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82 SEVA VANITHA
Sri Lanka has a relatively well-educated female
population for a lower-middle income developing country. Sri
Lanka’s adult literacy rates in 2015 were 92.58% for males and
80. 96%. for females (UNESCO Institute of Statistics, 2015).
There is no doubt that the female population contribution
has the potential to play an even more important role in
the improvement of the economy. However, in many areas
such as public, economic and social life, a significant gender
imbalance continues in favour of males. Women have been
historically undermined and under-represented in all religious
and ethnic groups as well as political parties in this society. Sri
Lanka elected a female prime minister from 1960 to 1965 and
again from 1970 to 1977, and there was a female executive
president from 1994 to 2005. However, this has not resulted in
Dr H.A.K.N.S.Surangi a significant enhancement of gender-sensitive policies, norms
Department of Commerce and or practices.
Financial Management At the national and local level, the representation of
University of Kelaniya women in politics is very low. For example, only 5 per cent
of Sri Lanka‘s 225 parliamentarians are women. The current
political culture does not welcome women who choose to
actively participate in politics. According to an International
Labour Organization (ILO 2020) ranking of 69 countries, Sri
Lanka is the lowest ranked country for the percentage of female
decision-makers. Moreover, there are important differences in
the status of women by region, ethnic and religious groups
Strengthening Female
and among Sri Lanka‘s various socio-economic classes. For
example, Tamil women working in the estate sector, who are
generally among the poorest in Sri Lanka, have a lower life
expectancy, literacy rate, educational enrolment and health
status than women elsewhere. Muslim women in the North and
Entrepreneurship
East often have lower literacy rates than women elsewhere,
due to both cultural reasons and disrupted education due to
the civil conflict (USAID 2018).
Sri Lankan women engaged in paid employment
are mostly in low-status jobs, are low skilled or doing low-
in Sri Lanka
paying jobs in the plantation, agriculture and garment sectors.
Currently, the female unemployment rate is approximately
7.4%, more than double that of men (3.3 %) in Sri Lanka
(Department of Census and Statistics Ministry of Finance
and Planning 2018). Although garment workers and migrant
workers are predominantly female and earn a substantial
share of the foreign exchange coming into the country, they
are not appreciated, nor is due recognition given for the work
they do for the country.
Considering the average rate of business start-ups
from 1998 to 2014, it can be noted that the number of female
entrepreneurs ‘rate (0.8%) is low compared to their male
counterparts (2.5%) in Sri Lanka (UN 2018). Moreover, typical
female entrepreneurs’ business enterprises are very small,
with low turnovers, a low number of employees and have no
professional assistance. In the process of entrepreneurship,
