Where were the women?
It’s been 70 years since the Bandung Conference brought leaders of Asian and African countries together in a collective effort to forefront anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles. Twenty-nine Asian and African countries attended and the 1955 conference symbolised a ‘new spirit of solidarity of the Third World’ . The conference underscored two principles of Third World politics – decolonisation and development – and led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and an alternative conversation on how the world should be ordered including a proposal for a New International Economic Order (NIEO). It was a time when Sri Lanka punched significantly above her weight – Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike was an acknowledged leader of NAM, Dr Gamani Corea pushed for more favourable trade terms for the global south from his position as the Secretary of UNCTAD, and Ambassador Shirley Amerasinghe pushed against international competition to acquire the resources of the sea b...