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Kamala Liyanage (Sri Lankan) is a Professor of Political
Science, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. She teaches
courses on Gender and Politics, Gender and Power, Gender
and Development and Comparative Government and Politics.
She also functions as a Co-ordinator, the Center for the
Study of Human Rights, University of Peradeniya and conducts
training programs on human rights, women's rights, increasing
women's political participation and gender awareness.
She received B.A. (Honors) (Sri Lanka-1976), M.A. (Sri Lanka-1984)
and a Ph.D. in political science in 1991 from the University
of Keio, Tokyo. Dr. Liyanage's research studies have focused
on women in politics, women in education, women's rights,
ethnic studies and conflict, peace and children. Her other
assignments include: Visiting Research Fellow at the University
of London and Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo,
resource person of the National Women's Committee and the
Ministry of Women's Affairs, Sri Lanka, consultant and senior
researcher of the International Center for Ethnic Studies
and a regional member of the Human Rights Commission of
Sri Lanka.
Professor Liyanage recently completed a yearlong study on
"School Based Understanding on Human Rights and Gender
Equity" in Sri Lanka. In conjunction with that study,
she assists the National Education Commission to incorporate
concepts of human rights and gender into primary and secondary
level school textbooks in Sri Lanka. Moreover, she has completed
several studies on women in national and local politics
and capacity building and training for women in local governance
in Sri Lanka. She has been engaged in advocating to increase
women's active participation in politics and currently is
compiling a training manual for aspiring women in local
politics.
In recognition of such contributions, several national and
international organizations such as the Sri Lanka Foundation
Institute, University of Peradeniya, the Association of
Commonwealth Universities, the United States Information
Service, the Indo- American Center, the Pan-Pacific Women's
Association, Rural-Asia Solidarity Foundation and the Ministry
of Higher Education in Japan, bestowed fellowships and awards
to her.
Selected Publications:
Liyanage, K. (2003) Strategies for Training and Capacity
Building for Women in Local Governance in Sri Lanka, in
Proceedings of South Asian Workshop on Strategies for
Training and Capacity Building for Women in Local Governance
in South Asia, Center for Development Studies and Action:
New Delhi, pp.6-10.
Liyanage, K. (2000), Sri Lankan Women: Gender, Citizenship
and Political Participation, in Sambavana Journal of
University of Peradeniya: Sri Lanka, Vol. 1, July -Dec,
pp. 151-181.
Liyanage, K. (1999) Electoral System and Women's Representation,
in A New Electoral System for Sri Lanka, (ed.) Laksiri
Fernando and Dietmar Kneitschel, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung:
Colombo, pp.34-40.
Liyanage, K. (1999), Women in Political Parties: The Sri
Lankan Experience, in Women and Politics in Sri Lanka:
A Comparative Perspective (ed.) S.Kiribamune, International
Center for Ethnic Studies: Sri Lanka, pp. 101-142.
Liyanage, K. (1998), Women's Participation in Politics
of Sri Lanka, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung: Colombo.
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Strategies for Empowering Women in Local Governance
in Sri Lanka: A Comparative Study Learning from India, United
States of America and Sweden
The study will pursue three objectives: i) to learn international
experiences (India, USA and Sweden) on strategies that have
paved the way for more female representation in local politics;
ii) to find out appropriate strategies which Sri Lanka can
implement in increasing female representation in elected
local bodies; iii) to identify institutional mechanisms
for encouraging women to participate more in the political
process and to develop an action program for training and
awareness raising on the issue.
Female representation in elected bodies of government at
all levels - national, provincial and local- in Sri Lanka
is comparatively very low. This study is based on the premise
that in democracies individuals usually start in elected
office at the local level and them move up to provincial,
state and national levels. Thus, to get more women into
elected political office in Sri Lanka, we believe that it
is most fruitful to start at the local government level.
A survey of the relevant literature both theoretical as
well as empirical, especially on Sri Lanka and India has
been already completed. Also, interviews and discussion
with a sample of Sri Lankan local political leaders, NGO
activists, academics and trainers have been conducted. This
project will include three-weeks research visit to Sweden
and six months visit to the USA to continue the literature
survey on both these countries and to conduct interviews
and discussions with local politicians, NGO activists, academics
and relevant administrators.
To my knowledge, this project will become the first systematic
comparative study on strategies for empowering women in
local governance in Sri Lanka. The three countries selected
for the study, have successfully used various strategies
such as mobilizing women, organizing women, assisting women
in fund raising and campaigning and lobbying political parties
and their governments to introduce affirmative actions to
increase women's representation. This study will attempt
to understand in depth the context in which these countries
have succeeded and the actual strategies that were adopted
by them to achieve positive results. Such a study will allow
us to develop a strategy for Sri Lanka that is most appropriate
for local conditions.
The findings of this research will be used for two main
purposes. First, to build a body of knowledge for use by
women's groups, political parties, policy makers and other
interested individuals and groups to enhance the prospects
of women in Sri Lanka to be elected to local government
bodies. Second, to found an institution that would be responsible
for training, fund raising, campaigning, leadership training
and organizing of gender awareness programs to enhance the
capacity of women to seek and win elected office in local
government bodies. Thus, the research is directly related
to the main objective of the NCS's main theme for 2004,
"Toward equality: The Global Empowerment of Women".
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Professor,
Political Science Department
