Committee on Public Finance to prepare a system to provide school girls with essential facilities

The Committee on Public Finance chaired by Member of Parliament Dr. Harsha de Silva.held a special discussion in Parliament on Tuesday (21) with the representatives of civil organizations including the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) in order to get ideas and suggestions on the budget proposals presented for the year 2024 and the policies to be prepared in this country.

Representatives of civil organizations pointed out a number of areas that have received less attention in the budget proposals. They briefed the Committee on the problems that may arise due to the lack of attention paid to women’s welfare and the difficulties faced by school girls were discussed at length during the Committee.

The attention of the Committee on Public Finance was focused on identifying the number of school girls in need of sanitary as well as other facilities and prepare a system to provide them with the necessary facilities.

It was also disclosed at the Committee that 168 cases of child sexual abuse had been reported in the month of September this year and 22 girls under the age of 16 had become pregnant.

Representatives of Civil Society organizations were of the view that a systematic program to provide sex education for children should be initiated.