Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana launches for 2nd consecutive year

Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana – an awards program to empower the women of Sri Lanka was launched for the second consecutive year by NDB Bank and Sirasa News 1st.

Similar to the very successful awards ceremony that was held at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre on 8 March, Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana 2021 too will be held throughout the year, ending in a grand award ceremony.

This year’s program will be held in two stages under the corporate field and provincial competition. Applications are accepted for the tournament for a period of one month from 5 August onwards. 

• Corporate field

The professional category of the Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana this year will be held under 10 categories.

These categories are 01. Human Resources 02. Financial Management 03. Marketing and Advertising 04. Legal Division 05. Government Division 06. Information Technology 07. Tourism 08. Arts 09. Sports and 10. Entrepreneurship.

Women holding senior level positions in the relevant fields can apply for this competition.

• Provincial tournament

The Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana Provincial Competition will be held to recognise the courageous women who excel at the rural level.

The competition which was held under eight categories in the previous year is scheduled to be held under 10 categories with two new categories added this year. 

01. Entrepreneurship (Small Scale) 02. Entrepreneurship (Micro Scale) 03. Entrepreneurship (Emerging) 04. Youth Leadership 05. Environmental Management 06. Sport 07. Volunteer Services 08. Innovation 09. Literature and 10. Education Services are thus included.

Parallel to the awarding ceremony of the winners of the provincial competition, a Women’s Day festival will be held in each province. It is expected that this programme will provide workshops, seminars, lectures as well as valuable market opportunities for female entrepreneurs. 

These activities are being carried out with the full support of the Department of Manpower and Employment.

• Women’s summit

A key feature of this year’s Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana program is the convening of a women’s summit with the participation of 500 women from various walks of life.

Awarding women who won first places in the competition, out of thousands of competitors, was held in a very grand manner on International Women’s Day on 8 March at Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre. At the award ceremony, Iranganie Serasinghe, Sumithra Pieris, Dr. Chithra Vajirasen, Latha Walpola, Dr. Nanda Malini, Sumithra Rahubadhdha, Specialist Dr. Pabha Palihawadana, Dr. Asha de Vos, Susanthika Jayasinghe, and Jayanthi Kuru-Uthumpala were awarded Vanithabhimana Special Awards that are only awarded once in a lifetime.

Miss Pushpa Ramyani Zoysa, National Coordinator (Training) at the Colombo National Hospital, won the award for the most popular woman in the country by popular vote.

The Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana program will be held under the NDB Araliya umbrella where all NDB female entrepreneurs can enjoy a number of banking facilities available including an Araliya Business Loan (for capital expenditure, working capital and for day-to-day operational expenses), Araliya Credit Card, Araliya Current Account, Araliya Savings Account, Araliya Debit Card, Working Capital facilities (**Subject to prevailing credit criteria of the Bank), Preferential interest rates, Insurance Schemes (Life Cover and hospitalisation benefits) as well as Non-financial Services under Araliya Umbrella.

These female entrepreneurs will also have access to Araliya Knowledge Sharing Forums, access to Araliya mentoring and networking sessions, third-party advisory services (e.g. process of business registration, book keeping, etc.) as well as a special certification program on Small Business Management.

NDB has always been at the forefront of assisting entrepreneurs while also helping women in particular to achieve great heights while also breaking the glass ceiling.