Sixty per cent women prone to violence

Nadira Gunatilleke

Sixty percent of women experience violence during their life time WHO representative and Chair UN Gender Theme Group Dr. Agostino Borra said.

"What we are trying to do in Sri Lanka is systemise the approach to end gender based violence," he said at the International Women's Day commemorative event organised by the United Nation's Country Team, Sri Lanka and UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo last Friday.

Dr. Borra said it was important to focus on issues such as gender based violence.

UN Resident Coordinator Neil Buhne stressed the importance of investing on women's education and added that countries can gain high returns by investing for women's education.

Senior Human Settlements Officer, UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), Jan Meeuwissen, and journalist Mohan Samaranayake also spoke.

Award for Excellence was awarded to Sri Lanka Women's Development Service Cooperative Society Limited while awards for innovation was awarded to Fund for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance Vietnam and the Association for Community Development Bangladesh.