WiLAT partners UN’s ‘HeforShe’ campaign for women empowerment in Sri Lanka

Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) was formed to enhance women’s representation in the Logistics and Transport industry by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). In pursuing WiLAT Sri Lanka’s mission in empowering women in Logistics and Transport and in celebration of their fourth anniversary a colourful event was held on 20 March at the Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo. The key highlight of the evening was that WiLAT partnered with UN Women’s HeforShe movement to promote women empowerment in Sri Lanka. The theme for the event was ‘Be Bold for Change’ in line with this year’s 108th International Women’s Day. 

Speaking at the event, WiLAT Chairperson Gayani de Alwis shared, “As per UN Women; men consist of 60% of the employed labour and 95% of the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations are men. In Sri Lanka, 75% of the labour participation is by males and female participation is only at 36.2%. The achievement of gender equality requires an inclusive approach that recognises the crucial role of men and boys as partners for women’s rights.” She thanked UN Women and the 10 corporates for supporting this cause by being bold and walking the talk. Gayani commended the organising committee led by project chair Dhashma Karunaratne for organising this event in grand style which attracted over 225 WiLAT members and invitees.

As such, WiLAT invited CEOs to lead by example through actions that demonstrably advance and empower women. Globally 1,416 CEOs have signed up as an expression of support for advancing equality between women and men to:

nBring the broadest pool of talent to their endeavours; 

nFurther their companies’ competitiveness; 

nMeet the corporate responsibility and sustainability commitments; 

nModel behaviour within the companies that reflects the society they would like for their employees, fellow citizens and families; 

nEncourage economic and social conditions that provide opportunities for women and men; and 

nFoster sustainable development in the countries in which they operate

WiLAT was indeed successful in obtaining leading Logistics organisations such as Aitken Spence, Colombo International Container Terminals, Expolanka, Hayleys, Hemas, John Keells, McLarens, South Asia Gateway Terminals, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, and Unilever to support their women empowerment initiative by obtaining CEO statements assuring and guaranteeing women’s empowerment in their respective organisations.

The keynote speaker of the event was Unilever Sri Lanka Chairman Carl Cruz. He highlighted the key strategies adopted by Unilever Sri Lanka to promote women participation and empowerment. Unilever is one of the 10 top corporates who have pledged support globally for the UNWomen’s HeforShe initiative. This was followed by an engaging panel discussion which was moderated by Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson, Managing Director Hemas Pharmaceuticals and Hemas Logistics and Maritime sector of Hemas Holdings PLC with the participation of many other eminent industry personnel such as Hayleys Advantis

Managing Director Ruwan Waidyarathne, Sri Lanka Ports Authority Managing Director S. Premachandra, Sri Lanka Institute of Directors Chairperson and Jetwing Travels Managing Director Shiromal Cooray, UN Women Sri Lanka Country Focal Point Ramaaya Salgado and Institute of Policy Studies Research Fellow Dr. Nisha Arunathilaka.

The panellists discussed challenges and hurdles encountered by them pertinent to women empowerment and what possible solutions were taken to continue this great initiative. The audience consisting of both ladies and gentlemen of the logistics fraternity and invitees raised many questions and shared their own experiences specifically in successfully executing their responsibilities in a ‘male dominated’ industry.

Ramaaya Salgado said, “UNWomen is happy to partner with WiLAT, who is the pioneer in women’s empowerment in the Logistics and Transport industry in Sri Lanka. UNWomen’s HeforShe movement is a growing network globally and it’s encouraging to see 10 leading local corporates joining this global movement to make the workplace more conducive for women.” 

WiLAT Sri Lanka Vice Chairperson and ‘HeforShe’ campaign project chair Dhashma Karunaratne concluded by sharing some insightful information: “Research confirms that gender equity worldwide can lead to a 12-trillion dollar increase in Global GDP,” stating that while men bring important skills to a workplace, an equal proportion of women would introduce different – and just as effective – skills, which, when pooled together, an organization would see a surge in creativity, innovation and growth.” In her closing remarks she thanked the lead signers of the CEO statement; for making equality a corporate priority and inspired the audience to ‘go be the change you want to see’.