The Australian government, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation, will provide $15 million over the next four years to help local private companies hire female employees as part of its Women in Work Programme.
Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, said yesterday at Australia House that the programme will promote inclusive economic growth in Sri Lanka by aiding private sector companies in adopting business practices that empower women.
“We will work with companies to demonstrate the business case for investing in women as employees. We will also work to improve their ability to recruit and promote women and men equally.”
“The programme will also provide increased access to financial and non-financial services for women and women-owned businesses. And it will increase opportunities for women in selective private sector supply chains,” Fierravanti-Wells said.
Women’s participation in the labor force is just 35.3 percent, and Fierravanti-Wells said that the Women in Work programme would both aid women and benefit the country’s economy as a whole.
“Greater female participation in the workforce is now vital to helping economic growth in this country,” she said.