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 4th anniversary a colorful event was held on March 20 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, Chairperson WiLAT, Gayani de Alwis said, “as per UN Women; men consist of 60% of the employed labor and 95% of the CEOs of the world’s largest corporations are men. In Sri Lanka, 75% of the labor participation is by males and female participation is only at 36.2%. The achievement of gender equality requires an inclusive approach that recognizes 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 organizing committee led by project chair, Dhashma Karunaratne for organizing 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: Bring the broadest pool of talent to their endeavors; Further their companies’ competitiveness; Meet the corporate responsibility and sustainability commitments; Model behavior within the companies that reflects the society they would like for their employees, fellow citizens and families; Encourage economic and social conditions that provide opportunities for women and men; and Foster sustainable development in the countries in which they operate
WiLAT was indeed successful in obtaining leading Logistics organizations 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 organizations.
The keynote speaker of the event was Carl Cruz, Chairman Unilever Sri Lanka. Cruz 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 Ruwan Waidyarathne Managing Director Hayleys Advantis, S Premachandra, Managing Director Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Shiromal Cooray, Chairperson Sri Lanka Institute of Directors and Managing Director Jetwing Travels, Ramaaya Salgado Country Focal Point UN Women Sri Lanka, and Dr. Nisha Arunathilaka Research Fellow Institute of Policy Studies.
The panelists discussed challenges and hurdles encountered by them pertinent to women empowerment and what possible solutions were taken to continue this great initiative.
Ramaaya Salgado said, “UN Women is happy to partner with WiLAT, who is the pioneer in women’s empowerment in the Logistics and Transport industry in Sri Lanka. UN Women’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”
Dhashma Karunaratne, Vice Chairperson of WiLAT Sri Lanka and project chair of “HeforShe” campaign 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.”
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