Despite development women continue to be marginalized - President
[August 29, 2005 - 6.00 GMT]

President Chandrika Kumaratunga this morning delivered the keynote address at the Tenth Anniversary Commemoration Meeting of the Beijing Women’s Conference, Fujian Centre of the Great Hall of China. She said the benefits of development should impact, men, women and children in society equally. President Kumaratunga is currently in China on an official visit.

President Kumaratunga said that though Sri Lanka has shown good growth rates, development cannot be measured only by growth figures.  A fundamental understanding of society and its decision making bodies at both national and international levels is vital, she said, to ensure the full empowerment of women and their role as equal partners in all aspects.

“There is clearly a need to ensure women become part and parcel of the decision making process to enable them to achieve a genuinely equitable role”,   President told the delegates from 98 countries attending the meeting.

President Kumaratunga lamenting the fact that women “despite development continue to be passive and marginalized” said women should be an “integral part of the machinery of power”, as she believed they could contribute much to heal the wounds and smoothen conflicts in these troubled times.

She stressed on the message contained in the Beijing Platform of Action, namely that nations should measure and judge the advancement of women not in isolation but in relation to how they stand in all aspects of life with their male counterparts.

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Last Updated Date: August 29, 2005 - 6.00 GMT