The youth, especially in the North and East believe that their views should be considered in the overall development of the country, according to Ms Diarietou Gaye, Country Director, World, Sri Lanka and Maldives. She was speaking at the ACCA (The Association of Chartered CertifiedAccountants) Sri Lanka Sustainability Reporting Awards 2011 event held in Colombo this week. The winners in the large, medium and small categories, respectively were: John Keells Holding, Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings and HDFC Bank. The runners-up in the three categories were: Diesel and Motor Engineering PLC,
Union Assurance and HNB Assurance. Janashakthi Insurance won the award as a first-time entrant.
Ms Gaye continuing said that the World Bank was in constant consultation with the youth specially in the North and the East and these youth are crying for opportunities.
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| Picture (courtesy ACCA) shows winners of the ACCA Sustainability Reporting Awards 2011 with President ACCA Sri Lanka Nisreen Rehmanjee, Asst. Vice President Finance Aitken Spence Hotel Holdings Tilak Gunewardene (Medium), Chairperson of HDFC Bank Siromi Wickremesinghe (Small), President Property Sector John Keells Holdings Suresh Rajendra (Large) and Chief Guest Diarietou Gaye, Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives of The World Bank and Guest of Honour, Director Emerging Markets Asia of ACCA Lucia Real-Martin. |
The business community needs to see the diverse potential they could harness by extending fresh opportunities to these young people. She said, "It would do two things. It would create a positive mindset among a group of people who feel they have not yet been included in the development in the country and it would also open the doors to different market forces which will give a fresh impetus to your businesses." Ms Gaye said "As business leaders I urge you to tap into this huge potential and you will be surprised with what you can gain.
They have ideas, can be very innovative and they are ready to contribute." She made a special pitch for women in the context of inclusion and quoting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark said that women and girls make up three fifths of the world's one billion poorest people. Promoting women's participation in the labour force and increasing women's incomes hold a critical potential for poverty reduction and economic growth, including in the rebuilding of post-conflict societies.
She said that in Sri Lanka there is a high percentage of educated women and as such a very high percentage of graduate women. But she queried as to how many women really have climbed to the very top of these companies and how many women are on their boards today. She said "I did a random check and the results were not great at all". Speaking on good governance, accountability and sustainability, Ms Gaye said that they believe in sustainability and their mission is about inclusive and sustainable globalization, to overcome poverty, to enhance growth with care for the environment, and to create individual opportunity and hope.
She said that the world is facing a financial crisis - weak reporting and oversight have been large contributors to the current financial crises - leading to several high-profile corporate scandals and banking failures, property market collapses, impacting on reduced employment and increased poverty. |
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