CEDAW Sri Lanka: Government must ensure equal rights to land, natural resources and decision making
The CEDAW Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has recommended the government of Sri Lanka to ensure that rural women have equal rights and access to ownership and control over land and natural as well as economic resources and are equally represented in decision-making processes.
Rural women, including peasants, fish workers, plantation workers and other small-scale food producers make up more than 50 percent of all food production in Sri Lanka. However, they are facing significant challenges, including access to land and other natural resources, financial support and participation in governance and decision making.
They continue to face marginalization without legitimate membership-based organizations to access resources, services, and welfare benefits. There is limited attention to their welfare in social security programs, and their rights of association and access to fair markets remain limited. This situation is further aggravated by environmental marine pollution, climate change and the extensive use of agro-toxics in the country.
These and other issues were highlighted in a parallel report by a collective of grassroots organizations including FIAN Sri Lanka and the National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO), engaged in advocacy during the review of Sri Lanka by the CEDAW Committee in February 2025.
“Fisherwomen’s concerns are overlooked, and gender-sensitive policies in the sector are lacking,” says NAFSO’s Chandra Kanthi Abeykoon, who represented the CSO collective during the CEDAW review in Geneva.
“The contribution of women to food production is not valued adequately. They are hardly involved in decision-making about the food production process and not recognized legally as members in cooperatives.”
The CEDAW review of Sri Lanka made a series of recommendations to the government including the adoption of a national action plan on rural women and girls, adequate access to income-generating opportunities, social benefits and health care. It also called for them to be equally represented in decision-making processes, including on rural development programmes.
The CSO collective will closely monitor how the government follows up the recommendations, according to Thilak Kariyawasam, Executive Director of FIAN Sri Lanka.
“We will continue our advocacy towards the development of a comprehensive national strategy on agriculture and food security for all, with a view towards a transition to agro-ecology including binding transition plans that include gender-sensitive support mechanisms for rural populations and Indigenous Peoples, in line with UNDRIP, UNDROP, CEDAW and ILO conventions,” he added.
In Sri Lanka, around 1.1 million people are undernourished and more than half of the population (approx. 12.3 million people) cannot afford a healthy diet. Around 15 percent of children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition. Malnutrition among children of tea plantation workers is more than twice as high as in urban areas. Climate change also threatens the right to food, especially for poorer people.
For more information, please contact Sabine Pabst pabst@fian.org