The power of women leading from the front

Renuka Bhadrakanthi is an activist who, for over thirty years, has focused on various aspects of women-centered community development based in Rathnapura. Working towards greater inclusiveness of women in health, education, and the distribution of resources, she has anchored her work on the motto, “for an empowered and wholesome community”. This is her story:

“The women’s organization I belong to commenced in 1996 and has focused on strategies to overcome poverty in the family unit. With an emphasis on the domestic economy, health, and education, what began with 458 families in a single divisional secretariat area has expanded to include 3500 families in 4 such divisions.  

My activism in the community is geared towards fairness in resource distribution, respectability and dignity in labour and ownership, and inclusive employment opportunities for all. I believe that services should be effectively regionalized for them to reach villages and remote communities and that the state has to play a proactive role in introducing policy and implementation to support this redistribution.      

In the future, I hope to see a Sri Lanka where education, health, and community infrastructure are sustained at the village-level and made readily and effectively available to rural women and men. I hope for state intervention in spearheading resource distribution and developing social policies that reach the marginalized. We need to ensure essential services are optimized and enjoyed by  local communities with dignity.”