Media Coverage on Gender Discriminatory Labour Laws in Sri Lanka and Female Labour Force Participation

Gender discriminatory labour laws hold back women’s participation in the workforce

New Advocata Institute Report spells out the gender discriminatory labour laws such as banning work at night that impacts female labour force participation

Advocata Institute says that Sri Lanka’s labour laws that discourage the entry and retention of women in the labour force are a factor preventing female participation in the workforce.

The report identifies the lack of reference to part-time and flexible employment in the existing labour law, time restrictions on employing for women at night, dearth of legal provisions for sexual harassment in employment and restrictions on overtime work for women, as legal obstacles that discourage women joining and actively participating in the workforce.

The report focused on four main areas of discrimination in the labour market: sexual harassment in the workplace, overtime work, work at night, and part-time work. The report highlighted that if these issues were addressed it is likely that female participation in the workforce would greatly improve which would benefit the economy and attract investment (particularly in the context of Sri Lanka’s tight labour market and the cost of labour).

Read the full article here

How our labour laws have limited our ladies

Experts discuss legal and practical issues preventing female workforce participation

Even though the world has moved forward considerably in terms of ensuring gender equality in the workforce through laws and policies, Sri Lanka is yet to improve and update its labour laws, most of which are archaic. Due to the unavailability or the lack of laws that match today’s society, females are greatly inconvenienced, and it is hindering them from achieving their full potential and contributing to the country’s economy and strengthening their own and their households’ economies.

The need for law reforms and other practical issues that discourage females from playing their role in the country’s workforce were extensively discussed at an event held by the think tank Advocata Institute on 7 March, where the findings of a study about the existing labour laws and how those should be reformed were highlighted.

Study on laws affecting the female workforce

The report titled “Gender Discriminatory Labour Laws in Sri Lanka and Female Labour Force Participation” authored by T. Yapa, T. Hoole, G.S. Sallay, S. Bamaramannage, and J. Peerez – identifies the lack of reference to part time and flexible employment in the existing labour laws, time restrictions on employing females for duties at night, the dearth of legal provisions to prevent and address sexual harassment in employment, and restrictions on overtime (OT) work for females, as legal obstacles that discourage females from joining and actively participating in the workforce.

Read the full article here

Freedom For Her: Gender Discriminatory Labour Laws in Sri Lanka and Female Labour Force Participation

Advocata Institute is launching a research study on 'Gender Discriminatory Labour Laws in Sri Lanka and Female Labour Force Participation' in celebration of International Women's Day 2022!

The study concentrates on laws related to sexual harassment at the workplace, gender discriminatory laws on overtime, part-time and nighttime work and the event is organised in order to bring awareness to the topic amongst the general public and policymakers and implementers.

Panelists for this discussion are Thalatha Atukorale (Member of Parliament and Women Parliamentarian's Caucus), Dr. Ramani Gunatilaka (Independent Consultant and Research Associate at ICES), Ayomi Fernando (Industrial Relation Advisor, Employers Federation of Ceylon) and Thanuja Jayawardene (General Manager, Women's Empowerment, Advocacy and Code of Conduct, MAS).

The event was live-streamed on 07th of March 2022 at 6.00PM (IST) on the Advocata Institute Facebook page!

This report can be accessed below.

‘Gender Discriminatory Labour Laws in Sri Lanka and Female Labour Force Participation'

#FreedomforHer #AyataNidahasa

Time to bring SOE privatisation to the policy table

Originally appeared on Daily FT, Ada derana Biz , Sunday Observer and The Sunday Island

Privatisation is the need of the hour.

• Sri Lanka is already in one of the worst economic crises in its history. Experts warn that deep economic reforms are essential. 

• Reforming SOE's can  curb further losses,  which add to the fiscal deficit. 

• The  Cumulative losses of the 55 SOEs from 2006-2020 is a staggering 1.2 trillion.  

• Disposing of State Owned Enterprises which are a burden on the public finances, is the crucial need of the hour. 

• Immediate privatisation of  large  State Owned Enterprises,  will  build international investor confidence. 

“Big, ponderous, Government enterprises are not responsive to our needs. And because they’re not responsive, you will go home today and you will have a blackout of one hour, because they’re load shedding during peak hours,” said Prof. Rohan Samarajiva, a veteran policy expert and an advisor of the Advocata Institute.

He made these comments at Advocata’s press briefing, organised to highlight the urgency of carrying out reforms to State Owned Enterprises (SOE). “The basic issue is that we, in this country, are suffering from a twin deficit. We need to get started on addressing the core problem,” further stressed Prof. Rohan Samarajiva.

According to Prof. Samarajiva, privatising a globally visible, yet loss-making SOE, such as SriLankan Airlines is the best solution to create confidence among investors that Sri Lanka is serious about reforms.

Sri Lanka’s SOEs are a serious burden on public finances. With the economic crisis reaching a tipping point, it is becoming increasingly impossible to keep these loss-making enterprises afloat. The continuation to do so, at the expense of the taxpayer, can have serious consequences to the economic trajectory of the nation.

Advocata Institute’s research team has identified that the cumulative losses of the 55 SOEs from 2006-2020 is a staggering Rs. 1.2 trillion. The combined loss per day of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, the Ceylon Electricity Board, SriLankan Airlines, Sathosa and the National Water Supply and Drainage Board is approximately Rs. 384,479,189, according to data for the year 2019.

This is at the backdrop where the country is wading through a serious debt crisis with questions surrounding the ability to meet forthcoming debt obligations. The briefing brought together a panel of industry experts who raised alarm bells on why Sri Lanka cannot afford to be complacent about SOE reforms anymore.

Prof. Rohan Samarajiva further explained the seriousness of this issue along with how privatisation can achieve positive outcomes for the country. “In 1997, Sri Lanka Telecom was making losses and providing bad services. Today, after privatisation, it is providing us with good services and employment and double of what they were earning. It is also providing the Government with a dividend which generated billions to the Government.” He highlighted that the country has no other alternative to prevent the haemorrhaging losses of SOE apart from privatisation.

“Privatisation is not a one-size-fits-all model. It is different in different countries and sectors, as seen in the telecommunication industry in Sri Lanka. With a good regulator we can have competition, leading to greater efficiency and making technology accessible to the common public,” commented Advisor to the Advocata Institute Anarkali Moonesinghe.

She further elaborated that possible avenues for privatisation that can be considered include the listing of SOEs in the stock exchange. According to Moonesinghe: “Our stock market could use large capital companies that are owned by the Government today.

“It not only gives people ownership but also broadens ownership by giving the average person an opportunity to become a direct stakeholder to these enterprises. This can be a better option than attaching the person through taxpayer money or having your EPF/ETF being taken into these enterprises,” thereby describing the merits of listing.

Advocata Academic Chair Dr. Sarath Rajaptirana said that the present crisis makes two choices available to the country, which is “reform or perish”. He highlighted the urgency of implementing structural reforms.

He further commented that the key issue with SOEs lies in productivity. “For over 30 years, Sri Lanka’s total factor productivity was less than 1%. This is in severe contrast to countries such as South Korea and Vietnam, where a jump in productivity is experienced today which we were never able to maintain. If you want permanent change in the GDP rate, you need to have productivity increase,” said Dr. Rajaptirana.

The recording of the media event can be found at advocata.org.

Media coverage on "Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms"

Why does Sri Lanka need a national airline when india doesnt have one? Prof. Rohan Samarajiva

Amidst a whopping amount of losses national carrier SriLankan Airlines has been making for years, LIRNEasia Founding Chair and Advocata Institute Advisor Prof. Rohan Samarajiva questioned why Sri Lanka would need a national carrier when India, the neighbour, does not have one. 

During a press briefing organised by Advocata Institute on “The Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms”, Prof. Samarajiva stated that SriLankan Airlines should be privatised to not only save public money, but to also improve the credibility of the country by showing the country’s creditors that Sri Lanka is genuinely committed to meeting its debt payments. 

Prof. Samarajiva pointed to the fact that Sri Lankan is hemorrhaging around Rs. 47 billion in losses per annum and questioned the rationality of using public funds collected through commodity taxes from a person who has never even gone near the airport. 

Read the full article here

Broad SOE reforms urged for SL to regain confidence of external creditors

With the government’s current approach appearing to be failing in its ability to meet upcoming external debt servicing commitments, the Colombo-based policy think tank Advocata Institute urged the government to roll out a broad reform package targeting ‘strategically important’ State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) as a way to regain confidence of the country’s external creditors, illustrating the determination to resolve the prolonged structural issues in the economy.

According to data presented by Advocata, the cumulative losses incurred by key SOEs were estimated at Rs.1.2 trillion during 2006-2020, while the total SOE debt reached to 9 percent of GDP in 2020. The top five SOEs alone incurred an estimated Rs.384.48 million loss per day burdening both State coffers and ultimately the taxpayer.

“Sri Lanka lacks credibility in its approach to the creditor. In the current context, it’s not possible for us to increase revenue. Therefore, what we have to focus is on cutting expenses. This will send a strong message of responsibility and of commitment to anyone who has given us loans and they will say, ‘this is the country we should negotiate with, because they are serious about their economic problems’,” LIRNEasia Founding Chair and Advocata Institute Advisor Prof. Rohan Samarajiva said.

Read the full article here

State-Owned Enterprise losses mount to staggering Rs 1.2 trillion

The 55 “Strategically Important” listed State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) snowballing losses from 2006 to 2020 is a staggering Rs. 1.2 trillion. Out of the 527 state-owned enterprises the Treasury has classified 55 as “Strategically Important” it was revealed at an Advocata Institute that organised an event on “The Urgency of State-Owned Enterprise Reforms” last week.

Sri Lanka’s State-Owned Enterprises have placed a significant burden on public finances. They are also a major source of inefficiency in the economy. “Therefore the present economic crisis, along with Sri Lanka’s current debt crisis, makes reforms on SOE’s a national priority to emerge from present economic challenges,” it was opined at the event.

Read the full article here

Advocata's event on the Urgency | News 1st: Prime Time English News | (09/12/2021)

Advocata's event on the need for the “Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms” featured on Newsfirst Prime Time English News

"Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms"

The Advocata Institute hosted a press brief on the '"Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms" with Advocata’s Academic Chair Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, Advocata’s Advisors Professor Rohan Samarajiva and Ms. Anarkali Moonesinghe on December 09th at 2.00PM.

The event commenced with a 10-min presentation, analysing the performance of key State Owned Enterprises. Followed by statements made by Dr. Sarath Rajapatirana, Professor Rohan Samarajiva and Anarkali Moonesinghe on the need for SOE reforms, before opening the floor for a question and answer session with journalists and media.

The event was moderated by K D Vimanga and Sathya Karunarathne.

The presentation by KD Vimanga on "Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms" can be accessed below.

Urgency of State Owned Enterprise Reforms Presentation

Watch the discussion on Advocata Institutes YouTube channel. 

ආර්ථිකයට ජාතික සම්මුතියක්? A National Consensus For The Economy

The Advocata Institute hosted a live discussion on 'ආර්ථිකයට ජාතික සම්මුතියක්?' with Prof. Ranjith Bandara (SLPP), Dr Suren Rāghavan (SLPP), Patali Champika Ranawaka (SJB), Dr Harsha de Silva (SJP), Vijitha Herath (JJB) on November 24th at 6.00PM.

The keynote address was delivered by Prof Rohan Samarajiva (Chairperson, LIRNEasia | Advisor, Advocata Institute). The discussion was moderated by Dhananath Fernando and Sathya Karunarathne.

Watch the live discussion on Advocata Institutes YouTube channel. 

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4uMtBadgRes" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

NEWS RELEASE: වරාය සංවර්ධනයේ ඉදිරි දැක්ම:විකිණීමක් ද, ආයෝජනයක් ද?

Originally appeared in the Daily FT and Economy Next

LIVE discussion with limited participation on 12th February 2021 from 6.00 pm onwards 

Advocata Institute is hosting an event on the topic වරාය සංවර්ධනයේ ඉදිරි දැක්ම:විකිණීමක් ද, ආයෝජනයක් ද? and the surrounding policy issues on the 9th of February  at the BMICH. 

The event will feature key presentations and discussions by a panel of experts on various issues surrounding the development of ports in Sri Lanka.   

The expected panelists will be Dr. Nalaka  Godahewa  ( State Minister of Urban Development, Coast Conservation, Waste Disposal and Community Cleanliness), Mr.  Rohan Masakorala (Chief Executive Officer, Shippers Academy, Colombo) and Mr.  Asanga Abeyagoonasekera (Founding Director General Institute for National Security Studies). The discussion will be moderated by Dhananath Fernando (COO - Advocata Institute) and Sathya Karunarathne (Researcher - Advocata Institute). 

The event is free and open to the public.  In-person seating is limited with strict Covid-19 guidelines. The event will also be live streamed on Advocata’s social media pages.  

To register for the event please visit www.advocata.org/events