01 Sep 2021
Following a successful year where our female achievers were celebrated for their achievements, NDB bank together with Sirasa News 1st recently launched the second Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana Program for 2021. The second launch however also focuses on a brand-new sector – the corporate and the professional females of the country.
According to a report by the IFC titled Realizing Sustainability Through Diversity: The Case for Gender Diversity Among Sri Lanka’s Business Leadership, “Sri Lanka’s female labor force participation rate stagnated at around 35 percent from 2009-2017, compared to the steady male participation rate of 75 percent during the same period. Similarly, the female unemployment rate on average remained more than double the male unemployment rate (7 percent for females and 3 percent for males) in 2009-2017. As a comparison, the female labor participation rate was 49 percent globally and 28 percent in South Asia based on the World Bank’s data.”
Understanding this data, NDB Bank and Sirasa News 1st commenced this new sector in order to reward the females who have managed to break through the glass ceiling and join the top management in their respective fields. Accordingly, females over the age of 30, from the ten categories of Human Resources, Financial Management, Marketing and Advertising, Legal Division, Government Division, Information Technology, Tourism, Arts, Sports and Entrepreneurship will be felicitated based on competition guidelines.
The immense contributions made by women to the economy of the country and to other domains go largely unrecognized. It is mainly to address this shortcoming as well as to encourage more and more women to come forward in economic and social activities that NDB Bank introduced this segment under its "Araliya" Banking on Women Initiative. The Bank together with Sirasa News First hopes to celebrate, reward and recognize the contribution made by outstanding women in their relevant areas of expertise. The applications are available through the NDB and Newsfirst Websites. Potential candidates can also send an email on info@vanithabimana.lk / call the hotline (0777-600040), or WhatsApp to receive the application.
All completed applications should be emailed to info@vanithabimana.lk.
NDB has always been at the forefront of assisting entrepreneurs while also helping women in particular to achieve great heights. Similar to the very successful awards ceremony that was held at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre on March 8th 2021, Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana 2021 too will be held throughout the year, ending in a grand award ceremony.
NDB Bank which was crowned as "Sri Lanka’s Best Bank 2021" by the prestigious Global Finance Magazine of USA, and recognized as "The Bank of the Year Sri Lanka", by The Banker Magazine UK, is the 4th largest listed bank in Sri Lanka and the parent company of the NDB Group. The only financial services conglomerate in Sri Lanka, NDB Group is uniquely positioned towards assisting the growth and development of the Sri Lankan capital market to provide its customers seamless access to the product and service offerings of all its group companies.