(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) –AIA Insurance recently commemorated the one-year anniversary of its women’s program,‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’, in partnership with IFC-DFAT Women inWork program,with an evening of celebration.
With patronage of Damayanthi Fernando Director General Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (IRCSL), Chathuri Munaweera Chief Executive Officer (CEO) AIA Insurance and Victor AntonypillaiSenior Country Officer for Sri Lanka and MaldivesInternational Finance Corporation (IFC)and Sarah Twigg Manager for IFC Women in Work program,the event brought together key professionals from AIA, IFC, Commercial Bank of Ceylon, andWomen’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) to recognize the program’s achievements and contributions towards empowering women across the country.
The event kicked off with a speech from AIA’s CEO Chathuri Munaweera, who highlighted the program’s key achievements and shared the company’svision for the future of ‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’, which is to positively engage 2,000,000 women across Sri Lanka by 2025- which falls withinAIA’s overall goal of One Billion Healthier Longer, Better lives across Asia by 2030. The celebration was followed by a cocktail reception, where guests had the opportunity to connect and network with fellow professionals.
As part of the IFC-DFAT Women in Work program, the‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’, a dedicated women’s insurance program was launched last year to offer insurance solutions, financial literacy training, networks, recognition, and access to informationfor Sri Lankan women. This programwas launched based on the findings from extensive research on women and insurance in Sri Lankaas part of the IFC-AIA partnership in 2020.
According to IFC’s SheforShield report, the women’s market represents a $1.7 trillion opportunity for the insurance industry globally by 2030. Over half of this growth is expected from emerging markets such as Sri Lanka. Speaking at the event, Victor Antonypillai, Senior Country Officer for IFC in Sri Lanka and Maldives said, “given the current low insurance penetration in Sri Lanka, targeting women, and addressing their protection can help insurers achieve greater heights. IFC’s work with AIA on ‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’ will help achieve just that by supporting and empowering Sri Lankan women as customers, agents, and employees.”
‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’s achievements in promoting gender equality, creating more opportunities for women, and fostering an inclusive workplace culture are a testament to AIA’s unwavering commitment to building a better future for all.The program is committed to supporting women across the country in achieving their full potential personally and professionally through learning, recruitment, networking, and protection.
Since its launch last year, AIA has reached over 500,000 womenthrough several targeted initiatives across different strategic pillars to empower women internally and externally. These initiatives include rolling out IFC developedGender Sensitivity Training (GST)program and including it to its sales training modules to ensure Wealth Planners are able to better engage and increase their responsiveness to the needs of women customers, recruiting a gender-balanced workforce, partnering with WCIC to engage and empower more women, launching a women-specific product ‘She Protect’ and AIA’s special insurance plan to ComBank’s Anagicustomers helped expand its customer base and increase women customer numbers.
These initiatives reflect AIA’s unwavering commitment to empowering women and building a more inclusive and gender-equal society. On the occasion of ‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’s first anniversary, AIA reaffirms its commitment to empowering women and building a better future for all. AIA is proud to celebrate the success of ‘ඇයසුරකින AIA’and looks forward to continuing its efforts to empower women in the future.
