South Asian Women's Conference May-2024 (SAWC), Kathmandu, Nepal

South Asian Women's Conference 2024 (SAWC) was held in Lalithpur, Kathmandu, Nepal from May, 12-14th 2024, at the Hotel Himalaya, Nepal. The conference was jointly organized by the International Development Institute (IDI), USA, South Asian Women's Network (SWAN), New Delhi, and Trans-Himalayan Environment and Livelihood Program (T-HELP), Nepal.

Sri Lanka has been represented by Dr. Palitha Gurusinghe, Founder President, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation, Chairman, Sri Lanka Eco Tours, Chairman, Asia Pacific Regional Ecotourism Council (APREC) and the Consultant/Coordinator of South Asian Women's Network (SWAN), Sri Lanka Chapter. and Ms. Nishani Dissanayke, Media Expert of SWAN Sri Lanka Chapter and Achala Samaradiwakara, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Good Market, Sri Lanka.

SAWC on Economic Empowerment through Digital Transformation aims to leverage digital technologies to empower women economically, strategically. The conference targeted explicitly women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), in the rural tourism sector across South Asia.

The conference focused on deploying digital tools that enhance the market access, increase operational efficiencies, and boost overall business sustainability, thus fostering significant economic growth within this vital sector.

The conference was graced by Rt. Hon. Vice President of Nepal, Mr. Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav and the Guest of Hon. Ms. Bhagawati Chaudhary, Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizens, Government of Nepal and Hon. Hit Bahadur Tamang, Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal.

Dr. Palitha Gurusinghe, Founder President of Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation, Chairman, Sri Lanka Eco Tours, Chairman, Asia Pacific Regional Ecotourism Council (APREC) and the Consultant/Coordinator of South Asian Women's Network (SWAN), Sri Lanka Chapter, made a Presentation on Rural Tourism for Women’s Economic Empowerment.

Ms. Achala Samaradiwakara, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Good Market, Sri Lanka, made a Presentation on
Enhancing Women’s Access to Finance and Markets.

After concluding the conference Dr. Palitha Gurusinghe has been invited by the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP), a leading Environmental NGO in Nepal, a Partner of SLEF since 2003 to discuss future Networking Programmes between Sri Lanka and Nepal.

South Asian Women's Conference May-2024 PPTX