CGEE

KDU Centre for Gender Equity and Equality passed another milestone on Tuesday, 08th March 2022 by Celebrating International Women’s Day on the theme of ‘Break the Bias’ to promote gender equity and equality today for a sustainable tomorrow. This event was successfully conducted at KDU – FGS auditorium from 0900 to 1100 hrs.

The event was graced by Major General Milinda Peiris RWP RSP VSV USP ndc psc MPhil, the Vice-Chancellor as the chief guest. There were around 120 other invitees and participants including, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Defence & Administration), Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Deans and Deputy Deans, Directors, Heads of Departments, Professors, Senior Officers, academia, CGEE faculty representatives and both Officer Cadets and day-scholars. The guest of honour speech was given by DVC – Defence and Administration, Brigadier Wipula Chandrasiri RSP USP psc.

The most exciting part of the day was the screening of Tik-Tok challenge on the theme “#BreakTheBias”. There were 8 shortlisted Tik-Toks produced by Intake 36, 37, 38 and 39 day scholars and officer cadets. After the screening of TikToks, all the participants were asked to vote for the best three entries using digital platforms.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the theme “Break the Bias Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”. The panelists were Dr. Dayani Panagoda (senior consultant), Ms. Kate Norton (Director Operations – Legal Action Worldwide) and Ms. Kimberley Ogonda (Country Representative – Legal Action Worldwide). It was moderated by Ms. Isha Wedasinghe Miranda (senior consultant). The panel discussion started with ten audios on what people think of ‘gender equity and equality’ and ended with a very interactive Q & A session.

The programme was concluded with the awarding of tokens of appreciation to the panel members followed by the awarding of cash prices and certificates to the winners and the participants of the Tik-Tok challenge.