Sri Lanka’s Recovery Runs on Unpaid Labour - PM
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya delivered a powerful reflection on the often-overlooked forces that have held Sri Lankan communities together through decades of crisis, placing women at the centre of the nation's resilience and renewal.Addressing the enduring impacts of conflict, structural inequality, and colonial-era economic systems, the Prime Minister said these entrenched challenges had disproportionately marginalized women, rural communities, and plantation workers. Yet, she emphasized, these same communities consistently demonstrate astonishing strength and adaptability."Women have led in rebuilding families and livelihoods, sustaining local economies, and finding innovative solutions to complex challenges-often in the absence of institutional support," Dr. Amarasuriya said.Reflecting on the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah in late November, the Prime Minister highlighted how the crisis became a moment of collective action. "The way in which communities came together to help each other was truly amazing-and women were once again at the forefront of this," she noted. Beyond emergency response, women shouldered the responsibility of maintaining stable homes, caring for children and elders, and ensuring households remained functional so others could participate in recovery efforts.Dr. Amarasuriya stressed that this largely unseen labour-performed silently and consistently-is foundational to community survival but rarely acknowledged.The Prime Minister pointed to the systemic undervaluing of women's economic contributions, particularly in unpaid care work, informal labour, and agriculture. While economic analyses often celebrate women entering paid employment, they frequently ignore the vast, unpaid ecosystem of care work that enables every other sector to function."Many reports underscore the transformative social outcomes of women engaging in paid work," she said. "But they rarely acknowledge their role in unpaid care work, which continues to remain invisible in many calculations of how women work."She called this not just an economic conversation but a fundamental feminist imperative-to build economies rooted in equality, justice, and societal well‐being, with a genuine understanding of all forms of labour.Dr. Amarasuriya warned that the under-representation of women in decision‐making is not coincidental. It is sustained through entrenched gendered power hierarchies that actively deter capable women."Attacks on women in leadership-harassment, character assassination, and systemic marginalization-often force aspiring women leaders to withdraw," she said.She argued that fully functioning democracy and justice are impossible without addressing these systemic inequalities in voice, visibility, and representation.
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