In a statement today, the SVB said that they are deeply concerned about this latest decision by the government as an organization deeply committed to the protection and promotion of women’s rights.
"We condemn all attempts to reverse enlightened and progressive legislation of 12 weeks fully paid maternal leave which has been in place since 2018, to only 41 days by the present government, which displays utter disregard and disrespect for all women who make up more than half the population of Sri Lanka. It is something that all working women of this country should take note of as an indication of the government's lack of appreciation for their contribution even though their welfare ultimately impacts at every level on the country as a whole," the statement said.
They pointed out that this thoughtless action by the government violates all internationally accepted norms and rights secured by women as well as the existing legal requirement applicable to all female employees in Sri Lanka.
"It is confirmed by experts that mother’s milk not only has a direct impact on early childhood development but also leads to a healthy and productive generation of citizens. It is indeed unfortunate that this government which scrapped the provision of the nutrition pack to pregnant women have now violated even the rights obtained for newborn infants by previous legislators,' SVB said.
Instead of increasing the burden already borne by women by further limiting the globally accepted norms of maternity entitlement, a progressive measure the government can adopt is the introduction of paternity leave in accordance with established practices of other countries.
"Paternity leave would make the outcome equal, when both genders are entitled to a period of leave and employers do not have to make a choice to discriminate one gender over the other based on their leave entitlement," they noted.
