A Parliamentary Roundtable Discussion under the theme "Financing the Care Economy: The Role of Parliament", organised by the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus with the technical support of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), was held in Colombo recently under the patronage of Hon. Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne and Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.
Delivering the welcome address, Chairperson of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus and Hon. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Mrs. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, highlighted the importance of strengthening Sri Lanka's care economy and noted that her Ministry is working closely with all relevant institutions to advance this initiative.
Addressing the gathering as the Chief Guest, Hon. Speaker Dr. Jagath Wickramaratne emphasised that recognising and strengthening the care economy is essential to achieving sustainable national development. He further stated that Parliament has a responsibility to support, through the legislative and budgetary processes, policies that promote gender equality, social inclusion and equitable economic development.
Delivering the keynote address, Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya noted that investing in social care services, including childcare, elder care and support services for persons with disabilities, is not only a social responsibility but also a strategic investment that expands labour force participation, creates employment opportunities and strengthens the national economy.
Discussions also focused on how gender-responsive budgeting could be utilised to address barriers to economic growth and ensure that investments in social care are reflected more effectively and strategically in future national budgets.
The technical sessions were facilitated by Dr. Gayathri Lokuge, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), who delivered a presentation on Sri Lanka's social care policies and gender-responsive budgeting.
Former Director of the UK Women's National Commission and current Chair of the UK's Women's Budget Group, Janet Veitch OBE, delivered a presentation titled "Invest in Women, Grow the Economy", sharing international experiences on how investment in the care economy can increase women's economic participation, generate employment, promote economic growth and strengthen gender-responsive budgeting.
Representatives of local policy research institutions also presented recommendations on future budget allocations to strengthen social care. These included proposals for a national time-use survey, new funding mechanisms for assistive technology for persons with disabilities, the expansion of elder care services, and after-school care programmes for children.
Hon. Members of Parliament, policy experts and officials of the Ministry of Finance also engaged in extensive discussions on the policy priorities and resource requirements necessary to strengthen investments in the care economy through future national budgets.
During the discussion, a representative of the International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that the Ten-Year Action Plan on the Care Economy, developed by the National Social Care Working Group co-chaired by the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, the Ministry of Rural Development, Social Security and Community Empowerment, and the Ministry of Labour, based on the second strategic pillar on social care under the National Social Protection Strategy formulated in line with the National Social Protection Policy, is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers shortly for approval. She further noted that the issues discussed at the roundtable are comprehensively addressed in the Action Plan and that it has been developed through an extensive stakeholder consultation process with the technical support of the ILO.
The event was attended by Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees Hemali Weerasekara, Chair of the Committee on Public Finance, Hon. Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva, Country Director of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), Mr. Sanje Wignaraja, Members of the Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, Hon. Members of Parliament, policymakers, public officials, researchers and development partners.
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