14 Sri Lankan companies pledge to increase percentage of women on boards to 20%

During an event organized by the International Finance Corporation and Colombo Stock Exchange, fourteen Sri Lankan corporations agreed to increase the proportion of female directors and management to twenty percent by 2025.

International Women's Day saw a "Ring the Bell for Gender Equality" event, according to the Colombo Stock Exchange.

In 2022, the percentage of women on CSE-listed boards increased from 144 to 240, up from 8.2 percent in 2018, according to an IFC research funded by Australia's DFAT.

Sarah Twigg, Manager, of the Women in Work Program, IFC, said: "We know that making even minor gains in bridging the gender gap may deliver obvious and positive consequences for firms notably in financial performance and improved decision-making processes.

"The pledge of the 13 leading Sri Lankan corporations is a key step towards accelerating the progress we have made so far, and now is also the time when Sri Lanka needs more female corporate and business leaders to assist create an inclusive and robust recovery in the nation."

The eighth iteration of the event, according to Dilshan Wirasekera, Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange, serves as a "call to action" for corporations to advance gender equality and women's empowerment.

He stated, "We wanted to encourage the 20 S&P businesses to affirm their commitment towards boosting female representation at the board level and in management to a minimum of 20% by 2025.

According to the release, the Reserves by IFC's Women on Boards program has also demonstrated a strong link between improved board diversity and financial success in Sri Lanka, with favourable trends observed in accordance with metrics like return on total assets and price-to-earnings ratio.

Through the IFC-DFAT Women in Work initiative, the Australian government is supporting IFC's work on the "Women on Boards" program in Sri Lanka.

Finding innovative strategies to achieve gender equality is crucial now more than ever, according to Lalita Kapur, the Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, who was present at the event. Sri Lanka is now dealing with serious economic difficulties.

At the occasion, 14 businesses vowed to increase female representation in management and at the board level to at least 20 percent by 2025.

Sarah Twigg, Manager, of the Women in Work Program, IFC, said: "We know that making even minor gains in bridging the gender gap may deliver obvious and positive consequences for firms notably in financial performance and improved decision-making processes.

"The commitment of the 13 top Sri Lankan companies is a significant step towards accelerating the progress we have made so far, and this is also the time that Sri Lanka needs more women corporate and business leaders to help ensure an inclusive and resilient recovery in the country," said the statement.

In honour of International Women's Day, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC) collaborated to host the seventh annual "Ring the Bell for Gender Equality" event in Sri Lanka.

The yearly international campaign emphasizes how increasing women's economic involvement may promote inclusive and sustainable growth, so paving the way for a more equitable future.

According to the 2022 Global Gender Gap Report, the percentage of women hired for leadership positions has steadily increased from over 33 percent in 2016 to almost 37 percent in 2022.

Concerns have been raised that women's involvement in the workforce has decreased amid several worldwide problems, which were first caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this might result in further regress toward gender parity.

The project is one of several that the IFC is committed to as part of its strong focus on gender equality, which also includes leveraging ties with financial institutions to raise the number of women in leadership positions and extend access to financing for female entrepreneurs.

At the occasion, 14 businesses vowed to increase female representation in management and at the board level to at least 20 percent by 2025.

Sarah Twigg, Manager, Women in Work Program, IFC, said: "We know that making even minor gains in bridging the gender gap may deliver obvious and positive consequences for firms notably in financial performance and improved decision-making processes.

"The commitment of the 13 top Sri Lankan companies is a significant step towards accelerating the progress we have made so far, and this is also the time that Sri Lanka needs more women corporate and business leaders to help ensure an inclusive and resilient recovery in the country," said the statement.

Compared to a constant male participation rate of 74 percent, Sri Lanka's female labour force participation percentage is still at about 35 percent. Similar to this, from 2011 and 2019, the average female unemployment rate (7 percent) stayed higher than the average male unemployment rate (3 percent).