‘Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana’ Provincial Women’s Day debuts from the Central Hills

National Development Bank PLC (NDB) brings to life the age old adage, ‘the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’. 

The Bank will be working together with Sirasa News 1st to introduce ‘Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana’ program island-wide, developed with the aim of empowering women to get them to actively contribute to the national economy. 

One main objective of this program is to get women to participate in the modern marketplace and to encourage and facilitate their entry to it. It will also take a step towards appreciating and feting those women who at present actively contribute to the economy and society. The call for applications to enter the Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana Provincial competitions, commenced in July. The overall assessment process was a massive undertaking that started at the nine provinces and reached the national level. 

When assessing the applications, NDB and Sirasa News First paid attention to all aspects including women’s specialised vision, entrepreneurial capability, capacity for innovation, leadership quality and skills. In parallel measures were taken to conduct field awareness programs and workshops.  

The first Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana clarion call will commence from the hill country in the Central Province on 5 September at the Kandy City Centre (KCC) and this Women’s Day program will continue till December, in several stages, covering all Provinces. Provincial competition to motivate rural women whilst the Provincial Women’s Day which will provide a helping hand to women island-wide. The national summit which will look into solutions for women’s issues and the Vanithabhimana award/prize giving ceremony at which Sri Lankan women will be feted.

Areas of focus for the Provincial Women’s Day workshops conducted in the first stage include cookery, beautician, yoga training, health clinics, mobile banking and financial/monetary services, legal aid services, advice for self-employment, training for youth leadership and entrepreneurial training. 

In addition, at the conclusion of the Women’s Day workshops, a musical show will be conducted with up and coming singers. A group of 1,000-2,000 is scheduled to participate in the Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana one-day workshop and at the end of the workshop, all applicants who participate will be awarded a certificate of participation. Based on the eight specially chosen categories from every province, eight winners each will be given awards. They include Micro-entrepreneur, Small entrepreneur, Up and coming entrepreneur, Young female leader, Environmental management, Social service, Sports and Education 

Further, all those who win in the aforementioned eight categories will be provided the opportunity to participate at the Vanithabhimana award/prize giving ceremony held at the final stage as representatives of their respective provinces.

The Bank, which is the 4th largest listed bank in Sri Lanka, is one of the fastest growing banks, having had a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) in advances by 21% and in deposits by 25% in the last four years. The only financial service conglomerate in Sri Lanka, NDB Group is uniquely positioned towards assisting the growth and development of the Sri Lankan capital market provide its customers seamless access to the product and service offerings of all its group companies.