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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Violations Committed
by the GOSL - 351
