. In 1994 she received an M.A. in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands, and won that year's award for the best research paper.

Since 1992 Abeysekera has been working with the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights and has been actively working in lobbying at all the UN Conferences since then -- 1993 in Vienna and 1995 in Beijing -- focusing on the issue of mainstreaming women's human rights concerns within the international human rights system.

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Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sri Lankan politician who, in 1960, became the first woman in the world to serve as a nation's prime minister. She became prime minister a year after her husband, Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister and leader of the Freedom Party, was assassinated. Her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, currently serves as president of Sri Lanka. She died in October 2000.

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Kumari Jayawardena
A leading feminist in Sri Lanka. She plays an active role in women's research organizations and civil rights movements in Sri Lanka, and is presently the Secretary of the Social Scientists' Association, a group of concerned scholars working on ethnic, gender, caste and other issues.

Jayawardena taught Political Science at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1969 to 1985. She also taught in the Women and Development Masters Course at the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands from 1980-1982, and was an Affiliated Fellow of the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, USA in 1987-1988. She is the author of several books, including Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World, which was chosen for the Feminist Fortnight award in Britain in 1986 and was cited by Ms. Magazine in the USA in 1992 as one of the 20 most important books of the feminist decades (1970-1990). This text is widely used in Women's Studies programs around the world.

Source:
Biography

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Chandrika Kumaratunga
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Chandrika Kumaratunga was re-elected into office in 1999. She was first elected as President in 1994. She was born in 1945 in Colombo. Both of her parents were prime ministers of Sri Lanka. Her father Solomon Bandaranaike, was Prime Minister for three years from 1956. He was assassinated in 1959. A year after in 1960 her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was elected Prime Minister, the world first woman to do so.

She says that she did not experience any discrimination because of her sex. She believes that one of the reasons for the lack of discrimination is the long history of women's involvement in politics in Sri Lanka. It was one of the first countries this century to give women as well as men the right to vote when they acquired universal suffrage in 1932, before many countries in the West.

Source and relevant links:
Biography
Women in power
Speech 1
Speech 2
Speech 3

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	Women leaders Sunila Abeysekera Sunila Abeysekera was born in 1952 in Sri Lanka and has worked on women's rights and human rights issues in Sri Lanka and in the South Asia region for over 20 years as an activist and scholar. In 1994 she received an M.A. in Women and Development from the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands, and won that year's award for the best research paper. Since 1992 Abeysekera has been working with the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights and has been actively working in lobbying at all the UN Conferences since then -- 1993 in Vienna and 1995 in Beijing -- focusing on the issue of mainstreaming women's human rights concerns within the international human rights system. BACK TO TOP Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sri Lankan politician who, in 1960, became the first woman in the world to serve as a nation's prime minister. She became prime minister a year after her husband, Solomon Bandaranaike, prime minister and leader of the Freedom Party, was assassinated. Her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga, currently serves as president of Sri Lanka. She died in October 2000. BACK TO TOP Kumari Jayawardena A leading feminist in Sri Lanka. She plays an active role in women's research organizations and civil rights movements in Sri Lanka, and is presently the Secretary of the Social Scientists' Association, a group of concerned scholars working on ethnic, gender, caste and other issues. Jayawardena taught Political Science at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka from 1969 to 1985. She also taught in the Women and Development Masters Course at the Institute of Social Studies in the Hague, Netherlands from 1980-1982, and was an Affiliated Fellow of the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, USA in 1987-1988. She is the author of several books, including Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World, which was chosen for the Feminist Fortnight award in Britain in 1986 and was cited by Ms. Magazine in the USA in 1992 as one of the 20 most important books of the feminist decades (1970-1990). This text is widely used in Women's Studies programs around the world. Source: Biography BACK TO TOP Chandrika Kumaratunga President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. Chandrika Kumaratunga was re-elected into office in 1999. She was first elected as President in 1994. She was born in 1945 in Colombo. Both of her parents were prime ministers of Sri Lanka. Her father Solomon Bandaranaike, was Prime Minister for three years from 1956. He was assassinated in 1959. A year after in 1960 her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was elected Prime Minister, the world first woman to do so. She says that she did not experience any discrimination because of her sex. She believes that one of the reasons for the lack of discrimination is the long history of women's involvement in politics in Sri Lanka. It was one of the first countries this century to give women as well as men the right to vote when they acquired universal suffrage in 1932, before many countries in the West. Source and relevant links: Biography Women in power Speech 1 Speech 2 Speech 3 BACK TO TOP
Sunila Abeysekera Sirimavo Bandaranaike Kumari Jayawardena Chandrika Kumaratunga