Urgent need to promote women’s participation in politics

11-Jun-2026

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The Search for Common Ground organization has called on the government to take effective measures to ensure meaningful participation of women in politics, including guaranteeing representation of female candidates within political parties.

The call follows a series of consultations and leadership training programmes conducted with support from the UN Development Programme between September 2025 and March 2026 in the Eastern and Uva Provinces, involving female political representatives.

According to the study, women’s political participation remains constrained due to multiple barriers, including patriarchal social structures (82%), unpaid care burdens (70%), economic dependency on male family members (68%), social attitudes (64%), traditional restrictions (76%), structural exclusion (45%), lack of leadership and technical training (55%), and fear or lack of confidence (58%).

The organization has recommended enforcing a 25% quota for women in local government institutions, strengthening internal party democracy in candidate selection, and establishing mechanisms to address harassment and misinformation targeting women leaders.