The town hall meetings were held on June 27, 2024 at Mullaithivu District Secretariat and July 05th and July 09th at Kilinochchi & Mannar District Secretariats respectively.
This meeting was jointly chaired by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Northern Province and the respective District Secretariat, bringing together government officials, representative of Community based Organization and Social activists to address local issues with a special focus on issues affecting women and children.
These meetings were Co-chaired by the Secretary/ Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Northern Province, and the District Secretary/ Additional District Secretary of respective districts.
In these meetings, the representatives of the women’s groups made presentations on the issues in a neat and orderly manner.
This time, the highlight was that the government officials from various departments, who are in decision making caliber were present in person and available over the phone to reach out for solutions to the issues raised in these meetings.
These impactful Town Hall meetings were made possible through the support of Chrysalis, under the project “Promoting Peaceful, Inclusive, and Resilient Communities through Women-led Solidarity Forums (BRIDGE)” in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, generously funded by the EU.
In the town hall meeting in Mannar district, the in-charge person of the pre-school teachers’ organization tabled an issue of inadequate allowance to teachers, and it was one of the vital issues discussed. Further, issues related to village tabled by women are addressed in a program called “Towards Village” organized by the district secretariat was informed as a measure for better solutions.
In the town hall meeting in Mullaithivu District, the Additional District Secretary requested the Rural Development Officer to reactivate public organizations and Women’s Rural Development Societies. In the meeting, there was a discussion about establishing temporary police stations in Theyravil, Udayarkaddu. The Police Officer who attended the meeting took responsibility for reviewing this matter.
In the town hall meeting in Killinochchi District, the welfare of women working in a specific garments factory was discussed. For this Issue, the proposal was that the Labor Department needs to focus more attention on this matter.
