I am honoured by your invitation to inaugurate the Gender Centre of the University of Jaffna .My regrets for not being able to be with you all in person due to unavoidable circumstances.<\/p>\n
I am grateful to each of you for working towards the establishment of this your university Centre which will help you to create an environment to share national and global knowledge and experiences in gender inequalities, culture of oppression, discrimination and violence and use it to create a better environment for your university staff and students. \u201cBe a catalyst for generational change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Background to the UGC Initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n Significant shortcomings in gender issues in the Sri Lankan University System were taken into serious consideration by the UGC in the recent years and the UGC recognized that without addressing those deep-rooted inequalities and inequities within the system Sri Lankan universities cannot genuinely consider themselves to be centres of academic excellence.<\/p>\n Therefore the UGC took up the challenge to address these concerns by establishing a Standing Committee on Gender Equity\/Equality in October 2015 to advise the UGC on gender issues.<\/p>\n A Centre for Gender Equity\/Equality (CGEE) at the UGC was also instituted in September 2016 to assist the UGC in promoting gender-sensitive university subcultures and an environment of freedom and security that allows all staff and students to work and study without oppression and discrimination<\/p>\n Milestone in the UGC initiatives on Gender<\/strong><\/p>\n Since the founding of the UGC initiative we have worked tirelessly towards meeting the goals. First year since the inception has been extremely successful and exciting time for the UGC. It is our pleasure to share with you some of the important initiatives (milestones) taken by the UGC.<\/p>\n\n