Sri Lanka Vanithaabhimana – an awards program to empower the women of Sri Lanka launched for the third consecutive year by NDB Bank and Sirasa News 1st.
Grand Finale 2022
The third year of the Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana awards ceremony, organised by NDB Bank along with Sirasa News 1st, was held in much splendour on the 16th of March 2023 to honour and empower Sri Lankan women. Sri Lanka Vanithabhimana 2022 took place nationwide, with 2384 entries from the provincial competition and 367 from the corporate competition, with the grand award ceremony held last week.
This year's programme was held in four phases, started with the official launch and press conference of the provincial level competition.
The second phase will consist of the Provincial Level competitions where five finalists will be selected from each category per province concluding with 40 participants in total with a 30 minutes program dedicated to each category.
Phase three will commence with the corporate sector competitions which are held for professionals in the corporate sector. Accordingly, 20 participants will be selected from each category and 10 finalists will ascend for the final awards ceremony. One winner and 9 merit awards will be handed out via a special judge panel of 30 members proficient in each respective field.
The Grand Finale of Sri Lanka Vanithabimana was held on the 8th of March 2022 coinciding with International Women's day, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The Vanithabimana initiative introduced by NDB Bank in partnership with Sirasa News 1st, has become a platform for Sri Lankan female achievers who are fast breaking new ground.
The Finale recognized the winners selected at a national level from the two main categories, namely the Provincial sector and the Corporate & Professional Sector. Details of the award winners who took stage at the Vanithabhimana 2021 are as follows;
| Category | Province | Name |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurship(Micro) | North Central Province | K.D.U.T.K.Wimalarathna |
| Entrepreneurship(Small) | Sabaragamuwa Province | Lalitha Padmini |
| Entrepreneurship(Upcoming) | Western Province | H.K.Nimali Prasangika |
| Education Services | Southern Province | D.S.P.Surangi |
| Young Leader | Southern Province | T.H. Vishmi Kawshalya |
| Literature | Western Province | Samanthi Miriyagalla |
| Environment Management | North Western Province | K.M.D.Omali Sanjani |
| Voluntary Services | North Western Province | Chandani Dissanayake |
| Invention & Innovation | Eastern province | Sudarsini Sakthikumar |
| Sports | Sabaragamuwa Province | Irangani Rupasinghe |
| Category | Name | Profession/Workplace |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurship | A.K.G.Ayesha Imalika | kavumkokis.com |
| Tourism | R.P.Radeeka Jayani | Tourism |
| State Sector | Dr.Thesara V.P.Jayawardane | University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka |
| Sports | Sriyani Kulawansha OLY | Ministry Of Education |
| Art | Renuka Balasooriya | Film Producer |
| Legal Field | Nilmini Rose Wijeyesekera | University of Colombo |
| Sales & Marketing | K.Nadee Silva | Citizens Development Business Finance PLC |
| Financial Management | Vindya Cooray | Union Assuarance |
| Human Resources | L.Y.P.Gayathri De Silva | 1990 Suwa Seriya Foundation |
| Information Technology | Sandra De Zoysa | Dialog Axiata PLC |
NDB has made continuous efforts to empower women through various initiatives significantly through SME and Micro Finance. As a Bank, NDB takes every effort to provide constant support encouragement and proper financial guidance for Sri Lankan women with determination to grow in life.
The immense contribution made by women to the economy of the country and to other domains goes largely unrecognized. To address this shortcoming, and also to encourage more and more women to engage in economic and social activities, NDB together with Sirasa News First successfully launched ‘Sri Lanka Vanithabhima’ in the year 2020, which is a national level awards ceremony aimed at recognizing and rewarding the country’s female achievers. The “Vanithabhimana” program launched by NDB under its "Araliya" Banking on Women Initiative not only celebrates, rewards and recognizes the contribution made by outstanding women in their area of expertise, but also plans to empower them in their chosen field.
Despite the many challenges and hardships faced by all segments of society due to the current economic crisis, the organizers from both NDB Bank and Sirasa Newsfirst recognized the importance of conducting the program this year in order to identify, motivate and encourage those female achievers who have reached the pinnacle in their chosen field in the face of many obstacles.
NDB Araliya often partners with the Bank’s CSR initiatives to carry out workshops focused around personal grooming, business knowledge and technical skills sharing sessions etc. with a special focus on females. No other bank offers such a fully-fledged offering targeting the female segment and therefore NDB has been able to secure a competitive advantage in the women’s market and create a sustainable positive impact with this initiative.
Vanithabhimana wins award at ‘Top50’ Professional and Career Women Awards by WIM
NDB Bank together Sirasa News1st was recently felicitated with the “Positive Media Campaign for the Empowerment of Women” award at the “Top 50 Professional & Career Women Awards – Eleventh Edition” Sri Lanka & Maldives – under the Organizational Category.
.jpg)
