Sri Lanka: Local Government Without Women

By Chulani Kodikara -June 27, 2013 

Chulani Kodikara

Following the 2011 round of local government elections, for the first time in more than two decades, all local authorities (LAs), barring two, comprising Municipal Councils, Urban Councils and Pradeshiya Sabhas, across Sri Lanka have been constituted. LA’s form the lowest tier of elected government in Sri Lanka and have a range of functions, from provision of vocational training and recreational facilities to primary health care and solid waste management. In addition, Pradeshiya Sabhas have powers in relation to local level development in terms of Sec. 19 of the Pradeshiya Sabha Act No. 15 of 1987. Their potential to be a force in relation to local development has however always been hampered by the lack of financial powers, skills and capacities; excessive powers of and dependency on the central government; the use of political office to promote narrow interests and instrumentalise LAs, etc.

In this article, however, I focus on women’s under representation in local government as an impediment to local development and also as an indictment of the state’s commitment to gender equality in post war Sri Lanka.

Women in Elected Political Bodies

Rice is Cooked? The Domestic Violence Act, Familial Ideology and Cultural Narratives in Sri Lanka (2012).

Sri Lanka Local Government Without Women by nelvely