Economic Empowerment through Self-employment Initiatives: A Group Work Experience based on a Sri Lankan Village

Groupwork ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-113
Author(s):  
Shamila Sivakumaran ◽  
Jeevasuthan Subramaniam

This article looks into the application of groupwork in Sri Lanka with a group of women-headed households (WHHs) to empower them and promote a sustainable economic development through self-employment initiatives. This particular groupwork was carried out in an underprivileged rural village, in Sri Lanka. Participants were divided into three groups based on their interest in the following livelihood activities; home gardening, tailoring and handloom work. They were facilitated with different activities for the period of six months. The significant changes were; improved skills in selected area, leadership and team work, documentation, mutual support, internal harmony among the community members, marketing skill and self-confidence.

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. P. SAMANTHA KUMARA

This study attempted to examine entrepreneurial intention of Sri Lankan undergraduates. The undergraduates' entrepreneurial intention was examined with entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self-employment. Accordingly, it was rationalized that entrepreneurial intention is influenced by entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self employment. Gender impacts on these three aspects were also examined. The study sample consisted of 149 management undergraduates of one of the leading universities in Sri Lanka and data were collected through the administration of a formal questionnaire. The results revealed that undergraduates' entrepreneurial belief, attitude towards self-employment and entrepreneurial intention were moderately positive; there were statistically significant positive modest correlation between entrepreneurial belief and entrepreneurial intention, and between attitude towards self-employment and entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, there was no significant impact of gender on entrepreneurial belief and attitude towards self-employment. However, it was found that there existed significant difference between male and female undergraduates in terms of their entrepreneurial intention.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanchana Wijayawardena ◽  
Nilupama Wijewardena ◽  
Ramanie Samaratunge

Purpose Given the limited research on women in information technology (IT) sectors in emerging economies and the importance of understanding their experiences working in highly gendered IT firms, the purpose of this paper is to examine the specific gendered strategies used by women engineers to stay in gender-atypical IT firms in Sri Lanka using job embeddedness as a theoretical lens. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was done through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions on a sample of 14 women engineers employed in five leading IT firms in Sri Lanka. Findings Respondents perceived the work role expectations in the Sri Lankan IT industry as masculine. Respondents compromised their own gender identities to engage in four distinct strategies to link and fit with the prevailing work role expectations. “Using a hybrid style” and “being passive and neutral” were respondents’ link strategies, while “adopting masculine traits” and “demonstrating self-confidence” related to their fit strategies. Research limitations/implications Men and women who aspire to enter the IT sector need to be pre-prepared and educated about the characteristics of IT cultures and prevailing gender norms along with the subject knowledge. Managers of IT firms need to create positive work environments for their women employees that aid them to fit and link with their workplaces. Originality/value The study provides a deeper understanding of how women manage gender-related issues within gender-atypical IT firms in Sri Lanka and stay in their employment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-164
Author(s):  
Harun Rasiah

The contemporary formation of a community of Shi’i Muslims provides a window into the making and unmaking of ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Originating in solidarity with the Islamic revolution of Iran, Sunni activists formed a political network which has evolved into an autonomous Shi’i religious community. Members studied the traditional Islamic disciplines in the institution of learning (hawza ‘ilmiyya) in Qom alongside students who had undergone a similar transformation, fortifying an internationalist outlook. With associates in the Indian Ocean region, particularly the Gulf states, the transregional community is bound by the common thread of Shi’ism and focuses on Iran and the ‘Atabat of Iraq as spiritual homeland. Exploring the “diasporic consciousness” of the community, this article focuses on the transmission of ideas in time and space. Temporally, it emphasizes claims to local Muslim heritage in variant readings of the Sri Lankan past. Spatially, their cartography provides an alternative account of the sacred landscape based on scholarly practice, devotional activity and political contestation. By recounting the history and mapping the geography of the Shi’i Muslim community, this article investigates how Shi’ism influences the configuration of a diasporic field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 86 (6) ◽  
pp. 2491-2529
Author(s):  
Michael Callen ◽  
Suresh de Mel ◽  
Craig McIntosh ◽  
Christopher Woodruff

Abstract The world’s poor are seeing a rapid expansion in access to formal savings accounts. What is the source of savings when households are connected to a formal account? We combine a high-frequency panel survey spanning two and a half years with an experiment in which a Sri Lankan bank used mobile Point-of-Service (POS) terminals to collect deposits directly from households each week. We find that the headwaters of formal savings lie in sacrificed leisure time: households work more, and improved savings options generate an increase in labour effort in both self-employment and in the wage market. The results suggest that the labour allocation channel is an important mechanism linking savings opportunities to income.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 66-71
Author(s):  
Balasubramaniam M ◽  
◽  
Sivapalan K ◽  
Tharsha J ◽  
Sivatharushan V ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (69) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Boženko Đevoić

ABSTRACT This article gives an overview of the 26 year long ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and examines physical reconstruction and economic development as measures of conflict prevention and postconflict reconstruction. During the years of conflict, the Sri Lankan government performed some conflict prevention measures, but most of them caused counter effects, such as the attempt to provide “demilitarization”, which actually increased militarization on both sides, and “political power sharing” that was never honestly executed. Efforts in post-conflict physical reconstruction and economic development, especially after 2009, demonstrate their positive capacity as well as their conflict sensitivity. Although the Sri Lankan government initially had to be forced by international donors to include conflict sensitivity in its projects, more recently this has changed. The government now practices more conflict sensitivity in its planning and execution of physical reconstruction and economic development projects without external pressure.


ICL Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-306
Author(s):  
Danushka S Medawatte

AbstractIn this paper, I attempt to examine the evolution of judicial review of legislation in Sri Lanka with a view to better understanding how it has impacted the democratic fabric and constitutional matrix of Sri Lanka. The impact that judicial review of legislation has had on rights jurisprudence, enhancement of democracy, prevention of persecution against selected groups are analysed in this paper in relation to the Ceylon Constitutional Order in Council of 1946 (‘Soulbury’ Constitution) and the two autochthonous constitutions of Sri Lanka of 1972 and 1978. The first part of the paper comprises of a descriptive analysis of judicial review of legislation under the three Constitutions. This is expected to perform a gap filling function in respect of the lacuna that exists in Sri Lankan legal literature in relation to the assessment of the trends pertaining to judicial review of legislation in Sri Lanka. In the second part of the paper, I have analysed decided cases of Sri Lanka to explore how the judiciary has responded to legislative and executive power, and has given up or maintained judicial independence. In this respect, I have also attempted to explore whether the judiciary has unduly engaged in restraint thereby impeding its own independence. The third part of the paper evaluates the differences in technique and stance the judiciary has adopted when reviewing draft enactments of the national legislature and when reviewing draft or enacted statutes of Provincial Councils. From a comparative constitutional perspective, this assessment is expected to provide the background that is essential in understanding the island nation’s current constitutional discourse, transitional justice process, and its approach to human rights.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandrani Nirmala Wijekoon ◽  
Indika Wettasinghe ◽  
Dinithi Fernando ◽  
Arosha Sampath Dissanayake ◽  
Malinda Gunawardana ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Early recognition and the optimal management of anaphylaxis saves lives but studies from different countries have demonstrated gaps in knowledge and practices between healthcare workers. There is a paucity of such data from Sri Lanka. We assessed knowledge, perception and self-confidence in the diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis amongst pre-intern medical graduates who would soon become first-contact doctors attending emergencies. Methods This cross-sectional study included pre-interns who graduated with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees in 2019 from three Sri Lankan universities with differing undergraduate curricula. Using consecutive sampling data were collected within four months of the final-MBBS examinations with a self-administered questionnaire and the answers on case diagnosis and management were used as the basis of outcome scores. Results 385 participants responded (response rate: 91.5%). 16.4% correctly identified all anaphylaxis triggers. Only 7.3% correctly diagnosed all ten case scenarios and 34.5% all seven cases of anaphylaxis. 98.2 and 97.9% correctly identified 1:1000 adrenaline as the first-line treatment and the intramuscular route. 9.9% would preferentially but incorrectly use the intravenous route if access was available. Only 79.2 and 55.6% knew the correct adult and paediatric doses of adrenaline and 50% agreed that follow-up care was needed. The mean scores for case diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis were 7.7/10 ± 1.4 and 16.9/20 ± 1.9, respectively. Multiple linear regression indicated that the final MBBS results classification (class of degree or no class indicated) was a positive predictor of case diagnosis score [class vs no class: B = 0.662 (95% CI 0.347–0.978), p < 0.001] and being a graduate of University 2 [B = 1.568 (95% CI 1.182–1.953), p < 0.001] and passing with a class at final MBBS [B = 0.716 (95% CI 0.319–1.113), p < 0.001] were positive predictors of management score. Self confidence in diagnosing and managing anaphylaxis were rated as 79.7 and 62.1% and there was a positive correlation between knowledge and perception scores and self-confidence (case-diagnosis: rpb = 0.111, p = 0.03; management: rpb = 0.164, p = 0.001). Conclusions Knowledge, perception and self confidence in the diagnosis and management of anaphylaxis was sub optimal amongst pre-interns and we identified areas that need improvement. A higher MBBS qualification classification was a predictor for correct diagnosis and management and confidence in diagnosis and management positively correlated with knowledge and perception scores. Further and enhanced educational and training strategies are needed for this life threatening emergency condition.


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