Canadian HC launches second regional Young Women Leaders Dialogue
View(s):High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka and Ambassador to Maldives, Shelley Whiting, on Thursday launched the second Regional Young Women Leaders Dialogue which brings young women leaders from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka together for a four-day series of meetings and discussions in Colombo and Delhi on the role of women and youth as agents of change.
The Colombo component of this initiative is being organized by the High Commission of Canada to Sri Lanka in cooperation with Canadian Embassies and High Commissions in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Key Sri Lankan partners include the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, the Parliament of Sri Lanka, the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, Kelaniya University’s Gender Studies Unit and Hashtag Generation.
This year’s event builds on the successful 2016 Regional Women Parliamentarians Dialogue, which included participation from women parliamentarians in Sri Lanka and the region.
“The young women gathered here from across the region and Sri Lanka are our leaders of today and tomorrow. We need to tap into and recognize the value they bring to the table on the whole gamut of issues that we need to address, collectively, for the betterment of our communities and countries,” the High Commissioner said.
Equal Voice and Equitas, two of Canada’s leading CSOs focusing on women’s political participation and empowerment, youth leadership, and human rights will deliver capacity building sessions and speak to recent efforts in Canada to strengthen women’s political participation and engage youth. Speaking on Equal Voice’s engagement, Executive Director Nancy Peckford stated that “by joining the Regional Young Women Leaders Dialogue in Colombo, Equal Voice will share lessons learned and its best practices as a national non-profit multi-partisan organization, and will increase collaboration with like-minded groups in an effort to create a global network of gender-parity advocates.”
Delegates will have meetings with Sri Lanka parliamentarians, civil society leaders, youth leaders, social media activists and academics. In addition, they will share their views and perspectives on challenges and opportunities to increased political participation during capacity building sessions with Sri Lankan youth leaders on February 6.