2025-08-20
News Categories : Committee News
A special appreciation program was held in Parliament yesterday (Aug. 19) for the 52 newly elected members of the National Board of the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs for the 2025 - 2027, coinciding with International Youth Day, which fell on August 12th. It was attended by the Hon. Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne and the Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasooriya.
The program organized by the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth was also attended by the Hon. Deputy Chair of Committees Mrs. Hemali Weerasekara, the Hon. Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and the Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth, Mr. Eranga Gunasekara.
The newly elected members of the National Board of the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs for 2025 - 2027 who arrived in Parliament were first welcomed by the Hon. Speaker by way of a statement in the Chamber. Afterwards, the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth provided them with an opportunity to visit the significant places of Parliament
Then at the beginning of the special appreciation program, the newly elected members of the National Board of the Sri Lanka Federation for Youth Clubs were welcomed by the Hon. Members of Parliament and members of the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth.
Addressing the event, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, the Hon. Prime Minister, said that it was a great achievement that women members were elected to the National Board for the first time in history. The Prime Minister also emphasized the need to change the historically constructed discourse on youth and create a new discourse with a new approach, and further expressed her views by urging the gathering to utilize this opportunity.
Speaking at the gathering, the Hon. Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne, congratulated the members elected to the National Board of the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs for 2025 - 2027 through a National Youth Conference, after 32 years, since 1993. The Hon. Speaker further stated that it is a great responsibility entrusted to these new members to provide leadership and represent the future generation of the country's youth.
Additionally, an open discussion was held during this program for members of the Sri Lanka National Board of the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs to present their ideas, suggestions, and issues, followed by the presentation of awards under the patronage of the Hon. Speaker and the Hon. Prime Minister.
The Deputy Co-Chairs of the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth, members including Hon. Members of Parliament, Director (Legislative Services) and Acting Director (Communications) and Secretary of the Parliamentary Caucus for Youth M. Jayalath Perera, Chairman / Director General at National Youth Services Council, Attorney-at-Law Supun Wijeratne, and others participated in this event.
2026-06-19
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Environment focused its attention on the issue of water pollution in the Kelani River when it met in Parliament recently (10th June) under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Environment, Dr. Dammika Patabendi.During the meeting, the Committee was briefed on the progress of discussions being held with companies that have expressed willingness to invest in a project aimed at cleaning the waters of the Kelani River.The Committee also discussed a number of proposals and other issues raised by Hon. Members of Parliament.The meeting was attended by Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
2026-06-18
A meeting of the Women Parliamentarians Caucus was held in Parliament recently to discuss the importance of incorporating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s national budget formulation process and to examine the challenges associated with its implementation.The meeting was chaired by the Chairperson of the Caucus and Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Savithri Paulraj. Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also participated in the discussion.A key concern raised during the discussion was the lack of adequate data and indicators to accurately assess and measure women’s economic contributions within the budgetary process. Drawing on examples of approaches adopted in India and other countries, members of the Caucus underscored the need to identify and address existing systemic and technical gaps in Sri Lanka’s budgeting framework.The Caucus also emphasized the importance of disaggregating data by gender in project reporting and strengthening digital data management systems to support such efforts. It was further noted that identifying relevant gender-related considerations at the initial stages of project design and implementation at the ministerial level would facilitate more effective project analysis, monitoring, and evaluation of outcomes.The need to move away from existing traditional and time-consuming methods towards formal online systems and data-driven analytical tools was also emphasized.The current progress and challenges in integrating Gender-Responsive Budgeting into Sri Lanka’s public financial policy were discussed in detail during the meeting.It was also emphasized that such budgeting should not be limited to nominal percentages in documents, but that the need to establish a formal framework and data system to ensure it has a real and practical impact was also highlighted.The Hon.Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemalee Weerasekera, Hon. Deputy Minister Dr. Kaushalya Ariyarathne, Co-Vice Chairpersons of the Caucus, Hon. Members of Parliament Chamindrani Kiriella, Attorney at Law and Samanmalee Gunasinghe, Hon. Members of Parliament Thushari Jayasinghe, Attorney at Law, Krishnan Kaleichelvi, Sagarika Athauda ,Attorney at Law, Nilanthi Kottahachchi, Attorney at Law, Ambika Samivel and Lakmali Hemachandra, Attorney at Law, along with a group of officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, also participated in the event.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government met recently (Jun. 12) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Prof. A.H.M.H. Abayarathna.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a range of issues and proposals relating to their respective electorates, as well as several other matters of public importance.Hon. Members of Parliament and officials were present at the meeting.
2026-06-17
The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs met recently (Jun. 09) at Parliament under the chairmanship of the Hon. Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi.During the meeting, Members of Parliament discussed a number of proposals and issues, including reviewing the progress of discussions initiated with the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education and the Department of Examinations regarding the formulation of regulations to prevent the conduct of private tuition classes on Sunday mornings, thereby facilitating the holding of Dhamma School classes on Sundays.The meeting was attended by Hon. Deputy Ministers, Hon. Members of Parliament and officials.
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