WiLAT Sri Lanka attends international convention in Poland

WiLAT Sri Lanka delegation (from left): Gayathri Karunanayake (Vice Chairperson), Gayani De Alwis (Founding Chairperson WiLAT Sri Lanka and Chairperson CILT Sri Lanka), Dhashma Karunaratne (Chairperson) 

A three member Women in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) Sri Lanka delegation attended the WiLAT International Convention, which was held on 3 June as part of the CILT International Convention at the DoubleTree Hilton hotel in Wroclaw, Poland. 

This year’s convention saw over 100 WiLAT participants attending the convention from Australia, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Zambia, Ghana, Malaysia, UK, Kazakhstan, Egypt and Sri Lanka.

Out of the 10 member CILT Sri Lanka delegation, the three member WiLAT Sri Lanka delegation representing Sri Lanka were Gayani De Alwis (Chairperson CILT Sri Lanka and Founding Chairperson WiLAT Sri Lanka), Dhashma Karunaratne (Chairperson WiLAT Sri Lanka), and Gayathri Karunanayake (Vice Chairperson WiLAT  Sri Lanka.

WiLAT convention started with Global Convener, Aisha Ali Ibrahim welcoming the gathering and thanking the global family for their untiring efforts to create gender party in the industry, which is male dominant. WiLAT Global Advisor, Dr. Dorothy Chan highlighted the strides that WiLAT has made in expanding its global foot print by increasing the coverage to 20 out of the 34 CILT countries, with the latest addition being Australia.

Dr. Henryka Bochniarz, President of Confederation of Lewiatan, Barbara Kaśnikowska, General Manager at Wroclaw Aircraft Maintenance Services, Prof. Danuta Moroń, University of Economics in Katowice, Poland delivered the session keynote speeches. Founding Chairperson WiLAT Sri Lanka, Gayani De Alwis showcased UN Women HeForShe program of Sri Lanka for global roll out at the convention. WiLAT operational guide developed by WiLAT Sri Lanka was adopted with modifications for global WiLAT Governance. New appointments were made in line with the newly formed structure. Gayani De Alwis, founding Chairperson WiLAT Sri Lanka was appointed as the Vice Chairperson WiLAT South Asia. 

Next year’s WiLAT convention will be held in Manchester, UK from 16-18 June 2019 when CILT celebrates its centenary year.