Chandrika Sepali Kottegoda

Women and Media Collective University of Colombo, Srilanka

http://www.cmb.ac.lk

Spearheading the civic movement for removing obstacles to women's participation in all spheres of public life, Dr. Kottegoda is an action-oriented scholar on gender and women's studies. Having earned a Ph.D. in development studies from the University of Sussex, she is a founding member and co-director of the Women and Media Collective, the activities of which include promoting women's representation in the media, lobbying for the increase in women's representation in the political arena, and campaigning against violence against women.

She also holds a teaching position in the Ph.D. programme of women's studies at the University of Colombo as a senior lecturer. Dr. Kottegoda brings her expertise to bear on strong advocacy and lobbying for public awareness of gender bias and of unequal development as a fertile ground for conflict. Her efforts in promoting the empowerment of women and sustainable development as a way to combat poverty are highly evaluated at both government and non-governmental levels.