The second meeting
of the Sub-committee on Gender Issues (SGI) was held in
Kilinochchi 4-5 April 2003. The SGI was established by the
Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in order to ensure the effective inclusion
of gender issues into the ongoing peace process. The Sub-committee’s
first meeting was held in Kilinohchci 5-6 March 2003. The
committee comprises of ten members, five appointed by the
GOSL and five from the LTTE. A resource person appointed
by the Norwegian government facilitated the meetings of
the SGI.
Productive discussions were
held by members of the SGI. The Sub-Committee finalised
their Terms of Reference which will be presented at the
next plenary session of the peace talks in April.
The meeting commenced with
a briefing by Mr. Selvan Irenius, the Director of SIHRN
(Sub-committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Relief Needs)
on the work and priorities of SIHRN. The SGI discussed how
a gender perspective could be brought into all of SIHRN’s
work.They further discussed how SGI and SIHRN can establish
an efficient co-operation. Particular reference was made
to SGI’s concern with the need for work in the area
of women and trauma.
The SGI also decided to:
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work towards ensuring effective provisions to enable
equal representation of women in politics |
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examine the educational structure including changing
the gender biases in school text books; |
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take up issues of violence against women and allegations
of sexual harassment at military and police checkpoints
even during this peace process. These matters will be
taken up with the relevant authorities in the defence
and law enforcement establishments. |
At the end of the stay in Kilinochchi the members of the
SGI visited Gurukulam Children’s Home.
The next meeting of
the Sub-committee on Gender Issues will be held in Batticaloa
on the 6-7th of June 2003.
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