The ‘Top 50’ Professional and Career Women Awards 2017 will be held on July 14 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel in Colombo, to recognize and appreciate the contributions made by women.
“The awards will be an encouragement and recognition for women to come forward and make their presence felt. It will be an attempt to find out the best out of the best women in their chosen fields of excellence. It is fitting to award women as they comprise over half of the population,” Founder Chairperson, Women in Management (WIM), Soluchana Sigera said.
“We need to find out why we do not have more women in economic activities and decision making process. One reason being the lack of role models. There is no second-line for the women to come up. However, the awards have made a huge impact on the winners,” she said.
Applications are now open for the WIM awards and the closing date is May 30. The highlight of this year’s awards is that nominations are open for Maldivian women to participate in the WIM Awards 2017.
“It is fitting that the theme for 2017 is ‘Beyond parity – developing tomorrow’s women leaders’. Sri Lanka is at a cross road with many local companies on the verge of evolving their leadership for a new age of equal opportunity. Now, in its seventh edition, we wish to continue to shine a light on the achievements of Sri Lanka’s most remarkable women which will also help inspire the next generation of women leaders,” Sigera said.
“The WIM top 50 career awards have become one of the most respected events in Sri Lanka, attracting the highest number of entries and high powered professionals as judges. The judges will looking at what contribution the women have made to the country, companies below 30 years, people driving the companies below 30 and at owners of companies who are below 30, to ensure young talent is recognised, Chairman of Lanka Sathosa and a 2017 Panel Judge, Dr. Rohantha Athukorala said.
Women’s employment is vital to drive economic growth and development. However, the chances for women to participate in the labour market worldwide remain almost 27 percentage points lower than those for men.
Head of the Gender Secretariat at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Henriette Kolb said, “No country can afford to lose half its talent pool. When female employees are unable to realize their full economic potential, businesses, communities, and economies are affected.”
“We are proud to continue supporting the work done by WIM through these awards and other training programs to help create new opportunities for women across Sri Lanka,” she said.
Globally, IFC works to reduce gaps between men and women in the private sector, enabling companies and economies to improve their performances. Societies can reach their full economic potential, only if men and women alike are allowed to make decisions, pursue employment, entrepreneurship, and leadership. - SJ