WELCOME
Liya Abimanee Award of Excellence 2011
Founder/Director Pearl Stephen was honored by the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs and was presented an Award of Excellence for the Welfare of Women and Social Wellbeing in Sri Lanka.
The Awards Ceremony was organized in lieu of International Women’s Day 2011 at the BMICH premises in Colombo. The WDC received an Award for its work towards Welfare of Women.
An appeal for assistance
| The WDC is an organisation registered in 1989 to assist Women and Children who are victims of violence and who are disabled. The WDC runs the largest shelter in Sri Lanka. Our Centre for the Disabled in Kandy has an average attendance 80-90 children with diverse disabilities.
The WDC is facing a severe crisis with funding shortage. One of the strategies to overcome is to shift the present centre for the Disabled which is a rented premises to our Head Office building which involves making an extension to our own existing building at 61 Mulgampola Road Kandy, our website which will give you more information regarding our work. We would kindly request you to send whatever donations, however small, to the following account which will help us to get over our present financial crisis. AC No. 8036490801 Thank you and God bless you. |
Since the mid 1980s, the Women’s Development Centre, or WDC, has worked to improve the situation for women in Sri Lanka. An idea that began with a few women in the central city of Kandy, today extends to many thousands of women, from every ethnic and religious group, in ten districts of the country. The WDC’s guiding vision is the belief that, with support, women can become empowered to make positive changes in their lives.
“Women have so much potential. I think it’s like a hidden treasure but nobody has taken the trouble to take it out. And that’s what we are trying to do.”
(Mrs. Pearl Stephen, WDC Founder and Coordinator)
The Women’s Development Centre strives to minimize the number of women who are subjected to violence by empowering them through access to knowledge and greater economic independence. It strengthens women socially by improving their standard of living and thereby fortifying the family. WDC programs focus on women at the grassroots level, in areas of intervention, prevention and advocacy together with networking of women’s groups for community development and peace.
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Commercial Bank of Ceylon Ltd.
99 Kotugodella Vidiya,
Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Ac No. 1002155501
Account Name:- Women’s Development Centre
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Women’s Development Centre
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Sthree – A Women’s Initiative
“Sthree” means “women in both Tamil and Sinhala. The merchandise displayed at Sthree comes from all over Sri Lanka. There are brightly colored handloom sarees from Batticaloa and Kalmunai and handloom home décor items from Welimada, stunning silver jewelry from Galle, tasty chutneys and jams from Kurunegala, traditional watti trays and rice containers from Mahiyangana and recycled paper products from Hanguranketha.
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Intervention
CRISIS INTERVENTION CENTRE
“Rape is something you’ll never forget. It’s a severe trauma, but still, I firmly believe that no matter what the crisis, however severe, it is possible to come back to normalcy, given the right environment. That’s what we are trying to do.”
(Pearl Stephen, WDC Coordinator)
The Haragama Crisis Centre is one of the largest shelters in Sri Lanka. It is not only a safe place for women and girls to recover from violence or abuse, but from the moment they arrive, they are embraced in a community of support and caring.