As the world celebrated International Women's Day on 8th March 2024, Pan Asia Bank was pleased to support a national level initiative called ‘Dear Father’, initiated by the Department of Samurdhi Development, Rotary Club of Colombo Uptown and Women’s International Foundation (WIF), promoting meaningful engagement, financial literacy in advancing social empowerment of men, and gender equality and women’s empowerment. The program promoted and facilitated the active participation of fathers while highlighting their crucial role in championing women\\\'s holistic empowerment and accelerating their progress.
Expressing his enthusiasm about the program, Buddhika Perera, AGM - Deposit Mobilization of Pan Asia Bank said: “As the Truly Sri Lankan Bank, Pan Asia Bank is committed to uplifting Sri Lankan lives beyond Banking. We are proud to take part in Creating Change Agents in the Samurdhi Network who will go on to make a further impact in society. We believe Financial Literacy is a key aspect of any successful society and we were happy to accept the invitation to take part in this since we have expertise in building Financial Literacy amongst communities.”
C.D. Kaluarachchi, Director General of the Department of Samurdhi Development, reaffirmed his support for the initiative: “Dear Father is a timely and nationally significant program. We are cautiously but steadily implementing this program to guarantee that the desired impact is achieved. The Department of Samurdhi Development, along with our partners, is completely dedicated to the program's success."
Adding further, Jerome Rajendram, District Governor Rotary International, District 3220, Sri Lanka and Maldives said: "We believe that true gender equality and women’s empowerment requires the active participation and support of men - and “Dear Father” is doing just that. We are very happy and proud to champion this initiative.”
Founder and Chair of Women’s International Foundation (WIF), Seroshi Nandasiri said: “We celebrated International Women's Day with a focus on fathers; we hope to inspire meaningful conversations and actions that contribute to a more gender-equitable world, where women can accelerate their progress by breaking barriers and effectively navigating cliffs. This program is an investment in women to accelerate their progress.”
Delan Silva, President, Rotary Club of Colombo Uptown, whose brainchild the project is, stated: "By engaging fathers in conversations about gender equality and providing them with the tools and resources to support their partners and children, we can create a more inclusive and just society for all. I'm confident that the ''Dear Father'' program will make a significant and lasting contribution to addressing some of Sri Lanka's current social issues."
The “Dear Father” program encourages fathers to be equitable, responsive and nonviolent. It highlights their role as active caretakers, partners in household responsibilities and advocates for women's and children's rights. The campaign is built upon three pillars: educate, engage, and empower, with the purpose of mobilizing fathers as allies in the empowerment movement.
During the education phase, more than 500 change agents from the Samurdhi Department network in the Colombo area were trained, and 5,000 fathers within the same district will be educated during the next phase of the program, which begins in early April 2024.
Pan Asia Bank aims to positively impact society by strategically contributing to Sri Lanka's socioeconomic growth and looks forward to maintaining its assistance as this project leads to a brighter and more prosperous future for Sri Lanka.