Business

Sri Lanka’s gender quota changed the numbers. It didn’t change the system.

Published

2 days ago

2026/09/30

by Professor Ramona Vijeyarasa (Chair in Gender and the Law at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia)

In the November 2024 parliamentary elections, Harini Amarasuriya won 655,289 preferential votes — the second-highest in Sri Lankan electoral history — and became the country’s first female prime minister in twenty-four years. She is not a widow. She is not a daughter of dynasty. She is an academic, a social anthropologist with a doctorate from Edinburgh, a human rights activist who once marched against the Rajapaksa government when doing so carried real risk. Her ascent to the premiership did not follow the well-worn South Asian script of women inheriting power over the dead bodies of male relatives. It followed a different pathway entirely — one built through scholarship, community organising and feminist conviction. That fact alone should be treated as a signal, not merely a story.

Yet inspiring stories can obscure a more difficult reality. New research by Uvini Panditha at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies examines what happened after Sri Lanka’s landmark local government quota brought around 2,000 women into office. Based on 26 interviews with women councillors across ten districts and 14 interviews with academics, activists and civil society representatives, the study finds that while representation increased dramatically, power often did not.

The findings reinforce what earlier research has shown. In my work on Sri Lanka’s local government quota and a comparative study with Tanya Jakimow, Mario Gomez, Nadine Vanniasinkam, Viyanga Gunasekera and colleagues in Indonesia, we documented the barriers between grassroots activism and elected office: party gatekeeping, tokenism and exclusion from decision-making. Even when women reach executive leadership, as I explored in The Woman President, they bear gendered expectations that male leaders escape.

Sri Lanka has nevertheless moved. The quota raised women’s representation in local government from under two per cent to about 23 per cent in 2018. The 2024 parliamentary election also produced the country’s highest representation of women to date. These gains matter. But Panditha’s study shows how institutions can comply with a quota while preserving the power structures beneath it.

The report Presence and Influence: Local Politics and Gendered Realities is available at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), 02 Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 08, in English, Sinhala and Tamil. E-copies of the report are available at www.ices.lk

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Business

ADB approves $100 million loan to boost skills development and jobs for youth in Sri Lanka

Published

9 mins ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million results-based loan to help Sri Lanka transform its technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system, equip more young people with industry-relevant skills, and strengthen the country’s competitiveness and inclusive growth.

The Skills Development System Transformation Program will support the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts in improving the quality and relevance of skills training, strengthening links between training providers and industries, and expanding employment opportunities for youth. The program will increase women’s employment opportunities in nontraditional jobs in fields including automotive technology, engineering, information and communications technology, construction, and renewable energy.

“A skilled workforce is essential to Sri Lanka’s long-term economic transformation and competitiveness,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Shannon Cowlin. “This program will help create stronger pathways from education to employment by making training more responsive to industry needs, expanding opportunities for young people and women, and ensuring that graduates have the skills required by a modern and evolving economy.”

Though Sri Lanka’s economy is recovering, it faces skills shortages in priority sectors, high youth unemployment, and low female labor force participation. Many employers report difficulty finding workers with the skills needed in a changing economy.

Aligned with the Government of Sri Lanka’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Strategic Framework 2026–2035, the nationwide program will be implemented from 2027 to 2031 and is expected to directly benefit more than 100,000 young people through improved access to quality, employment-oriented training.

Business

USD 40.84m pipeline to secure aviation fuel supplies to BIA

Published

17 mins ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

The government has cleared a USD 40.84 million and Rs. 8,548.75 million contract to build a dedicated aviation fuel pipeline from Muthurajawela to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), alongside a massive new fuel storage facility with a capacity of 92,000 cubic metres.

Energy Minister Anura Karunatilaka said the project represented a major investment in strengthening the infrastructure underpinning Sri Lanka’s aviation fuel supply and ensuring more reliable fuel availability at the country’s main international airport.

‘This project will provide the infrastructure required to strengthen the reliability and continuity of aviation fuel supplies to Bandaranaike International Airport, Karunatilaka said.

The contract has been awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited, following an international competitive procurement process in which three bids were received.

The project will see a new aviation fuel storage tank complex constructed at Muthurajawela, together with the associated infrastructure required for handling and transferring aviation fuel.

Business

CSE activity up, turnover weak at Rs. 1.4 billion

Published

17 mins ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H Senewiratne

Trading activity on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gathered pace yesterday as global fuel prices began to show signs of easing, according to market analysts.In this context, both indices moved upwards. All Share Price Index up by 67.97 points while S and P SL20 up by 8.30 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.4 billion with seven crossings. Those crossings were reported in Sampath Bank 1.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 238 million and its share price traded at Rs 140, Access Engineering two million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 159 million and its share price traded at Rs 79.50, LOLC one million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 129 million and its share price traded at Rs 129, HNB 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 38.4 million and its share price traded at Rs 384, JKH 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 35 million and its share price traded at Rs 18.60, Hayleys 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22.50 million and its share price traded at Rs 225 and Richard Pieris 847,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22 million and its share price traded at Rs 25.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that have mainly contributed to the turnover were Sampath Bank Rs 114 million (813,000 shares traded), JKH Rs 100 million (5.3 million shares traded) LB Finance Rs 49 million (325,000 shares traded), HNB Finance Rs 30 million (27 million shares traded), HNB Rs 27 million (70000 shares traded), NTB Rs 25 million (82000 shares traded ) and Lanka IOC Rs 21 million (666,000 shares traded). During the day 65 million shares volumes changed hands in 10433 transactions.

The Banking and manufacturing sector counters performed well. In the banking sector Sampath Bank let the market while manufacturing sector especially JKH also significantly performed well. With the fuel revision Land IOC also a significant stock at the floor.

Meanwhile, First Capital Treasuries said that Ramesh Schaffter resigned as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October 1, to facilitate the restructuring of the company’s board.

Yesterday the Central Bank announced the US Dollar rate as against rupee. The rupee was quoted flat at Rs 330.65/80 to the US dollar in the spot market , while bond yields dropped, dealers said.