Appointing a new UN Secretary-General
Justice For Tamilvictims
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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
By Dr. Palitha Kohona
NEW YORK (IPS): With Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s term of office tapering off by the end of 2016, there is increasing chatter in the corridors of the United Nations on his successor.
The interest in the top post at the UN has been heightened because of the issues that have emerged.
Among them: the importance of respecting the principle of regional rotation; the need to have a woman occupy the top job at the UN after 70 years of its existence; and the importance of more transparency in an organisation that devotes much energy to promote democracy in the world.
These are prominent among some of the conversation starters in the UN cocktail circuit, all against the background clamour to reform the Organisation.
The Charter itself says little on the appointment process. Article 97 stipulates that the General Assembly (GA) will appoint a secretary-general (SG) on the recommendation of the Security Council. As with much else at the U.N., the practice with regard to the appointment of the SG also has evolved in response to contemporary pressures. Resolutions 11/1 of 1946 and 54/246 of 1997 are important on this matter.
The Security Council will, in the first instance, seek consensus prior to recommending a candidate to the GA, although nine votes in favour of a candidate in the Council would suffice.
If consensus is not feasible, the Council will vote on the candidates available. The practice of conducting straw polls among the members of the SC has become popular in recent times.
To the disappointment of many members of the world body, the recommendation is adopted at a private meeting in accordance with Rule 48 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure.
The Permanent Five of the SC (P5) – namely Britain, the U.S. France Russia and China — exercises inordinate power over the selection process. Today the endorsement of the P5 is essential and consequently the veto acquires a particular significance in the SC recommendation.
In 1996, the significance of P5 endorsement was clearly highlighted. As the Council began its consideration of potential candidates, Boutros Boutros Ghali, the incumbent SG, received 14 endorsements in a straw poll, except the US.
Boutros Ghali had offended the US with comments on the situation in the Middle East. A week later, a former senior UN official, Kofi Annan, a surprise candidate from the Secretariat, received the necessary endorsement of the SC with the backing of the P5.
Similarly, former Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim’s efforts to secure a third term in1981 were vetoed by the Chinese. It is now almost mandatory for the aspirants to the post of SG to undertake visits to the capitals of the P5 to seek their blessings and not say or do anything that would cause them alarm.
This was not always the case. When, in 1951, Trygve Lie of Norway was vetoed by the Soviet Union, as he sought his second term, the U.S. had him appointed through a clear majority of votes in the GA. Given the difficulties that Trygve Lie faced subsequently, especially in dealing with a hostile Soviet Union, it would be unlikely that such an approach would be adopted today.
Although there are suggestions that the SC should recommend more than one candidate, for the sake of transparency and to facilitate democratic choice, the GA has decided in Res 11 of 1946 that it would be desirable for the Council to proffer only one candidate.
Whether this sentiment continues to be shared by many in the GA today with its much wider membership is unclear. While a divisive vote in the GA is always possible, in recent times, the GA has tended to rubber stamp the recommendations of the SC.
While early aspirants to the post did not campaign under spurious pretexts, the need to approach a wide range of countries to seek their blessings is increasingly recognised. Visits to capitals could generate a groundswell of sympathy for a candidate which could influence members of the SC.
The present incumbent, a former Foreign Minister of South Korea, advancing his candidature the first time round, used his position as his country’s representative in the SC to visit as many capitals as possible.
The second time round, he was advised to seek the endorsement of the regional groups as he was mulling presenting his candidature, in particular, the Asia Pacific Group, his own regional group.
This was against the background of some whispered reservations about his performance in the first term, especially by certain countries of the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG).
They were mostly concerns about his perceived lack of fluency in the working languages of the Organisation and the absence of firmness in dealing with difficult issues.
Still, the Asia Pacific Group endorsed him unequivocally, setting in motion a tide of endorsements from the other regional groups. He announced his candidature immediately following his meeting with the Asia Pacific Group.
The WEOGs provided the first two SGs. An assertive developing world demanded the next. U Thant of Burma (now Myanmar) was appointed, despite initial opposition from France.
The Eastern European Group has asserted a claim to the post after Ban because the group has never had this position before and because there are many suitable candidates from the region.
Res 51/241 supports their position. Among the possible Eastern European aspirants are the former U.N. Under-Secretary-General and the Former President of Slovenia, Danilo Turk, the Executive DIrector of UNESCO, Irena Bukova of Bulgaria, EC Commissioner, Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria, the Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskaite, the vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Monte Negro, Igor Luksic, and the popular Permanent Representative of Romania, Simona Miculescu.
The WEOGs have occupied the post three times – the Asia Pacific twice, Africa twice and Latin America and the Caribbean once. Candidates from the P5s are not considered for the post. Should Eastern Europe come up with a suitable candidate, they are likely to get the post this time.
Given the perceived lack of clarity with regard to the Eastern European candidature, others have begun to test the water.
Among them are, Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Australia; Helen Clerk, the Administrator of the UNDP and former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Antonio Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and former Prime Minister of Portugal; and Michelle Bachelet, former Executive Director of UN Women and current president of Chile.
It is noteworthy that the Non-Aligned Movement, the largest single political grouping of developing nations, has strongly backed the appointment of a woman to succeed Ban.
The general feeling among Member States is that the time for a woman SG has arrived. There does not seem to be a shortage of exceptionally qualified women in the field.
(Dr. Palitha Kohona is the former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and onetime Chief of the UN Treaty Section.)
UNDP supports 10-year national action plan for social development of plantation community
The Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure Development is tasked with the responsibility of uplifting the economic, social and living conditions of the plantation community which comprises over 260,000 families in the plantation regions of the Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces.
In order to fulfill this mandate, the Ministry considered the importance of formulating a 10-year National Plan of Action for social development of the plantation community and sought the assistance of the UNDP to support the development of the 10-year National Plan of Action through its Technical Assistance Programme.
In this regard, a high-level meeting was held by Minister of Plantation Infrastructure Development P. Thigambaram with UN Resident Representative Subinay Nandi along with the participation of Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure Development V. Sivagnanasothy, Assistant Country Director, UNDP, R. Ganesharajah, Advisor M. Vamadeven, Director Ajith Ekanayake and other senior officials of the Ministry.
Based on the discussions, Terms of Reference (TOR) were developed and the UNDP has granted Technical Assistance to develop the National Plan of Action.
Secretary, Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure Development Sivagnanasothy said that the major objectives of the National Plan of Action were to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in plantation community areas, especially the estate sector.
MDGs focus on reducing poverty and hunger, providing access to primary education, ensuring gender equality, empowering women, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, preventing and treating major diseases, creating environmental sustainability and improving access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
While most of the indicators of MDGs at the national level are on track, the indicators of the estate sector have been relatively below the national average and in some cases well off track.
Therefore, the objectives of the 10-year National Plan of Action is aimed at identifying priority development interventions to ensure the achievement of the MDGs in the estate sector to reduce the poverty levels, improve the standard of living and enable the plantation community to enjoy social and economic rights.
Sivagnanasothy revealed that the UNDP, together with the Ministry, had appointed a team of experts and consultants to formulate the National Plan of Action which will also have an important component to ensure facilitation and mobilisation of resources to implement the programs and projects that will be identified and set out in the 10-year National Plan of Action.
In identifying the National Plan of Action, a wider consultation process will be adopted with a large number of stakeholders including the Ministry of Plantation Infrastructure Development, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and other key Ministries, the Plantation Human Development Trust, UN agencies including the UNDP, UNICEF, UN Habitat and donors such as the World Bank, ADB, GIZ and the Estate Housing Workers Co-operative Society, the Planter’s Association, regional plantation companies, district, divisional and local authorities including workers’ unions and research institutions, academia and civil society organisations.
The National Plan of Action will focus on housing, water supply, preschools, child development centres, sports development, road construction, electricity supply, education, skill development, vocational training, health, religion, cultural and empowerment related programs and projects.
The comprehensive 10-year National Plan of Action is expected to be finalised by the end of July 2015 said Sivagnanasothy.
The National Plan of Action will be aligned closely to Government National Policies and will help to improve the wellbeing of the plantation community. The UNDP initiative will help to develop a resource mobilisation strategy and mechanism to implement the 10-year National Plan of Action.
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UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia Pacific visits North Central and Northern Provinces
Haoliang Xu and UN Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative Subinay Nandy meet with the Northern Province Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran at his office in Jaffna
Haoliang Xu, the visiting United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Chair, United Nations Development Group Asia-Pacific and UNDP Assistant Administrator & Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific has concluded his 2 day field visit to the North Central and Northern Provinces yesterday.
Xu met with the Chief Minister Northern Province – Justice C.V. Wigneswaran at his Office in Jaffna. At this meeting, Xu re-emphasized UN’s commitment to provide strategic policy and technical support to the Northern Provincial Council to enable it to deliver on its mandate by addressing local development priorities. The meeting also provided an opportunity for Xu to be briefed on the political and development context in the Province, especially after his last meeting with the Chief Minister in February 2014.
Xu concluded his mission to the North with a visit to the Palm Producers Development Cooperative Society – Jaggery Processing Centre and the Thampaddy Rural Fishermen’s Society – Crab Processing Centre in Kayts, Jaffna. These two producer organizations are supported by UNDP Sri Lanka under the Norway and New Zealand funded Northern Livelihood Development Project I and II respectively. Both Producer organizations have and will have a significant impact in the Kayts area with the Thampaddy Crab Processing Center expected to provide employment to approximately 80 women in the area whilst the Palm Producers Development Cooperative Society, which operates on a membership basis has shown an increased membership of over 50% from 170 in 2011 to 270 in 2013. Her Excellency Grete Lochen Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives attended both events which are supported by the Royal Norwegian Government.
Today (9 April) Xu will continue his visit back to Colombo where he will meet with Government officials and representatives over the next two days before he departs on the 10th April 2015.
Xu, is in Sri Lanka on a 6 day visit, where he is expected to meet and exchange views with high-level Government officials, development partners and the civil society on learning more about the emerging development needs and expectations of Sri Lanka in a new political environment whilst ascertaining the future direction of UNDP support along with other members of the UN family, in particular strengthening UNDP’s role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka.
On Tuesday Xu concluded day one of his field visit to the North Central and Northern Provinces.
During this field visit, Xu visited the Community Forestry Project (CFP) Site in Mihintale, Anuradhapura, a UNDP Supported project funded by the Government of Australia, initiated to reduce deforestation and forest degradation in the dry and intermediate zones of Sri Lanka.
By the end of 2015, this project which operates in 184 sites, is expected to increase the quality of 23,000 h.a. of forests through the community forestry approach. Further, it will improve livelihood options available for 10,000 households and build capacity of 90,000 people to engage in sustainable community forestry management activities.
Xu then travelled to Mullaitivu to assess the support extended by UNDP to the community in the District.
In Mullaitivu, Xu handed over a rice mill to the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society (MPCS) Panankamam, a producer organisation supported by UNDP Sri Lanka under the Norway and New Zealand funded Northern Livelihood Development Project I. Through this rice mill, the MPCS will be able to increase the production capacity to 30-40 MT per month.
He then met with the members and the Board of Directors of Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Panankamam to explore other opportunities and understand the results that have been achieved thus far in this District.
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UN Assistant SG and UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director calls on Ravi K
Engaging in a six-day visit to Sri Lanka, UN Development Chief for Asia and UN Assistant Secretary-General Haoliang Xu met with Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake this morning. At the meeting Xu and the Minister discussed opportunities to strengthen cooperation with the UN system, moving forward, and exploring prospects of government cost sharing.
UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director meets Harsha
Visiting UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP’s Regional Director Haoliang Xu held discussions with Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva yesterday. The discussions revolved around potential areas of new support to the agencies under the new Ministry. At the meeting Xu informed de Silva that the UN and UNDP in particular would be ready to extend support to developing country specific development indicators that would contribute to the post-2015 development agenda.
What does it take to be more Sri Lankan?
By Sulaiman Rameez
www.lk.undp.org: It’s quite a simple recipe if you ask me. But even the simplest of recipes require attention and effort; simple never meant easy. Looking at the current atmosphere and the mentality of people in Sri Lanka, it wouldn’t take Einstein to figure out that we, as a single population, need to strongly start believing in a nation that is united at all levels.
Yes, I agree that the Government can do more, the United Nations can do more, the international community can do more and so can the lengthy list of institutions that we’re very comfortable in playing the blame-game with. Let’s leave that aside for a moment;
It’s interesting that we Sri Lankans are hospitable and helpful by nature to foreigners. At least our parents were. Unfortunately, those qualities don’t appear to be the same towards our own. The Sri Lanka National Human Development Report 2014 on Youth and Development: Towards a More Inclusive Future (NHDR) highlights a few key elements of the national policy framework for social integration.
The emphasis on “fostering an integrated and informed society founded on the pillars of ethics, education and empowerment” is a well-suited three-step process for wholesome national progress.
If Sri Lanka was an ethical society, religions would be respected, the environment would be looked after and people wouldn’t think twice before helping someone in need, regardless of whether the cause of begging is in fact a “business”.
We’re six years into recovering from 30-year-old civil war ignited by ethno-communal issues. With the latest change in the political context, we have a Bribery Commission working 24 hours, seven days a week. We have a down-to-earth President, who has shown interest in serious national reconciliation by allowing the national anthem to be sung in Tamil, which has been practiced since the 1978 Constitution, and here are some examples from other parts of the world where the national anthem is sung in multiple languages:
• New Zealand, which is ranked 7th in the Human Development Index (HDI), sings its national anthem is both English and Maori.
• Fiji, which is ranked 88th in HDI ranks, has lyrics of their national anthem in both English and Fijian, which are not translations of each other.
• Canada, ranked 8th on the HDI, has her national anthem in both English and French.
If you thought that was cool, South Africa has 11 National Languages and its national anthem is so unique, it includes five languages out of the 11.
And for the grand finale, we have Switzerland, formally known as the Swiss Confederation, ranked third on the Human Development index, which also has individually written lyrics for each of its National Languages (French, German, Italian and Romansh) in her national anthem.
Why the HDI? Because it’s a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income indices used to rank countries into four tiers of human development, and the above mentioned countries fall in the top two tiers of ranking (Sri Lanka is ranked 73, in the high development category), which basically means that these countries are doing pretty well in terms of their standard of life and economic capacity and stability.
This brings us to the pillar of education. If Sri Lanka was an educated society, the logical reasoning behind respect and cooperation would be understood, and she would be better aware of the best global practices and its influences on development. Sri Lanka would be able to make informed decisions on electing able political representatives and powerfully contribute to national development on a cellular level of input.
Empowerment? That’s the easiest. People don’t realise that empowering someone else is all about spreading good vibes. Inspiring people with your own success story, giving them hope and encouragement that Sri Lanka is moving towards an era of inclusive development, where no one is left behind, because to be a Sri Lankan, is to be a part of a family of 20 Million exceptional people, who share the same love that you have for your country.
“What does it take?” We asked two very different young Sri Lankans and this is what they had to say.
Nipuna Ambanpola, Founder/CEO of ‘I Volunteer Sri Lanka’, and also former Head Boy of Royal College, believes that Communication is needed for a better Sri Lanka. He said: “I think people need to be more human towards the country. If you see a piece of paper lying on the floor, all you got to do is pick it up. I mean, if everyone has that attitude, Sri Lanka would see progress in days. Also, working with brains is important, but a good mix of heart and brains can carry any country to be prosperous.”
Amrit Edirisooriya, House Prefect at S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia, Council member of Interact District 3220, Sri Lanka and The Maldives and a diehard vegetarian, said: “Everyone should be like Forest Gump; people need to be genuine. Genuine people would mean less corruption and more room for efficiency and responsibility – simply a Sri Lanka with people working for less personal gain and more national betterment.”
I think we need to be ourselves, to be more Sri Lankan.
Sri Lanka is love, Sri Lanka is caring, Sri Lanka is tolerating, Sri Lanka is united, Sri Lanka is a country that believes in one people and one nation no matter what it takes.
Sri Lanka means respect and equal opportunity for everyone regardless of their cast, creed, culture or gender. Sri Lanka means good vibes!
But most importantly Sri Lanka is you.
(The writer currently serves as District Interact Representative for Interact District 3220, Sri Lanka and The Maldives and is a past pupil of D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo. He is very passionate about International Affairs and Climate change. Hoping to pursue his higher studies in Law and International Relations, he hopes to someday start his very own chain of organic farms as a first step towards the winning the battle of climate change. Sulaiman is also the Director of Environmental Affairs for the International Youth Council, Sri Lanka chapter and loves to meet new people and is constantly making progress in his life mission of spreading good vibes. He is well recognised in the debating and Model United Nations arena for his multiple awards and is also a student at Bandaranaike Center for International Studies. Follow on Twitter: @SulaimanRameez.)
UN Assistant Secretary-General arrives to learn about emerging development needs
HAMPER UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Development Chief for Asia Haoliang Xu (right)
UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Development Chief for Asia Haoliang Xu arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday for a six-day visit from 4 -10 April.
“We are excited to meet and greet the UN Assistant Secretary-General and UN Development Chief for Asia Haoliang Xu, as he arrives in the island for a six-day visit to Sri Lanka,” UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Subinay Nandy said.
During his visit, which will be his second trip to the island nation, Xu said he will focus on learning more about the emerging development needs and expectations of Sri Lanka in a new political environment whilst strengthening UNDP’s role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka.
“My second visit to your beautiful country comes at a time when there are many important changes taking place. I am here to learn more about emerging development needs and expectations, in this new environment, with the new Government in office,” Xu said addressing media in Colombo.
“I also see this as a significant opportunity to ascertain the future direction of the UN’s support, and in particular, to strengthening UNDP’s role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka,” Xu added.
He is scheduled to hold discussions with high-ranking state officials, civil organisations and development partners in order to identify the development needs of the country in the backdrop of the new political climate in Sri Lanka.
During the visit the Assistant Secretary-General will visit the North and North Central provinces where he will meet with government officials, representatives from community-based organisations and beneficiaries and gain a first-hand understanding of the development priorities in the districts and further support needs.
Xu visited Sri Lanka in February 2014 during former government of Mahinda Rajapaksa to observe progress made in UN development programs.
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Working towards a mine-free Sri Lanka
Tomorrow (4 April) marks the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action as well as 10 years since the declaration of such a day for the world. UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka Subinay Nandy shares his thoughts on the importance of this day and
Sri Lanka’s own success
Every year, mines, expl
osive remnants of war, and unexploded ordnance, kill or injure thousands worldwide. The human toll is terrible. The disruption to lives and livelihoods and other costs to communities are equally devastating. For post-conflict nations, it is a threat to the safety and welfare of the people living in or returning to these areas, and constrains reconstruction and recovery activities.
Emerging from more than two-decades of armed conflict, Sri Lanka has achieved and continues to achieve fast and successful progress in addressing the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), while at the same time minimising casualty and injury. Sri Lanka must be proud of its record on Mine Action, clearing over 90% of the identified contaminated areas of land.
As we draw closer towards a mine free Sri Lanka, it feels appropriate to mark the 2015 International Day and the 10th anniversary of the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action by reflecting on our collaborative efforts in the Mine Action sector in Sri Lanka.
Mine Action is not only about mine clearance. While de-mining, or mine-clearance, is a primary area of work in the sector, Mine Action is also about people and societies. It is about how individuals, families, and communities at large are affected by mine and ERW contamination. It is about rem
oving the threat to the safety and welfare of communities living or returning to the affected areas, and it is about enabling reconstruction and recovery activities to commence.
The vision of the United Nations (UN) is a world free of the threat of mines and ERW, where individuals and communities live in a safe environment conducive to development. It is a world where the human rights and the needs of landmine and ERW victims are met, and survivors are fully integrated as equal members of their societies.
“More than Mines”
This year’s theme for the International Day of Mine Awareness, “More than Mines”, aptly reminds us that while Mine Action is aimed at improving the welfare of people and societies, it also includes the grave risks taken by humanitarians and development agencies.
As the UN Secretary General in his message notes, “More than Mines reflects the reality faced by civilians, humanitarians, peacekeepers and development agencies in war-zones and countries recovering from conflict. When explosive hazards block the way, food is not delivered; refugees and internally displaced people cannot safely return home; children cannot go to school; trade is disrupted; development and peace-building efforts are hindered; peacekeeping operations cannot deploy safely”.
National Mine Action Program
Since the launch of the National Mine Action Program (NMAP) in 2002, the UN has been providing critical enabling support to the Mine Action sector in Sri Lanka. This support, together with the dedication and commitment of all partners involved, has helped ensure a relatively fast process of mine clearance, with remarkably few casualties.
Since the inception of the program in 2002, the UN Development Program (UNDP) has supported national partners with the management, implementation, and coordination of the sector. The overall objective the program was to ensure speedy and effective mine clearance and to enable the safe resettlement of internally displaced persons.
With financial support from several key donors, UNDP has procured essential mine clearance and survey equipment and provided technical support, contributing to the development of Sri Lanka’s first National Mine Action Strategy and the Sri Lanka National Mine Action Standards. Together, these policy documents have provided a national framework for Mine Action in Sri Lanka, in line with international standards.
National Mine Action Centre
In 2010, one of the longstanding goals of UNDP’s partnership was achieved with the establishment of the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC). This was an important
milestone since the NMAC was a key step in enabling the Government to assume full ownership over the enforcement and monitoring of mine-action policies, and management of the mine action sector.
Up until the establishment of the NMAC, UNDP staffed the regional mine action offices, and provided high level technical support to guide prioritisation and quality assurance of mine clearance and survey tasks, preparation of clearance certification, unexploded ordnance (UXO) disposal and Post Clearance Impact Assessments. At the peak of Mine Action activities, many UNDP contracted technical mine action staff were assigned to the national and regional offices. However, from 2012-2013 after the establishment of the NMAC and its capacities being strengthened, UNDP initiated a phased progress of handing over the management and quality assurance of mine action sector work to the NMAC.
Mine Risk Education
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) meanwhile, through the national education system and its network of NGOs, community-based organisations, and volunteers, has been supporting Mine Risk Education (MRE), Victim Assistance, and Advocacy in Sri Lanka since 2003.
MRE deals with the long-term problem of contamination by ERW for countries that come out of conflict. MRE initiatives are imperative in minimising deaths and injuries of landmines and ERW, especially among children and youth, construction workers, and garbage/scrap metal collectors, who are often prone to risk. By 2014, 400,000 children had benefited from MRE programs supported by UNICEF.
High numbers of reports made by affected communities on UXOs is a strong indicator of the impact of MRE, suggesting that many accidents have been avoided and countless lives have been saved. Between June 2012 and June 2014 for example, around 1,812 suspicious items were reported by community members to the authorities or Mine Action partners.
Most of the reports received are from areas that have been released for safe return, which demonstrates the importance of MRE as a prerequisite for the return of those internally displaced and during the resettlement and early development phases.
UNICEF also provides support to victims and their families through Victim Assistance programs, while Sri Lanka’s public health system and the physical rehabilitation centres devices operated by partner organisations. UNICEF also supports efforts in Advocacy for the ban of landmines in Sri Lanka and has been facilitating the launch of a Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Special recognition for brave demining colleagues
Lastly, special recognition must be given to the many brave demining colleagues, who have put their lives on the line on a daily basis to reduce the menace of mines and ERW in Sri Lanka. These colleagues have worked with the different organisations involved in surveying and clearance activities over the years, including the Sri Lankan Army Humanitarian Deming Unit, and national and international demining organisations.
A large number of colleagues are women, who risk their lives in mine clearance activities, and play a vital role in teaching people how to live safely in contaminated areas, in assisting victims, in rebuilding communities, and in amplifying the economic and social benefits of mine clearance work.
This year, in line with the theme ‘More than Mines’, we recognise their honourable work, while reflecting on our collective efforts, with the Government of Sri Lanka, in strengthening national capacities, educating communities – especially children and women – on mine risks, and jointly moving towards a Mine Free Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka should be proud of the achievements
In conclusion, I must note that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the UN, and also marks the 60th anniversary since Sri Lanka joined the UN system as a member state. During the last 60 years, Sri Lanka has contributed immensely to the UN system through both its people and policies that have influenced global thought leadership. Mine Action is yet another area that the Government of Sri Lanka and its partners have shown positive progress, and Sri Lanka should indeed be proud of the achievements.
As a country emerging from conflict, Sri Lanka is not alone in facing the tremendous challenge of mine clearance. The UN currently has mine action programs in 40 countries and three territories across the world, supporting Governments in building nations free of such threat.
While the UN has supported the Govern
ment of Sri Lanka to participate in international platforms to share its Mine Action sector developments, progress, and lessons learned, I hope we find a way to continue this and celebrate Sri Lanka’s exemplary Mine Action achievements.
As we mark the near completion of mine clearance in Sri Lanka, and mark the 10th International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, let me reiterate the UN’s continued support to the Government of Sri Lanka in working towards a world free of the threat of mines and explosive remnants of war. My sincere hope is that this vision, shared by the United Nations, will soon be a reality for Sri Lanka.
The writer is UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka
Mine Action Sector in Sri LankaThe Mine Action Sector in Sri Lanka has been supported over the years by: Government – The National Steering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA) and the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC). United Nations – UN Development Program (UNDP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Local partners for demining operations – Sri Lanka Army-Humanitarian Demining Unit, Devlon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH), and MilindaMoragoda Institute of People’s Empowerment (MMIPE). International partners for demining operations – Danish Demining Group (DDG), Foundation Suisse de Deminage (FSD), HALO Trust, HORIZON, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), and Sarvatra. MRE and Victim Assistance Partners – Community and Trust Fund (CTF), EHED – Caritas, Rural Development Foundation (RDF), Sarvodaya, Social Organization for Development (SOND), Handicap International, Caritas Valvuthyam, and Motivation. Donors – European Union, Governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, and the UN Peace Building Fund and UNDP’s (former) Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery. |
UN Assistant Secretary-General in town on Saturday
- Haoliang Xu’s second visit to focus on supporting the emerging development priorities
Haoliang Xu, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Chair, United Nations Development Group Asia-Pacific and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, will be visiting Sri Lanka from 4-10 April.
During the visit, which will be his second visit to the island, Xu is expected to meet and exchange views with high-level Government officials, development partners and the civil society on learning more about the emerging development needs and expectations of Sri Lanka in a new political environment whilst ascertaining the future direction of UNDP support along with other members of the UN family, in particular strengthening UNDP’s role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka.
Xu will also engage in a policy dialogue with eminent civil society representatives on Sri Lanka’s development outlook.
Further, Xu will also undertake a visit to North Central and Northern Provinces, where he will meet with Government officials, representatives from community-based organisations and beneficiaries and gain a first-hand understanding of the development priorities in the districts and further support needs. He will also visit UNDP-supported livelihood development projects on the ground in these provinces.
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Time to engage
For Sri Lanka, engagement on all levels is key as it attempts to burnish its international reputation and improve economic fortunes.
Haoliang Xu, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Chair, United Nations Development Group Asia-Pacific and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka next week. His visit is likely to be important as the Government looks to improve its track on dealing with key human rights issues.
During the visit, which will be his second to the island, Xu is expected to meet and exchange views with high-level Government officials, development partners and civil society on learning more about the emerging development needs and expectations of Sri Lanka in a new political environment while ascertaining the future direction of UNDP support along with other members of the UN family, in particular strengthening UNDP’s role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka.
Xu will also engage in a policy dialogue with eminent civil society representatives on Sri Lanka’s development outlook. Promises made by Colombo are under the eagle eye of the international community to make certain that pledged steps towards reconciliation will be implemented. Having had its patience worn thin over the years due to the feet-dragging of the previous administration, the international community will be looking for swift action and will possibly back tougher consequences if promises are unfulfilled.
This was never more evident than in the statement made by the UNHRC. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has said “I give my personal, absolute and unshakeable commitment that the report will be published by September” and that he had received a clear commitment from the new Sri Lankan authorities to cooperate on various issues related to the UN investigation. This alone shows the high stakes game in which Sri Lanka is engaged.
Xu may not necessarily be a key player but positive impressions on all fronts will likely assist Sri Lanka. Perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of this report will be its impact on regaining GSP+ as it will give a scorecard of sorts on where Sri Lanka stands on 27 UN Conventions that will be critical when the EU evaluates the country’s latest application to get the preferential tariff concessions. Early indications are that the Government will attempt to make overtures in January 2016.
The Government will also have to push forward on human rights issues unconnected to reconciliation but still focused on by the UNHRC. One such instance was the Welikada Prison riot in 2012, on which the Government has appointed a new probe and assured that a report will be published.
Sustainable development, which is a cornerstone of the UNDP, will also be crucial to Sri Lanka as it attempts to continue significant growth without the high indebtedness that characterised the previous years. For that it will have to obtain expertise and follow best practices that can be readily supplied by the UN agencies.
As the world continues to watch the ground situation, engagement with all levels of the UN is just another milestone in a long road towards reconciliation.
Over 200 community members from Kayts come together to mark Women’s Day
Over 200 community members from the Kayts Divisional Secretariat Division in Jaffna, came together to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), at an event hosted by the Kayts Divisional Secretariat office in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This initiative is part of UNDP’s efforts to support the economic empowerment of women.
Speaking at the event, Government Agent of Jaffna Sundaram Arumainayakam stated, “Equality for women begins in their homes, which is then upheld by society and finally translated into women’s equality being achieved in the country.” He further noted, “Realising the importance and contribution of women, there has been an increased interest in women’s affairs on the part of the Government’s 100 day plan.”
“It is encouraging to witness on a day such as this, women coming together to celebrate their many achievements and contribution to the development of their societies,” added Arumainayakam.
In keeping with the United Nation’s theme of ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it’ for this year’s International Women’s Day Celebrations, the event featured Murugamoorthy Mary Calista, a female entrepreneur from Tellipallai, Jaffna, whose work has been supported by UNDP. Her powerful words of encouragement, echoing the global message, “Humanity is empowered when women are empowered; it shows how much society is expecting from us women. We must use our efforts, self-confidence and intelligence. It is then that we can accomplish anything we put our minds to,” was received with much applause. Her story of success is an example of how UNDP’s support to women’s economic empowerment has given renewed hope to these communities.
UNDP’s Assistant Country Director Rajendrakumar Ganesharajah commenting on the event stated, “We at UNDP understand the importance and are committed through our programs to support the economic empowerment of women which is essential for sustainable community development.”
Reiterating the commitment to support the realisation of women’s empowerment, Jaffna Bar Association President Shantha Abhimanasingham stated, “Women should know instinctively that they are equal – nobody should be telling you that you are not equal. Without leadership a woman cannot manage a home.” She encouraged women to take that home based leadership a step further, thus making a significant contribution and impact in their societies.
At the event, several female social workers were also honoured for their contribution to the society.
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Sri Lanka and UN celebrate 60-year partnership
The new campaign title launched by Foreign Ministry Secretary Chitranganee Wagiswara and United Nations in Sri Lanka Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy – Pix by Lasantha Kumara
Year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations on 24 October 1945, and the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka becoming a member-state of the UN on 14 December 1955.
To celebrate these milestones, the United Nations in Sri Lanka in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will deliver a public outreach campaign. The campaign logo and tagline in English, Sinhala and Tamil (‘Our UN. Apey UN. Engal UN.’) were officially launched by Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary Chitranganee Wagiswara and the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy, at an event held earlier this week.
The campaign will run through the year, with the objective of increasing public awareness of Sri Lanka’s significant contribution to the UN system over the last 60 years.
Speaking in Parliament recently, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera acknowledged the long-standing partnership between Sri Lanka and the UN. He stated: “For much of Sri Lanka’s history since Independence, Sri Lanka was considered as an important member of the international community including in the United Nations. Having joined the UN on 14 December 1955, Sri Lanka has contributed in many ways to the UN system including its norm setting process. Just five years since becoming a Member, Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, was elected as a nonpermanent member of the UN Security Council. Many distinguished Sri Lankans have held important positions in the UN and its agencies. They have chaired important conferences including on the Law of the Sea and presided over the General Assembly as well as the Security Council.”
Since Independence, Sri Lanka has held a diplomatic profile quite disproportionate to its geographic or demographic attributes and several Sri Lankans have held important positions in the UN system. Policies adopted by successive governments in Sri Lanka such as free-health, free-education and housing policies, have not only helped Sri Lanka’s development progress, but have also influenced global policy.
Speaking at the campaign launch, Nandy, highlighted Sri Lanka’s noteworthy contribution to the UN system. He stated: “Sri Lanka has produced three Under-Secretary-Generals, a Vice President of the General Assembly, a Vice President of the International Court of Justice, and many other high-level positions that have influenced global policy and thought-leadership. Similarly, thousands of Sri Lankan citizens over the decades have contributed to UN peacekeeping efforts, including those currently deployed to important missions in Haiti, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic. At the same time, Sri Lanka has served as an important model for other countries in terms of demonstrating the importance of policies such as free-education and free-health for promoting human development.”
While the campaign reflects Sri Lanka’s significant contribution to the UN system, it also celebrates the longstanding and continuing partnership between the UN and Sri Lanka.
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SL well ahead of MDG goals: UN
Sri Lanka has performed well on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) overall, having already achieved or being on track to achieve the majority of the goals and indicators, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative SubinayNandy said.
He made these remarks at the launch of MDG Country Report 2014 for Sri Lanka yesterday held under the patronage of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Dr.Harsha de Silva. The MGD Country Report was the third MDG review report produced by Sri Lanka and the first report that covers the entire country, allowing comparison across all districts.
Highlighting the country’s MDG performance,Nandysaid it was now being released at a time when the Government was debating and defining a 
significant reform agenda towards an inclusive and prosperous Sri Lanka that is at peace with its past and confident in its future.
“The findings of the MDG country report make a strong case for Sri Lanka to be leading in a credible manner in the global deliberations around the development agenda for post 2015. Sri Lanka’s long history of investment in health, education and poverty alleviation programs has translated into robust performance against the MDGs and Sri Lanka has many lessons to share,” he noted.
The report is a result of joint collaboration between the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations in Sri Lanka, which was prepared by the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS). The eight MDGs range from halving extreme poverty rates to promoting gender equality and providing universal primary education.
“Our mission is to achieve sustainable development for all. We must achieve it with this transitionwhile protecting the planet and leaving no one behind. We have shared responsibility to embark on inclusive prosperity in a peaceful environment. The success will only come through strong commitment from member states at all levels globally, regionally and locally,” he added.
The report provides policymakers with information to identify and support regions lagging behind while it also analyses achievements and thematic areas requiring further attention.
He said that globallythe year 2015 is significant with international community coming together in several forums. To be on the future global agenda in September, world leaders will meet at the UN Summit to endorse the new development agenda for the post-2015 eraSustainable Development Goals (SDG) – a set of 17 goals which will replace the MDGs that complete their journey in 2015.
“Additionally, Sri Lanka’s recent renewed emphasis on upholding human rights and the rule of law, while addressing lingering inequality and promoting peace, means that the newly-proposed 17 SDGs, which explicitly address these issues, fit well with local priorities and Sri Lanka’s aspirations and unfolding peace development,” he asserted.
Looking to the future, the report also highlights certain areas that require additional focus such as women empowerment, nutrition, climate change and regional disparities and these were discussed during a panel discussion on ‘Priorities Moving Forward’. The panel discussion took place with the participation of UNFPA Representative AlainSibenaler, Power and Energy Ministry Secretary Dr. SurenBatagoda, UNICEF Representative Una McCauley, Ministry of Health Nutrition Coordination Division Director Dr. ShanthiGoonewardena and Viluthu CEO ShanthiSachithanandam.
He said this year marks the 70th year since UN was founded in 1945 and the 60th year since Sri Lanka became a member state of the UN in 1995. To mark this significant milestone, a campaign called ‘Our UN. Apey UN. Engal UN’ was also launched during the event by Foreign Affairs SecretaryChitranganeeWagiswara and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident RepresentativeSubinayNandy.
Celebrating women: Towards an inclusive political culture
- International Alert, South Asia Policy & Research Institute forum suggests way forward
To mark International Women’s Day which fell on 8 March, the International Alert Sri Lanka in collaboration with The South Asia Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI) held a useful form titled ‘Celebrating Women: Towards an Inclusive Political Culture’ last Friday at the BMICH.
The forum was based on two thematic areas: Session I – Women in Politics: Prioritising Gender Sensitive Legislature and Session II – Understanding the Importance for Women to Engage in Politics.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga delivered the keynote address. Among other speakers were State Minister of Children’s Affairs Rosy Senanayake, Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Agriculture MP Anoma Gamage, Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy and Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Robyn Mudie
By Shanika Sriyananda
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on Friday called on religious leaders not only in Sri Lanka but around the world to start a dialogue to promote equality for women.
“I believe the religious leaders not only in Sri Lanka but all over the world can play a vital role in this. I don’t know whether I am hurting the sensitivities of some of the people but the basis of our religions seriously encourage and provoke the whole vision and concept of male dominance,” she said delivering the keynote address at the conference to mark the International Women’s Day held in Colombo.
The conference themed ‘Celebrating Women: Towards an Inclusive Political Culture’ was organised by the International Alert Sri Lanka together with the South Asia Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI).
Role of religions in ensuring equality for women
“I don’t expect the present religious leaders to change the centuries of belief spread among their believers. But at least in their sermons, in their teachings in their religious activities, they could speak in such a manner that they take the message to their followers of the absolute necessity for the equality of women,” she said.
“I know there have been many fora, especially in the recent past, in the last two decades may be, of religious leaders globally talking about how to promote moderate thinking in the religions as opposed to fundamentalism and terrorism,” Kumaratunga said, “But I have never heard in any of those forums, as I have participated and spoken in some of them, requesting the religious leaders there or discussing and also the necessity for them to speak on the subject of women’s rights and opportunities. This may be something we can think of because religious leaders can play such an important role in the lives of people.”
Former President Kumaratunga, who is the chair of SAPRI, said that unfortunately the very concepts of at least the major religions in the world are all advantageous to men, without any doubt.
“Today some of these religions, please forgive me for saying this, have evolved for whatever reason to fundamentalist tendencies which may not have anything to do with original religion and the teachings of the religious leaders, which in addition to all kinds of other terrible things that they perpetrate upon humanity and specially persons of those religions are also hugely worsening the situation of the woman, even more as saying women, even the girl child, could not even educate themselves. They are putting us back millennia, into the darkest of the dark ages,” she pointed out.
Women’s rights and equal opportunities
Kumaratunga said although women have spoken about their rights and equal opportunities for them in a very insistent and continued manner for nearly two centuries and implemented the UNCHR’s resolution 1325 effectively and signed conventions, there was no significant advancement, especially in comparison to the amount of energy and work that has been put into it.
“Internationally in the developing world, in the developed countries, women still do have a second place, if not the last place in some instances,” she said, spelling out some of the challenges that she viewed as the main causes hampering the forward movement in achieving women’s rights and equal opportunities.
Kumaratunga said that women talk about these issues in a world which is still quite definitely dominated by the male species. “The entire world concept has been dominated for several millennia to suit a male-dominated society, a male-dominated world. All aspects of human life, of societies, of governments have been fashioned to suit this situation of dominance of the male of the species over the female. Social cultural concepts and practices all favour men. The economic structures function in such a manner that it is men who run it. Government and its super structures, even its infrastructure, is designed the same way,” she claimed.
She said that there would be thousands of conferences, seminars and workshops to talk about those issues but if the basic concepts that fashion our lives, our thinking and our attitudes were not transformed, women could not win the battle.
“In the UK, the US and in the other developed Western countries, what is the percentage of the women represented in the Parliament, in local bodies? Not 50%, certainly not. Nowhere near that, but certainly better than in our country. In Sri Lanka the situation is absolutely putrid; 6% in Parliament, 4% in Provincial Councils and 2% in local Government bodies. This is the country that produced the world’s first woman Prime Minister. They are very proud to say it. But what did we do about it?” questioned Kumaratunga.
Male domination in local politics
Citing her own experiences as an example, she said: “When I was the President, I insisted on my party following this before implementing it in the rest of the country. When we were considering nominations for local government bodies, that is the largest number of representation of local people, I said let us make at least 35% of the nominees from our party women and of the whole another 35% will be youth,” she said, adding that as a result she had to face protests from her ministers and party leaders.
“It was unbelievable. They didn’t say they didn’t want the women nominated, but trotted out all kinds of excuses. I insisted and said ‘no, as the President of the party, I will not allow the Secretary of the party to sign the nomination papers unless they come with 35% women’s names.”
Guess what they did? A decision was taken by the party’s Central Committee, the most important decision-making body, and the lists came with 2% or say 5% of women’s names. One or two names among 25 or 30. I asked ‘What is this?’ They replied, ‘No Madam, no women are willing to come.’ They had not asked the women to come into elections.
“I had no time to go in to the villages and ask women for names. It was the men who were the organisers of the electorate who called for applications. No women were asked,” she said.
Kumaratunga said that this situation was created as implementation rests with the men, male-dominated governments and institutions. “What I’m trying to say is, however much we bring in laws, the conventions – international and national and whatever you may like – and the male-dominated institutions in our societies, in our nations, will not like it.”
The former President said that the largest amount of foreign exchange is earned by women in three production areas – the estate and plantations sector, garments sector, and women who sell their labour in foreign countries, especially in the Middle East.
“But what have we done for them? They have not been given anything special. My Government gave some facilities and other governments have given a few things. These are just crumbs that we drop off our tables. But nothing more than that. Our men are dominating us, dictating to us, living in an economy run by the women, but the women are treated as third class citizens in the country,” she claimed.
Kumaratunga said that the money poured in to have discussions, meetings, seminars and workshops needed to be diverted into transforming the thinking and attitudes of our people.
“I would say the first thing is to transform the thinking and attitudes on this issue and let us start with the children, with education. The entire education system in Sri Lanka and in the rest of the world has to be revamped. That is probably the most important and most essential thing we can do,” she pointed out.
Violence against women
State Minister for Children’s Affairs Rosy Senanayake urged the Government to take immediate action against criminals. Sharing data from the Census and Statistics Department report on violence against women and children, she said that violence against women had rapidly increased from 2012 to 2014.
“Violence against women and children has increased by 20%. This is a very sad state of affairs. We all know we work towards the betterment of the children and women but still it shows a rapid increase. Why? Because the State has failed to deal with criminals. Don’t let them to get off the hook,” she requested.
Minister Senanayake said there were 39,604 reported cases of violence against women from 2009 to 2014, according to the Census and Statistics Department, and out of all the cases before courts, the highest number of cases were with regard to children.
“What has the Justice Ministry done to make sure the perpetrators have been taken to task? It is sad to note that the reported cases on violence against women and children is almost 75,000 and the number of perpetrators who are at this point of time serving sentences is only 713,” she claimed.
Explaining why she was late for the conference, she said the Minister of Women’s Affairs was presenting the Commission report on violence against women to Parliament that day and she had to be there to support the cause.
“The then Opposition Leader and now Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe appointed a Commission to look into violence against women and this report was presented to Parliament by the Women’s Minister today. I had to be there to support the report to make sure that we would be on a better platform to eradicate violence against women,” she said.
Senanayake also commended former President Kumaratunga for leading the change of the political culture in the country.
“Being such a strong personality that we women can look up to, even after 10 years of being silent, she was able to bring a change in the country’s political culture. We thank you Madam for taking initiatives quite silently,” Senanayake said, smiling.
Women and 100-day program
Senanayake also commended President Maithripala Sirisena for promoting 25% women representation in local government institutions and provincial councils under his 100-day program.
“He promised to implement certain constitutional changes within his 100-day program. Some have been done and some are in the process of being done. We all are working tirelessly to fulfil the promises of the 100-day program,” she said.
Minister Senanayake said she must thank the Prime Minister who had categorically said that he would not have peace at home until the quota of 25% for women in local government institutions and provincial councils was implemented.
“We will work to make sure that this percentage will be there in both sectors,” she promised, adding that discussions were continuing with the relevant authorities including the Elections Commissioner to find ways and means of increasing women’s representation to 25%.
“We have very powerful women and women’s movements which are strongly advocating for women to be in the forefront, especially in Parliament, provincial councils and local government bodies. We have hope,” Senanayake said.
Session I – Women in Politics: Prioritising Gender Sensitive Legislature
The conference was based on two thematic areas: Session I – Women in Politics: Prioritising Gender Sensitive Legislature and Session II – Understanding the Importance for Women to Engage in Politics.
Anoma Gamage, Deputy Minister of Irrigation and Agriculture speaking on the Women’s Caucus and gender sensitive legislature said women were stronger than men but it was difficult for women to enter into politics in male-dominated countries.
“We all talk about International Women’s Day but what I feel is that we forget women and their contribution soon after we go home. We have talked heaps about women and their rights but we have failed to take politics to the grass root level,” she said.
Gamage said that she was thankful to the President and Prime Minister for giving ministerial portfolios to all five women MPs in Parliament. “This is the first time in history that all five female MPs in the Government got this opportunity as they have realised that women can contribute to politics and serve more effectively,” she said.
According to the Deputy Minister, it is a daunting task for a woman to enter into politics. “Most of the women politicians in Sri Lanka are somehow connected to a male politician, either their father or husband or a relation is a politician and that relationship has paved the way for them to enter into politics. There are only a very few who have no such political connections in politics in Sri Lanka,” she said, adding that women politicians were more genuine than their male counterparts.
“I feel there is no use in having demonstrations or rallies crying for women’s rights; women need to start from the village level. It is very important to make women economically and politically strong,” Gamage pointed out.
During the first session MP Dr. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, UK Councillor Lakmini Shah and Commonwealth Secretariat Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division Criminal Law Section former Head Shirani de Fontgalland expressed their experiences while former MP and former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore Ferial Ashraff highlighted her views as the moderator.
In the second session
Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Robyn Mudie, Jana Naujoks from International Alert and Global Shapers Colombo Hub Deputy Curator Sharanya Sekaram were in the panel discussion which was moderated by Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA) Executive Director Dr. Udan Fernando.
Challenges in developing gender sensitive legislation
Speaking on challenges in developing gender sensitive legislation in Sri Lanka, Dr. Fernandopulle said: “The Women’s Caucus was established in 2006 before Deputy Minister Anoma Gamage and I entered Parliament. However, it became active from 2010. We also drafted an action plan to identify one of the major activities to increase female participation at all levels – Parliament, provincial councils and local government bodies. We had several discussions with the ministries and civil societies but I must confess it has remained so because we have been discussing but we don’t have a working situation to support what we discussed into action.
“In the meantime the amendments to the Local Government Bill were presented. Earlier there was a 10% compulsory nomination for women and young persons. With the amendments compulsory 10% was also taken out; we requested 25% representation for women and that was turned down. I know Minister Rosy Senanayake presented a private member’s bill requesting 25% representation compulsory to women in local government but I am not sure what has happened to that,” she said.
Dr. Fernandopulle said there were only 13 women MPs compared to 212 male counterparts in Parliament and getting all 13 MPs on board was also rather difficult since their priorities lay with their electorates and districts.
Taking about challenges, she said: “Of the 13 MPs, some of them are not very keen on getting involved. We ask for special reserved seats but male counterparts are not very happy as they think it undermines them,” she said.
Dr. Fernandopulle further explaining about difficulties faced by female politicians said convincing the party leaders remained a hard task as most of them did not take this matter seriously.
“They always think that women should be at home and not in politics. I am happy that the young MPs have better attitudes and some of them are supporting our cause. When the Local Government Bill was amended, some of our leaders said that the Constitution provided for equal opportunities and questioned why a 25% quota was being requested,” she revealed.
She also cited poor interest among women to enter politics as a challenge in getting more female participation in politics. “Some of the women are not interested in coming forward to give nominations and on the other hand it is difficult to find capable and educated women to enter into politics. The leaders are also think that women are not suitable to enter into politics as they find difficulty in balancing family life and politics,” she said.
Dr. Fernandopulle commended the present Government for considering amending the present Constitution and abolishing the preferential system. “I think this is the ideal time for women to lobby party leaders to have a fixed percentage of nominations for women and to demand at least 25% from the National List. We would like civil society and women leaders who back this move to join us in this cause,” she said.
Meanwhile, the moderator of the panel discussion Ashraff said that with regard to the National List, women should at least ask for 50% representation considering the equality aspect.
Driving the gender equality agenda forward
London Borough of Newham UK Councillor Lakmini Shah giving her perspectives and experience of an ethnic minority female politician in the UK explained that the main barriers that stop women from engaging in politics were cultural, educational and financial barriers.
“I like to mention, wherever we are in the world, as women we experience the same issues and concerns. What is important is the government identifying the most important issues women face today and accordingly changing the legislation to create a fairer and more equal society. I like to focus on legislation relating to the work force in the UK, with regard to gender equality issues which encourage and support women in employment. These are addressed in the key legislations of equal pay, the Sex Discrimination Act, Part-Time Workers Act, maternity leave and pay legislation, Maternity Leave Act and Flexible Working Legislation Act,” she said.
To understand women, it would be great to have more women in politics so they can drive the gender equality agenda forward, Shah pointed out, adding that in Borough, one-third of the elected members were women.
“There are parliamentary seats for which only women are shortlisted. This is the political vision of the Labour Party. Other political parties also have such policies to encourage women to come into politics. I would like to share some of my personal experiences in the UK. I have learnt that being an elected member is a duty bound by noble principles. When I came into politics, my senior English colleagues supported me to develop my political carrier; women were the ones who voted for me,” she said.
According to Shah, inductions, training and opposite support were provided for women who wanted to get into employment.
“They will get help with training and the skills required to get into employment. The ethnic minority women who can’t speak English will get help to go to college to learn English. These are all funded by the Government. Single mothers who have problems with housing issues can get help for housing. Women who suffer from domestic violence are given support by local councils and the Police. Women who go to work and are from low income groups get support with child care,” she said.
Pix by Shehan Gunasekera
UN Resident Coordinator calls for more female representation in elected bodies
Following is a statement delivered by United Nations in Sri Lanka Resident Coordinator Subinay Nandy yesterday at the South Asia Policy Research Institute (SAPRI) event at the BMICH Marking International Women’s Day 2015
Madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the former President of Sri Lanka and Chairperson of South Asia Policy Research Institute (SAPRI), honourable ministers, heads of missions, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, it is indeed my pleasure to address you all today as we mark International Women’s Day this year on Sunday, 8 March.
The theme for this year – ‘Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity: Picture it! – is apt as we also mark 20 years since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was adopted by 189 governments, setting the agenda for realising women’s rights.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most comprehensive global agreement on women’s empowerment and gender equality, outlined actions to address 12 critical areas of concern for women and girls across the globe; those relating levels of poverty, access to education and health, safety and political participation of women.
Twenty years ago, a world was imagined in which women and girls had equal rights, freedom and opportunity in every sphere of life.
But how has the world fared since then?
Much progress has been made in the last two decades, though slow and uneven. Yet today no country can claim to have achieved equality between men and women.
- Globally, it is estimated that 60% of the chronically hungry are women and girls.
- Sexual and gender-based violence continues to be a concern that needs urgent attention, with three out of every 10 women reportedly having experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner.
- Despite progress in some countries, approximately 800 women die every day from preventable causes during pregnancy and childbirth.
- And, if you take a look at women’s political participation around the world, only 22% of the world’s parliamentary seats are held by women.
There is much that Sri Lanka can be proud of when speaking of girls’ and women’s empowerment.
Sri Lanka is often highlighted as an example in the region regarding education and health for women, especially for achieving high literacy rates among women and the high life expectancy at birth for the girl child. There are also large numbers of women with higher education and professional qualifications serving in the public domain, the private sector, medical, legal and teaching professions, and the arts in comparison to many other developing countries. The participation of women is Sri Lanka’s workforce is significantly lower than men
Women’s political participation
Today, I want to focus on progress made with regard to women’s political participation given the theme of this seminar.
Globally, as I mentioned previously, only 22% of all national parliamentarians are female, which is a slow increase from 11.3% since 1995 over a 20-year period. Only 10 women ha
ve served as Head of State and 14 have served as Head of Government.
There are 38 countries in which women account for less than 10 per cent of parliamentarians in single or lower houses – even if the present rate of increase in women’s representation continues as compared to previous decades, we are still a long way from reaching the “parity zone” of 40-60%.
We are all aware that Sri Lankan women have enjoyed universal adult franchise since 1931 and that Sri Lanka produced the world’s first democratically elected woman Prime Minister in 1960.
Moreover, Sri Lanka has committed to a number of international instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Beijing Platform for Action. It would be important to monitor how the country fares in terms implementation of its commitments taken under these instruments.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, in particular, encourages National Governments to establish gender balance in government bodies and also take appropriate electoral system measures to encourage political parties to integrate women in elective and non-elective public positions in the same proportion and at the same levels as men. The governments are also urged to review the differential impact of electoral systems on the political representation of women in elected bodies and consider, where appropriate, the adjustment or reform of those systems.
In addition, the political parties are urged to work on party structures and procedures to remove barriers that undermine women’s political engagement including participation in the leadership of political parties on an equal basis with men.
National commitments
These international obligations have been translated to national commitments through Sri Lanka Women’s Charter and the National Plan of Action on Human Rights.
The Sri Lanka Women’s Charter approved by the Government on 3 March 1993 stipulates that the State must ensure equitable representation of women in the nomination process at the National, Provincial and Local government elections
The National Action Plan on the Rights of Women aims to ensure 30% minimum representation of women in Parliament, provincial councils and local authorities.
Despite these commitments and achievements, Sri Lanka ranks 140 out of 153 countries in terms of female representation in parliament, which is one of the lowest in South Asia and the world. Women occupy less than 6% of parliamentary seats.
As of 2012, women occupied just 4% in Provincial Councils and 1.9% in local governments.
Without a strong representation of women in decision making positions, there is no guarantee that women’s perspectives are adequately reflected in key policy decisions relating to critical areas such as security, economic development, reconciliation and democratisation in today’s Sri Lanka.
If we look at the local context, we see that Sri Lanka has witnessed rising levels of sexual and gender based violence, a phenomenon that requires urgent and immediate attention of authorities. Increasing number of cases of sexual abuse of children and women are reported particularly from the former conflict zones of north and east, although increasing trends are being observed across the country.
In taking up this issue, we would encourage women parliamentarians to link up with Commission on Status of Women which in its Report on the 57th session in 2013 urged States to strongly condemn violence against women and girls committed in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, and calls for effective measures of accountability and redress as well as effective remedies.
Women’s political representation
Coming back to the issue of women’s political representation in Sri Lanka, we understand that such low levels have always been seen as a conundrum when Sri Lanka has performed so well in other spheres such as education and health.
The issue is not only that the number of women elected is low, but that the number of women nominated by political parties to contest at elections is also equally low. Nomination of women to any level of elected body has not increased beyond 7.7 per cent of the total candidates nominated.
We have commissioned several studies which addresses this problem, particularly a joint study done together with the former Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment in 2009 as well as the National Human Development Report 2014 on Youth and Development.
What these studies reveal is that the reasons for low women’s political participation start at the personal level due to socio-cultural, economic and psychological barriers such as:
- lack of opportunity, or where the opportunity is available, reasons such as disliking politics;
- lack of time due to family responsibilities;
- the likelihood of attacks on character and virtue;
- perceptions on lack of ability or non-worthiness;
- and the perception that politics is increasingly associated with violence.
These coupled with stereotypical notions about the ‘right’ place of women in society have impacted on low levels of women in employment, the public sphere and political representation.
UN Women in Sri Lanka
I must mention that in trying to address this issue, in line with the global frameworks and the conventions that I have highlighted earlier, several UN agencies, particularly the UN Women, the United Nations organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, does significant work both in Sri Lanka and other parts of the world. The UN Women now has a dedicated presence in Sri Lanka.
UN Women provides training for women political candidates to help build their capacities, and offers voter and civic education and sensitisation campaigns on gender equality.
In India, the Gender Responsive Governance Program empowers over half a million elected women representatives in six states to make public policy responsive to women, and to ensure that elected representatives have better knowledge of women’s rights. Notably, UN Women is also developing a Gender Responsive Index to rate South Asian countries according to the participation of women in politics and governance.
I would like to highlight the forthcoming UN Women’s project in Sri Lanka on increasing women’s political participation, in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Government. The project aims to increase both representation and political participation of women at provincial and national levels. It will work to strengthen the capacity for gender-responsive budgeting in key Ministries; support the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus; and engage with the political leadership to ensure more nominations for women in elections.
We also support research and policy advocacy to address legal and political impediments to women’s political participation. For instance, through UNDP, we are exploring ways of supporting the electoral reform process in Sri Lanka with technical expertise to facilitate a more informed and nuanced debate on the subject.
In addition, we support trainings, coalitions and lobbying (for example political parties) so that women representatives transform and implement policies, programs and resource allocations in favour of women’s rights.
We also strengthen the capacity of State institutions to mainstream gender responsive governance in their programs.
I would like to say in conclusion that we, in the United Nations, will do our best to engage with our national partners to increase women’s political engagement in Sri Lanka.
An important juncture
Sri Lanka is currently at an important juncture where there is strong commitment by the new government to introduce reforms to the electoral system. Women’s representation in the political sphere is an important part of this.
Against this background, we urge all registered political parties in Sri Lanka to take whatever steps necessary to increase the number of women being nominated for elected bodies both at national and sub-national levels.
I take this opportunity to thank SAPRI and its Management for extending this invitation to share our reflections and experiences on this important issue.
I would like to leave you with a famous proverb, one that I have slightly adapted to suit the occasion: “The best time to achieve gender equality was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
Thank you.
CBK to keynote conference on role of women in inclusive political culture today
A useful conference titled ‘Celebrating Women: Towards an Inclusive Political Culture’ organised by International Alert Sri Lanka and the South Asia Policy and Research Institute (SAPRI) will be held today (6) from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the BMICH, Committee Room A.
The conference is based on two thematic areas: Session I – Women in Politics: Prioritising Gender Sensitive Legislature and Session II – Understanding the Importance for Women to Engage in Politics.
According to organisers, former President Madam Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga will deliver the keynote address. Among others present will be State Minister of Children’s Affairs Rosy Senanayake, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy, MP Anoma Gamage, MP Dr. Sudharshini Fernandopulle, and Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Robyn Mudie.
Missing Persons Commission of Sri Lanka to hold next public sittings in Trincomalee district
The Presidential Commission Investigating Cases of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka will conduct its next public sittings to hear cases of missing persons in the Trincomalee district in the east.
The Commission’s public sittings in Trincomalee district will be held from 28 February to 3 March.
Since the establishment of the Commission on 15 August 2013 by the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Commission to date has received in excess of 20,106 complaints inclusive of approximately 5,000 complaints from relatives of missing security forces personnel.
The Commission previously held Public Sittings during the months from January to December 2014 in Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya.
During these sittings, the Commission has heard oral evidence of 1,440 complainants. The recorded evidences of these complainants are being analysed for further investigations through an independent investigative team.
The Commission during the public sittings held so far had registered 3,841 new complaints.
The Commission says it has held regular meetings with the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and has obtained their views and experiences gained in other parts of the world particularly on matters relating to missing persons at the end of a conflict.
The Commission has been mandated to inquire and submit a report to the President on the complaints.
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Interim Budget: A necessary corrective to Rajapaksa Economics
“Ultimately it is what happens in people’s lives that matters” – Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012, UNDP
For now, Ravi Karunanayake has presented a budget which Greece’s Syriza would be proud of
By Tisaranee Gunasekara
November 2006: The fourth Eelam War was raging. The regime exhorts the populace to make sacrifices – and awards the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary massive salary hikes. The steepest increase goes to President Rajapaksai.
November 2008: The Eelam War is in its final phase. President Rajapaksa gives himself and the entire legislature another massive salary hikeii.
Most Lankans were probably u
naware that their rulers were ladling their own plates with unmerited generosity even as they preached the virtues of patriotic self-denial. Few Sinhalese would have cared anyway; hopeful of a definitive victory, they were willing to give the Rajapaksas a blank cheque.
When the war ended, hope of imminent good times soared in the south. That hope enabled Mahinda Rajapaksa to win massively the 2010 presidential election. But as taxes and prices continued their upward trajectory, the hope of a better future began to ebb.
The razzle-dazzle of massive physical infrastructure projects succeeded in camouflaging the absence of the peace dividend for a while. But as the years rolled on, the growing gap between an economically-cosseted ruling caste and an economically-depressed populace became too abysmal to be concealed by propaganda tricks.
Profligacy for the ruling caste and austerity for ordinary people were neither accidental nor incidental. They stemmed from the very nature of Rajapaksa economics.
An extractive economic strategy
Rajapaksa economic strategy was an extractive one. Its aim was to ensure the financial sustainability of Rajapaksa politics. And Rajapaksa politics was an extremely expensive affair; the amount of money needed to sustain the ruling caste and their megalomaniac -projects was enormous. In the absence of natural resources such as oil, a modern form of ‘tax-farming’ became essential to Rajapaksa economics.
80% of tax revenue came from indirect taxes imposed on essential goods and services. These taxes became a key source of inflation; they reduced the purchasing power of the ordinary people, had a knock-on effect on small and medium entrepreneurs and depressed the ‘main street’, that economy in which the absolute majority of ordinary people work and produce, buy and sell.
Rajapaksa economics therefore created two economies – one for the ruling caste and favoured businesses and one for ordinary Lankans. The privileged economy grew and throve by sucking the lifeblood of the non-privileged economy.
Pablo Iglesias, the founder-leader of the left-radical Podemos Party, claims that in Spain, “…the fundamental divide now is between an oligarchy and democracy, between a social majority and a privileged minority.”iii An analogous situation obtained at the tail-end of Rajapaksa rule. It was this reality which enabled the Common Opposition to surmount seemingly insurmountable odds and defeat the Rajapaksas.
Unpicking Rajapaksa Economics
The Rajapaksas derailed the Lankan economy. The necessary process of undoing Rajapaksa economics and returning the economy to some sort of capitalist normalcy commenced with the Interim Budget.
The shift from indirect taxation towards direct taxation is not a radical formula but a sober economic necessity. In 2012, the UNDP pointed out that Sri Lanka’s excessive dependence on indirect taxes “shifted the burden of taxation on to the poor” and suggested that the Government should try to “spread the burden of taxation more evenly, to improve revenue collection, to achieve better governance and accountability and to ensure that revenue is in line with growth”iv.
The Rajapaksa brand of tax-and-spend (taxing the people and spending on themselves) was creating a socio-economic volcano, consisting of growing youth unemployment and increasing inequality.
According to the ILO’s Asia Pacific Labour Market Update of April 2013, “…in Sri Lanka youth unemployment rate was more than four times the overall unemployment rate…”v Minister Sarath Amunugama told the Parliament that the richest 20% of the country account for 54.1% of the national income while the bottom 20% receive just 4.5%vi.
Rajapaksa economics was not business-friendly either. For instance, Sri Lanka is categorised as a ‘mostly unfree’ country in the Economic Freedom Index. Fitch Ratings revealed that post-war Sri Lanka has not been successful in attracting foreign direct investment; since 2009, the average net FDI has been just 1.2% of GDP.
“This is low in comparison with most regional peers and has fuelled a reliance on debt-creating capital….. This has kept the external debt burden at 57% of GDP which is much higher than all other emerging Asian markets, except Mongolia.”vii
Rajapaksa economics was business-friendly only in a very limited and parochial sense. A small coterie of businesses with links to the ruling caste did extremely well. Economic policy was used to enable these favourites to make super profits via tax concessions and monopoly formation.
For instance, in the 2014 Budget, “…more industries were given protectionism, allowing favoured businessmen to avoid competition, further worsening a culture of rent seeking and exploitation of poorer consumers. Boats and gauze were added to the list while protectionism was increased for building materials and food. Already monopolises have developed in building materials under protective tariffs…”viii
Rajapaksa economics therefore worked to create an Acolyte Capitalism, a system in which business success depended to a disturbing extent on how loyal and obedient you were to the rulers.
And this system was rapidly becoming unsustainable.
In August 2014, a Cabinet Subcommittee in a confidential report warned that government revenue was declining and that revenue estimates for 2015 were unrealistically optimistic: “It is not prudent to continue our over reliance on indirect taxes and must rely instead on a direct tax effort. We must ease taxing of goods for consumption and services regardless of the people’s income levels and avoid placing burdens on the poorer households.”ix
Course correction necessary
The course correction effected by the Interim Budget therefore is a necessary one. It has reduced reliance on indirect taxes while taxing some of the favoured-businesses which enjoyed economically irrational privileges in the last several years. Super Gains Tax, the Special Levy on casinos, the doubling of Betting and Gaming Levy, and the taxes on satellite TV operators and sports channels belong in this category.
The pay hikes to the Government sector are a socio-political and an economic necessity (its beneficiaries include the armed forces and police). This measure is necessary to pull the popularity-rug from under the Rajapaksas even further; it will also help correct income-distribution anomalies, expand purchasing power at the middle and lower level and help local businesses, especially SMEs.
More work remains to be done to transform the Lankan economy into some sort of capitalist normal. Sri Lanka needs to further reduce her reliance on indirect taxes, broaden the tax base and rationalise the taxing system. She needs to come to grip with the massive debt burden and develop an economic strategy which generates both employment and income for ordinary Lankans.
But for now, Ravi Karunanayake has presented a budget which Greece’s Syriza would be proud of. Class divisions and class conflicts are far from dead. They will come to the surface when the Lankan economy returns to some sort of capitalist normal. But without the Rajapaksa factor and in democratic conditions (however flawed), the playing field will be far less skewed and defeat will not be the only permissible outcome.
Footnotes
i http://archives.dailymirror.lk/2007/01/12/news/07.asp
ii http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/11/35037.html
iii http://www.thenation.com/article/195129/can-podemos-win-spain
iv Sri Lanka Human Development Report – 2012
v http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—asia/—ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_212030.pdf
vi http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=91542
vii http://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/fitchwire/fitchwirearticle/Sri-Lanka’s-Resilience?pr_id=805953&cm_sp=homepage-_-FitchWire-_-%20Sri%20Lanka’s%20Resilience%20Masks%20Medium-Term%20Credit%20Risks
viii http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/news/sri-lanka-targets-lower-deficit-in-2014-budget,-ups-protectionism/1793196494
ix Red Light on revenue: Cabinet subcommittee says 2015 revenue targets unrealistic and unachievable – Sandun Jayasekera – Daily Mirror – 23 August 2014
Getting fiscal policy right
The country is emerging from a dark age, during which the National Budget and taxpayer’s money was treated like a virtual slush fund for the ruling dynasty and its hangers on.
Accountability, fiscal responsibility, rational monetary policy and good governance was not in the lexicon of the ruling cohort and their bureaucratic and political collaborators. Policy was directed by political expediency, astrologers, who on their own admission, ex post facto, were afraid of telling the truth of what the stars foretold, due to the fear of physical assault, and corrupt bum sucking “ass liquors”.
The painful task of auditing the national accounts and getting to the bottom of the real parameters of the crisis has started. Legislating on the National Audit Commission and the Right to Information Law are in hand under the Maithripalanaya’s 100 day program.
In the meantime, we have to get fiscal policy right. An interview by a former Secretary to the Treasury, suitably edited to make it relevant for today, is reprinted below to indicate the parameters of what has to be done.
Fiscal and monetary crossroads
The nation stands at a fiscal and monetary crossroads. The individual who ran monetary policy with some incompetent cohorts at the policy level has had his passport withdrawn by the Bribery Commissioner. The Chief Justice has been interviewed by the Police Criminal Investigation 
Department on his alleged role in a political coup.
Emerging out of this dark scenario, there seems to be a chance of liberation. Fiscal policy, at the official level, is at last in the competent hands of an experienced professional who isn’t bombastic. At the political level the head is an experienced businessman, a welcome change from the self-professed ‘Gamay Bhaiya’!
Don’t get me wrong, I agree totally with Robert Knox, that you wash the mud off a Lankan villager working in a paddy field and he is fit to be King. But there are always exceptions which reinforce the rule!
‘Resplendent Lanka’ once more?
Monetary policy is now in the hands of an experienced professional banker. The National Audit Commission, the Constitutional Council and the Independent Commissions for the Public Service and the Police and Judiciary, etc., will at least bring in a respect for the Rule of Law and principles of good governance including the Dasa Raja Dharma. The Right to Information Act must be exploited in full by a motivated civil society to keep politicians and official on the straight and narrow.
There is the outside chance, against all historical and legacy odds, that Lanka may once again actually achieve the status of being the 
‘Resplendent Lanka,’ if not that of ‘Serendipity’ or ‘Granary of the East’ of the past! Or a high-tech hub of South Asia of the future – if not the late lamented ‘Wonder of Asia,’ that of the infamous five hubs!
The price of liberty
But remember, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”. The space must be provided for civil society activists to play their essential role in society – no white vans! Mistakes must be exposed and admitted. Flaws must be corrected in time. Frauds and criminal acts are prosecuted to the full force of the law, quickly and completely. The misled put back on the correct track, pulled by their ears if necessary!
The law must rule. Bribery and corruption must be crushed out of sight. Performance must be transparent. Information freely available, subject to genuine public security concerns, of course. Freedom of speech provided and defended. At the same time the law of defamation respected. There is no freedom of the wild ass – or even the Mannar donkey.
As his Holiness the Pope has recently pointed out, in the context of the Parisian Charlie Hebdo related issues on religious freedom and free comment, there are responsible, reasonable, moral and legal limits to freedom. Nothing in this world is unlimited or unconditional. 
We have seen in the recent past the full vindication, in operational terms, unfolding, in all its plethora of manifestations, before our own very stunned and dumbfounded eyes, Lord Acton’s timeless dictum – “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. No sane person, in his right mind, would request an encore!
(The writer is a lawyer, who has over 30 years of experience as a CEO in both State and private sectors. He retired from the office of Secretary, Ministry of Finance and currently is the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Business Development Centre.)
Treasury Secretary should be above politics
The job of Treasury Secretary is possibly the most stressful job in government, asserted former Treasury Secretary Charitha Ratwatte. In an interview with The Bottom Line, he pointed out that ever since the 1972 Constitution brought the Public Service under the control of the cabinet of ministers, political interference “has been a given”.
Handpicked for the post of Treasury Secretary during the UNP regime, Ratwatte took over at a time when the
country was on negative growth for the first time in its recorded history. “There is a strong case for revisiting the accountability rules to involve politicians, when they may have clearly directed the decisions which are subject to review,” he asserted.
An Attorney-at-Law, Ratwatte has over 20 years of
experience in government service. He served in positions such as National Youth Services Council Chairman, Youth Services Director General, and Deputy Commissioner General for Essential Services, Commissioner General for Essential Services GOSL and Managing Director of the Janasaviya Trust Fund.
He also served as the secretary to several ministries, including the Youth Affairs and Employment Ministry, Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Social Welfare Ministry, Policy Development and Finance Ministry, amongst others.
His business experience is wide and varied, and includes posts as chairman or director in many institutions. Ratwatte has also served on many international boards and as a consultant to international organisations
such as US AID, United Nations Volunteers, UNDP, World Bank and NORAD.
A prominent social and political activist, his legislative experience is impressive. He was involved in the
drafting of several acts, including the National Youth Services Act, Tertiary and Vocational Training Act, Manpower Mobilisation Act, Fiscal Responsibility Law
and Youth Corps Law, amongst several others.
Ratwatte pointed out that since being Treasury Secretary is a position of trust, one has to be “above politics”. Ideally the only task of the Treasury Secretary should be fiscal management, he emphasised.
Following are relevant excerpts of the interview, first
published six years ago on 13 February 2008:
By Marianne David
Q: You were handpicked for the post of Treasury Secretary during the UNP regime. Can you recall the main challenges you faced and how you overcame them?
A: I had worked in government from 1977 to 1994, when I reverted to the private sector, in assignments ranging from Director General of Youth Services, Commissioner General for Essential Services, Managing Director of the Janasaviya Trust Fund ( it operated under the name of National Development Trust Fund – the Credit window of the Fund is now operated by the Sri Lanka Savings Bank, still serving Micro Finance Partner Institutions after project closure) and Secretary to six different ministries. So I was not new to government service.
The main challenge was that the country, for the first time in its recorded history, was on negative growth, had a huge deficit, high inflation, had six-hour power cuts, the exchange rate was out of control, had a bloated government and was at war. All these issues were systematically addressed.
Q: What were the key initiatives you would recall as being most significant during your tenure and why?
A: The government being able to get a peace process started, bringing down inflation and the interest rate, holding the exchange rate steady, cutting the deficit, controlling the numbers on the government payroll and restoring power supply.
Q: How would you describe the job – does it come under severe political pressure or is it a fulfilling experience?
A: It is possibly the most stressful job in government. Ever since the 1972 Constitution brought the Public Service under the control of the cabinet of ministers, political interference has been a given. It was fulfilling to watch how the economy responded to the economic fundamentals being corrected and growth bouncing back.
Q: How did you balance political interest versus accountability in the backdrop of being answerable to Parliament on prudential fiscal management?
A: Secretaries to ministries are the chief accounting officers to the Public Accounts Committee and to Parliament. The Auditor General does an ex post facto compliance audit, for which public officers are accountable.
In today’s political context it would be sensible to revisit this Anglo Saxon concept of accountability for tax payers money, and involve the accountability of politicians for orders, instructions and decisions given by them.
Also, a comprehensive management and value for money audit would be much more useful. Other institutions for financial management, such as internal audits, tender boards and technical evaluation committees should be allowed to work at optimum.
Where public expenditure exceeds tax revenue by such a large amount as in this country, and the expansion of government seems unstoppable, it is not practical to talk about ‘prudential fiscal management’ within today’s financial governance structures.
Q: People always feel that because the Treasury Secretary is held accountable, even politicians’ faults are landed on the Treasury Secretary, including trade union problems. Is being Treasury Secretary a terrible job? Do you think the Minister should be held responsible instead?
A: As I have said – it is probably the most stressful job in government. The relationship with the minister depends on the people you have to work with.
As I have said before, there is a strong case for revisiting the accountability rules to involve politicians, when they may have clearly directed the decisions which are subject to review by audit.
Q: Is being Treasury Secretary a balancing act? In your opinion, how should a Treasury Secretary conduct himself?
A: It is a position of trust; you are responsible for taxpayers’ money, loans/grants given by taxpayers of other countries and borrowing, which have to be repaid by taxpayers. You have to be above politics.
Q: Of late the Treasury has come under severe attack for mismanaging the economy, especially the fiscal issues, and not improving the macro economic fundamentals. This government appears to be focusing on high spending. Is it a fair criticism?
A: Where the difference between government revenue and government expenditure is so high, it is not practical to talk about fiscal responsibility – especially when we have a huge welfare bill, heavy cost of government, are financing a war and have high debt service.
Q: It was during your tenure that the Fiscal Responsibility Act was introduced. Ever since, successive governments have failed to achieve the annual targets. Can you explain why?
A: In retrospect, with hindsight, the Act should have had more teeth; for example, a balanced budget provision which needed a two-thirds majority to override.
Q: As former Treasury Secretary, in your opinion what are the most pressing issues the economy is facing at present that need to be addressed?
A: Bring inflation, which is a tax on the poor, down; bring the deficit, which is a tax on unborn generations, down; bring down interest rates to enable entrepreneurs to borrow at reasonable rates and create employment. Since we are a ship to mouth economy, dependent on imports and exports, hold the exchange rate at a reasonable amount.
Q: Could you list the core challenges that the Treasury is facing at present, as well as in the medium term?
A: Curtailing wasteful expenditure at all levels of government, holding down the size and cost of government, increasing revenue, and targeting welfare expenditure better.
Q: What are your views on the independence of the Treasury secretary?
A: The Treasury Secretary should be above politics, appointed by the Public Service Commission, duly appointed by the Constitutional Council, in compliance with the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, from a short list submitted by the government. Indeed, this should apply to all senior posts in the public sector.
Ideally the only task of the Treasury Secretary should be fiscal management; all ancillary tasks such as supervising State banks, making bombastic speeches at public forums, etc., are a distraction. The Treasury Secretary should not serve on the Monetary Board, to allow the Central Bank to carry out its statutory duties unhindered.
Q: There is speculation that the government may bring in someone from out of the public sector as Treasury Secretary. Should the job of Treasury Secretary be reserved for senior and capable public servants? What are your views on bringing someone from the private sector?
A: This is fundamentally a governance issue; you need someone in that post who will do the right thing, the right way, at the right time. It does not matter whether his/her experience is within government or business. It must be a person who is willing to listen to all points of view and take a timely decision, for which he or she alone is finally accountable. There is no magic wand.
2015 a ‘once in a generation opportunity’ for sustainable development
New York: The Head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said yesterday that while there is tremendous volatility and turmoil around the world, this year presented a unique opportunity to eradicate poverty and agree on a path for sustainable development.
“At UNDP, we see 2015 as a huge opportunity to advance the global sustainable development agenda,” said Helen Clark at the opening session of UNDP’s Executive Board meeting in New York. “The Millennium Development Goals are set to expire at the end of this year and UN Member States will meet in September to agree on the new Sustainable Development Goals, which will guide global development priorities for the next 15 years.”
She also cited other events this year that would be critical to global development: the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March, in Sendai, Japan; the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and the UN climate change conference in Paris, France, in December.
“The combined outcomes of these major processes are a once in a generation opportunity to set a transformational global agenda for sustainable development,” she said.
In her statement she also outlined UNDP’s work in response to current crises around the world such as the refugee crisis in countries neighboring Syria, and the crises in Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ukraine, and many others.
“Through our work on early recovery we aim to support countries to move from the relief phase to recovery as quickly as possible,” she said.
She also discussed UNDP’s implementation of its new Strategic Plan and its ongoing reforms to make the organisation more effective and efficient.
She also welcomed Fernando Carrera, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the UN, on his election as President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board and thanked outgoing President Peter Thomson, Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations.
“This is an exceptional time for the development community,” said Carrera, “The months leading up to the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals offer a unique opportunity for all of us to shape a global agenda for the next generation that will ensure a reduction of poverty and inequality for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.”
“Likewise, in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December, this year is equally crucial for the international community’s combined efforts to counter the effects of climate change.”
“The Executive Board will continue to oversee and support UNDP in the coming year, in particular in the Organisation’s ongoing efforts to strengthen oversight and accountability amongst partners and donors.”
Concluding her remarks, Clark said: “UNDP is fully committed to playing its part in making 2015 a launch pad for stepped up efforts to advance human, sustainable, and resilient development for all countries and peoples. We look forward to working with the Board to this end, and thank you once again for your support for our work.”
Being happy
- An assessment challenge
How do you assess whether a person is happy? Just after the euphoria of the triumph of the democratic process in our country, escaping from the brink of dictatorship and authoritarianism, would it be reasonable to say that most of the people are reasonably happy that we had a relatively peaceful election and a sensible transfer of power?
Or is this simply our democratic right – to be expected as the right of a citizen living under a democratic constitution, to have the capacity to act democratically – and nothing to be deliriously happy about? Or can people be said to happy that the possibility of economic largesse of a new Government, expecting to go before the people again in a short while, will result in prices going down and incomes going up?
For some economists, growth or GDP is an indicator of happiness. But few people consider a big income as an end in itself. It has been argued that income is not the only thing that matters. William Easterly of New York University, in 1999, used data from 1960 to 1990, to look at the correlation between GDP and 81 diverse other indicators of the quality of life. In only 32 cases did GDP outweigh the other indicators. In October 2014, a survey of 43 countries was published which showed that people in emerging markets almost equalled the level of satisfaction with their lives as expressed by people in rich countries.
The dictionary tells us that being ‘happy’ is being cheerful with feelings of pleasure or satisfaction. ‘Satisfaction’ is, in turn, when you are pleased because you have achieved something or because something has happened as you wanted it to. Rulers have constantly tried to measure happiness as an indicator of the quality of life of the ruled.
Economic growth is assumed to equate to wellbeing. However, it is well recognised to have serious limitations, for example it takes no account of environmental pollution and degradation, which negatively affects sustainability, also it excludes all unpaid services which exist in the economy, 
such as volunteering and domestic housework. Robert Kennedy, Attorney General of the USA and brother of President John. F. Kennedy, put it succinctly, when he said that GDP, ‘measures everything … except that which makes life worthwhile’!
Economic performance measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a measure of the value of goods and services produced in a country. It has been defined as the total of all economic activity in one country, regardless of who owns the productive assets. However, it has many flaws and does not even measure the value of goods and services precisely. Further, people’s feelings of happiness or satisfaction or optimism also depend on things GDP does not capture.
Difficult and challenging times
We live in difficult and challenging times. Global poverty and inequality stubbornly persists and the threat of the negative consequences of global climate change looms over all our heads.
At a UN gathering in Brazil, the Rio +20 World Sustainability Conference, those that were concerned enough to attend, that is – the major players simply kept away! – the 238 point final agreement entitled ‘The Future We Want’ was arrived on the day appointed for the conference to end, a sure sign of an ineffective UN conference; there was no real controversy, where there are controversial ‘real’ issues raised, the meetings go on until the early hours of the morning, trying to hammer out a compromise. The EU’s Climate Change Commissioner commented on the final communiqué: “Telling that nobody in that room adopting the text was happy. That’s how weak it is.”
A growing number of ordinary people around the world are recognising the mutual interconnectedness of these issues and the need to think of a way to evolve a measure of development which would capture the real situation of the status of humanity as to their thinking of their present and future.
How is ‘sustainable progress’ to be measured in the 21st century? The traditional indicators of economic activity simply don’t tell us enough about ordinary peoples hopes, goals and aspirations. It is this realisation that prompted the United Nations to host a High Level meeting on Happiness and Well Being. For the same reason the few world leaders who actually attended Rio +20 were involved in negotiations on development indicators which ‘would go beyond GDP’.
Happy Planet Index
The New Economics Foundation, responding to this need has created a Happy Planet Index (HPI). The HPI is considered to be one of the leading global measures of sustainable wellbeing. As a measure of human progress, it measures the extent to which countries deliver long, happy, sustainable lives for their citizens.
The 2012 HPI report published on 14 June 2012, ranks 151 countries based on their efficiency – defined as the extent to which each nation produces long and happy lives for their citizens, per unit of environmental input. Clearly the results show that we are not living on a happy planet. No country has good performance on three critical indicators – life expectancy, experiential wellbeing and ecological footprint. Some countries certainly do well, but maybe not the ones you expected.
None of the top 10 in the HPI are the world’s rich countries. Of the top 40 in the HPI, only four have a GDP per capita of over $ 15,000. The highest ranking Western nation is Norway at 28. New Zealand is 29th. Costa Rica leads the HPI table, with its very high life expectancy, high 
experiential wellbeing and an ecological footprint one-third of USA’s.
The HPI results show that progress is not just about wealth. That it is possible to live happily in a sustainable way, without doing irretrievable damage to the environment and that this is measurable.
Better Life index
The OECD, a mainly rich country think tank has attempted to address this issue of developing an accurate indicator for development has created the Better Life index. The index uses 24 variable indicators across 11 sectors, to create a measure of welfare for 34 of its members, plus Brazil and Russia. If the 11 sectors are grouped into two broader categories-America excels most in money and jobs, Switzerland in health and education,
The index was launched in May 2011; it was the first attempt to bring together internationally comparable measures of wellbeing. The 11 sectors measured includes- housing, income, jobs, community life, education, environment, governance, work life balance, Each topic was considered using three indicators, for work life balance three indicators were considered, the number of employees working long hours, the percentage of working mothers, and the time people devoted to leisure and personal activities.
A UNDP report, published some time ago – ‘The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development’ – says that employees in Sri Lanka are the most satisfied, up to 86% have declared to be so. An earlier survey has shown that Sri Lanka has topped an Asian list of people most satisfied with their lives. 93% of those surveyed in Sri Lanka said they were satisfied. One wonders about the sustainability?
Human Development Index
The HDI, Human Development Index, developed by the UNDP under the guidance of the late Dr. Mahbub ul Haque was an alternative measure. Dr. Haque said: “The human dimension of development is not just another addition to the development dialogue. It is an entirely new perspective, a revolutionary way to recast our conventional approach to development.”
In 1999 the Planning Commission of Bhutan organised a workshop in Thimpu to consider whether or not the concept of Gross National Happiness – GNH – as articulated by the King of Bhutan as a development target of his Kingdom, could be related to the HDI indicators of the UNDP.
The workshop considered a number of issues: Could an index for GNH be constructed in the same way as the index for HDI? What are the main ingredients of happiness and what are the indicators for happiness? Were the four platforms of economic development, environmental preservation, cultural promotion and good governance through which Bhutan was pursuing GNH the appropriate ones?
In 2007 a British academic Adrian White published a League Table of Happiness which put Denmark in number one position. White took data from diverse sources as UNESCO, WHO and the CIA and obtained data from 80,000 people in 178 countries. He concluded that factors such as healthcare and education were significant when it came to a person’s happiness.
In early 2009 a British think tank, the New Economic Foundation, produced a Happiness Index; referred to earlier, they used criteria such as life expectancy and the ecological footprint of the population as criteria.
Just ask people
Lord Layard, an emeritus professor at the London School of Economics, one time the British Government’s Happiness Czar and an academic, is of the view that happiness can be measured by simply asking people. Lord Layard also is of the view that relationships are a lot more important that researchers normally allow for, people who want to be happy have to pay a great deal more attention to relationships and be not so willing to sacrifice them for the sake of income or productivity.
Lord Layard says, on this strategy to measure happiness, “I think it’s wonderful; it’s something I and others have been advocating for some time. It’s based on the idea that unless you measure the right things, you won’t do the right things.”
The British Prime Minister David Cameron promised at the election he won to measure subjective levels of wellbeing when the government sets about collecting other data for the census and measuring the usual things such as income levels and fear of violent crime.
Britain’s National Statistician, Jill Matheson, said that “there is a growing international recognition that to measure national wellbeing and progress there is a need to develop a more comprehensive view, rather than focusing solely on gross domestic product”.
Science of happiness
France has also jumped on the bandwagon of this ‘science of happiness’ movement, instead of confining oneself to only francs and centimes.
In 2008 President Sarkozy appointed a Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, chaired by Nobel prize laureate Joseph Stiglitz consisting of 25 prominent social scientists, five with Nobel prizes in Economics including Stiglitz and Amartya Sen. The Commission presented its report on 14 September 2009, calling for the world, in the words of Stiglitz to abandon its “GDP fetishism”.
The Commission dealt with the criticisms of GDP as measure of wellbeing. GDP takes no account of depreciation of capital goods, although the value of production is based on market prices, not everything has a price, the value of these services, such as owner occupied housing and voluntary childcare by parents is imputed by assumption.
Canada has also developed a national wellbeing index, the Canadian survey asks subjective questions like ‘How much do you enjoy your life? Are you comfortable with your current level of debt?’ and asks about Canadians’ core values, living standards and their identification with minority or ethnic groups. The British survey was expected to follow this format.
Richard Easterlin asked the question: ‘Will raising the income of all raise the happiness of all?’ Lord Layard in his book ‘Happiness: Lessons from a New Science’ says: “There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income and strive for it. Yet as Western societies have got richer, their people have become no happier.”
The Commission also examined the wellbeing of future generations. Our successors will inherit a stock of resources, machines, buildings and institutions, the quality of their lives will depend to a great extent on our behaviour and investments we make today, especially in their human capital, education and health and the environment. Economic activity can be described as sustainable if future generations can expect to be at least as well off as us.
The report concludes that finding any one measure which catches up all this seems too ambitious and that it is wiser to look at a wide range of indicators that is a basket of figures broadening official statistics beyond GDP alone.
Pursuit of happiness
In Brazil a Senate Committee has approved an amendment to the Constitution which would make the pursuit of happiness a fundamental right. A Brazilian NGO was pushing for this. This brings the Brazilian Constitution somewhat in line with the USA’s Declaration of Independence which includes the phase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”.
The Brazilian NGO Movimento Mais Feliz (Happier Movement) say that the amendment was supposed to emphasise those other essential rights, such as access to adequate services in health and education, were essential to the achievement of happiness. Professor Cristiano Paixao of the Faculty of Law at the University of Brasilia described the amendment as ‘a useless and worrying change to the constitution’. ‘Can you guarantee happiness by law?’ is his question.
The NGO’s position is that it aims to promote happiness through five fronts: increasing popular awareness, mobilising social groups, stimulating participation in social projects, training ‘multiplier’ community activists and motivating citizens to contribute to its projects. It says: ‘The state has an obligation to create conditions to provide education, health, security, etc., the idea is to force the state to assume the responsibility of meeting these needs so that citizens can seek happiness.’
A Gallup poll has found that Brazil was 12th happiest of 155 countries surveyed, one position happier than the USA. Four of the five happiest countries were in Scandinavia. Generally surveys have shown that when people have been asked to say how happy they were as compared to the past, the answers show that for the very poor, level of income really matters, when they self-assess their level of happiness. But similar surveys have also shown that an enhanced income does not contribute to happiness, among segments of the population who have something over and above than the basic necessities of life.
The price of inequality
The Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who chaired former President Sarkozy’s Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and was also involved in the OECD Better Life Index, wrote a recent book entitled ‘The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers our Future’ in response to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters.
Stiglitz says that the Occupy Wall Street protesters’ slogan of ‘We are the 99%’ echoes an article he wrote in 2011 in Vanity Fair entitled ‘Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%’ in May 2011. This inequality, Stieglitz argues, is the result of public policy being captured by elites who have feathered their own nests at the expense of the rest of the community.
They have abused their power to distort the political debate on these issues, pushing through tax cuts and concessions to favour the rich and adjusting monetary policy to favour the banks and financial houses.
The challenge is how to measure these inequalities accurately so that there could be effective policy responses. The Rio + 20 commitments to new environmentally-friendly development benchmarks as an alternative to GDP may be a way forward.
Measuring capabilities
Amartya Sen, an Economist at Harvard, argues that we should not try to assess happiness but try to measure capabilities. He defines a capability as something that people have reason to value. Like the opportunity to live a long and healthy life, the freedom to be a political activist, the right to be well-nourished, etc.
Prof. Sen’s argument is that capabilities are ends that economies should try to maximise; income on the other hand is one of the main means which could get a person there. Martha Nussbaum of the University of Chicago agrees with Sen and adds that people must have the freedom to select which capabilities they would choose to seek. Freedom of choice has an impact on wellbeing, she argues. If people are given sufficient opportunities to choose which options they would pursue, then their ultimate decision gets less critical.
Measuring capability may be even more difficult than measuring GDP or happiness. However, there are certain substitute indicators. For example, countries with a high life expectancy in all probability offers its citizens basic services like good healthcare, an unpolluted environment, which support long life expectancy. Again where girls cannot attend school or cannot drive vehicles, there is a lack of opportunity for females. In the same way, is the capacity to conduct a free and fair election in the face of almost fascist challenges, a capability that leads to happiness, as in Sri Lanka’s recent political history?
UN’s World Happiness Report
The United Nations, ever the optimist, has been publishing an annual World Happiness Report since 2012. On 10 December 2014, the UN also released its latest version of its ‘Inclusive Wealth Index’. This puts a monetary value on public goods such as education and health.
Ultimately happiness can be argued as being satisfied with what you have and not craving for more. Being devoid of greed and jealousy is the way to be happy. Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha was no economist, but he taught some basic truths! He had the conclusive word on this when he preached that the way to happiness and satisfaction was to limit and control needs and eliminate greed and craving.
The second of the Four Noble Truths – Samudaya – is that suffering is caused by craving. The surest way to ensure happiness and satisfaction is to minimise needs. This is also in one sense one of Amartya Sen’s capabilities!
(The writer is a lawyer, who has over 30 years of experience as a CEO in both State and private sectors. He retired from the office of Secretary, Ministry of Finance and currently is the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Business Development Centre.)
Carmudi presents top five selling cars for 2014
With new cars, SUVs and trucks introduced this year, car shoppers have had more than hundreds of models to choose from in 2014. Some 72 million cars were sold globally in 2014. As the year comes to an end, Carmudi, the fastest way to buy and sell cars online, lists the five most popular cars on the market this year. These cars made the list for being the most popular in terms of price, quality and number of sales made this year.
Take a look at this year’s top five selling cars worldwide.
Toyota Corolla: over 587,491
Toyota Corolla: over 587,491 sold
The Toyota Corolla is once again on top of the list this year. Corolla, claimed to be the best-selling car in history, has sold over 40 million units since it first entered the market.
The Corolla continues to be a great hit among car shoppers for being penny-pinching in terms of fuel efficiency and purchase price. We now have the 12th generation of the Corolla, which is still easily as reliable and trustworthy as the first generation that was introduced half a century ago. The Corolla comes with a price tag starting from $ 16,900.
Ford Focus: over 531,557 sold
With the Focus, Ford has successfully lived up to their slogan “Your friend at the pump and your love on the road,” providing a big enough space for a family of five as well having great fuel economy. The Focus is also known for its great driving experience and also packed with premium features, securing its position as the second best-selling car this year.
Volkswagen Golf: over 524,127
Volkswagen Golf: over 524,127 sold
VW’s Golf remains high on the list of best hatchback picks for its efficiency, beautifully refined interiors and high-tech engines all wrapped with a high quality feel. The Golf is said to be fun and comfortable to drive with its snappy handling and brilliant suspensions. The Golf has grabbed the spotlight since it was first introduced in the mid-70s as it was equipped with water-cooled engines, which was groundbreaking at the time. Golf lovers rejoice as the 2015 model comes with better soundproofing and a more sophisticated safety system to assure you that it will be just as great, if not better as its predecessors.
Ford F-Series: over 513,127 sold
Ford continues to prove that it is a force to be reckoned with, despite having a three per cent sales slide in earlier in September, but still landing in the top three of this year’s most sold cars. The Ford F-Series trucks are said to be some of the most iconic trucks around and a favourite amongst truck lovers. It is known for its sturdiness, efficiency and for being an absolute powerhouse. Ford is also planning to up the ante by introducing their 2015 models using military-grade aluminium and an improved rear suspension, guaranteeing you a truck that will be worth the wait.
Hyundai Elantra: over 406,995 sold
The Elantra has made it on this list for a good reason. Introduced 24 years ago, the Elantra is definitely one of the best cars that Hyundai has ever built. With its sleek design with hard plastics and soft-touch surfaces, spacious interior, user-friendly tech features and a sensible price tag, it is definitely a big hit with car shoppers. The Elantra comes as a sedan as well as a hatchback, definitely secures a top position amongst the ultra-competitive sedan segment.
If you are looking to get your hands on some of the most popular cars of 2014, stop by www.carmudi.com or simply download the Carmudi app to find your car on the go.
Carmudi was founded in 2013 and in addition to Sri Lanka, currently operates in Bangladesh, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. The vehicle marketplace offers buyers, sellers and car dealers the ideal platform to find cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles online.
Give Sri Lanka time
- Prasad Kariyawasam, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Washington, responds to ‘A chance to close Sri Lanka’s one-family show’
Wall street journal: Regarding his 16 December Op-Ed ‘A chance to close Sri Lanka’s one-family show’, Razeen Sally grossly belittles the remarkable economic, political and social strides Sri Lanka has made recently coming out of a quarter century of war on terrorism.
The war-affected northern region is witnessing a remarkable 24% growth. The country’s GDP growth has averaged more than 7% in the past five years and there is real advancement in other macroeconomic and social indicators. IMF/World Bank/UNDP statistics corroborate Sri Lanka’s progress, and the World Bank ranks Sri Lanka as the top South Asian nation in its 2014 Doing Business Report.
Postwar efforts were focused on the humanitarian and rehabilitation needs of the 300,000 rescued people, such as providing livelihoods, reopening schools and rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists. The Government restored the right to vote in the northern region, a right prevented by Tamil Tigers for 40 years. The Northern Province now has stable governing bodies.
Today, 95% of all Sri Lankans have electricity. Life expectancy is one of the highest in Asia and maternal and infant mortality rates are among the lowest for the continent. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report ranked Sri Lanka 22nd in the world in terms of political empowerment of women.
None of this progress can be considered superficial. But rebuilding a nation from a quarter century of brutal terrorism needs space and time for carefully calibrated homegrown reconciliation, truth-seeking and rebuilding processes to succeed. And all Sri Lankans are working equally hard for this purpose.
EU post-tsunami assistance, 10 years on
On 26 December, the devastating tsunami ripped across the Indian Ocean leaving behind havoc, destruction and loss in its wake. With more than 35,000 people dead, and close one million people losing their homes; Sri Lanka was the second worst hit country after Indonesia.
The EU played a leading role in the overall international response, and pledged and deployed funds and resources swiftly. An overall total of EUR 123 million for humanitarian support and EUR 350 million for longer-term reconstruction was pledged for the whole Tsunami affected region.
Specifically for Sri Lanka, the EU allocated almost EUR 220 million (grants EUR 147 million and in European Investment Bank loans of EUR 70 million). At the donor conference in January 2005 the EU allocated over EUR 100 million for reconstruction in Sri Lanka, on top of the EUR 45 million given for immediate humanitarian assistance.
The EC Post-tsunami Reconstruction Program in Sri Lanka has focused on four main objectives: (i) regenerating communities, including basic socio and productive infrastructure for communities to function again, (ii) restarting livelihoods so people can get back to supporting themselves, (iii) repairing major infrastructure, such as roads so coastal economies can operate properly again and (iv) strengthening the natural resources/environment base by addressing tsunami related and chronic solid waste management, water and sanitation and environmental restoration priorities.
The Commission’s support to the initial emergency phase was focused on basic needs such as water and sanitation, food, shelter, health, etc. EC’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO) was able to allocate 45 million EUR for the relief effort.
In order to make funds available fast and kick-start projects ensuring a smooth transition between relief and reconstruction activities, the two projects were funded during 2005. The Satellite Imagery Project (EUR 0.3 million) provided pre and post-tsunami high resolution imagery of the coastline and gave technical assistance to the Sri Lankan national authorities to allow conversion of the satellite imagery into large scale detailed mapping, which facilitated damage assessment, reconstruction, relocation and risk analysis.
The Quick Recovery Project (EUR 2 million), helped in the restoration of strategic infrastructure such as bridges, roads and culverts and public services like wells, community centres, health centres and waste management equipment which are vital for the resumption of economic activities.
In the South and East, the EU’s assistance has mainly focused on the reconstruction of selected sections of the main road from Matara to Batticaloa, which was extensively damaged by the tsunami. Rehabilitation of this roadway was viewed by the Government of Sri Lanka as a strategic priority for post-tsunami recovery, thereby ensuring long-term sustainable development of the southern and eastern regions.
The EU contributed a sum of EUR 52.6 million notably for the reconstruction of the national road sections from Matara-Wellawaya (158km) and Siyambalanduwa-Akkaraipattu via Pottuvil (78km) connecting the Southern and Eastern Provinces. The reconstructed road sections provide better access, thereby contributing to better social and infrastructural development and improved livelihoods.
Additionally 400 km of secondary roads in the District of Ampara was also rehabilitated, at a cost of EUR 30 million.
A major part of the EU’s post Tsunami assistance was channeled to the heavily affected district of Ampara, specifically to livelihoods support, employment recovery through rehabilitation of productive and social infrastructure entrepreneurial development and capacity building of communities and local government. Environmental restoration activities in Ampara were also funded by the EU with grant funding of EUR 10 million. The projects addressed environmental concerns, notably solid waste management and coastal rehabilitation promoting long-term environmental remediation.
In the north and east, the Commission’s long-term support included Livelihood Development Programs which revitalised livelihoods and basic economic opportunities for the affected communities.
In response to the urgent need to rehabilitate tsunami affected areas, the Commission launched a tailor-made programme for Asia (Asia Pro Eco II – Post Tsunami Program) to tackle environmental problems by transferring European know-how and best practices in conjunction with the establishment of partnerships and networking in the field of coastal environment management. Seven projects in total in Sri Lanka were selected and were funded (EUR 5.5 million) under the Asia Pro Eco Programme in the Tsunami affected areas of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Ampara, Matara, Galle and Kalutara.
Post-tsunami assistance of the EU contributed in supporting affected communities, through livelihoods and income generation initiatives, reconstruction/rehabilitation of community infrastructure including health clinics, primary and secondary schools and support to agricultural development through the provision of agricultural inputs, construction of markets, seed paddy processing centres, fertiliser storage stores, milk chilling and collection centres etc.
EU funded projects were implemented through local partners, namely UN agencies and the ADB under the Government’s post-tsunami rehabilitation and reconstruction program.
Maldives
The EU support to the recovery and reconstruction strategy in the Maldives was provided through two different projects, totalling EUR 16 million.
Restoration of Livelihoods (EUR 2 million) implemented by the UNDP: The project provided direct support in the sector of agriculture and fisheries through the provision of input and grants to re-start small economic activities and supports community initiatives in sectors such as solid waste management and empowerment in administrative decentralisation.
Support to regional development strategy – ‘safe islands’ concept (EUR 14 million) implemented by the World Bank: This project contributed to the Government’s Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation Fund in three sectors (i) institutional capacity building including support to the public accounting systems (PAS); (ii) community services including education and health and (iii) environment support focussing on solid waste management.
EC’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO) contributed to the Maldives post-tsunami emergency phase with EUR 2.7 million to improve water and sanitation facilities through the installation of water tanks in damaged schools, the repair of septic tanks and health and hygiene promotion through UNICEF. This contribution was also used to repair houses and restart activities in the fishing and agriculture sectors as well as provide cash for work activities for the most vulnerable population. Additionally, EUR 0.9 million, contributed to emergency housing reconstruction through UNDP.
Sri Lanka: From ‘pandemonium’ to constant alert
No one was aware and no one was prepared when the first waves of the tsunami struck Sri Lanka’s east coast at 6:40 a.m. on 26 December 2004. The tsunami was not done. It was still roaring and thought it would be much later before it thundered across Sri Lanka’s western coast, even then, no warning message was sent out. As a result, more than 35,000 people lost their lives.
“There was no warning system at all,” recalls retired Maj. Gen. Gamini Hettiarachchi, the former Director General of the National Disaster Management Centre, which was set up with UNDP assistance post-tsunami, as an around-the-clock disaster focal point. “Everyone was taken by surprise.”
Even the Sri Lankan Army, in which Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi was serving at the time, was caught off guard. Hettiarachchi was ordered to Pasikudah, a small coastal town in the east, only to find that one of his commanding officers had died that morning. “There was,” he says, “pandemonium right round.”
The unfortunate series of events highlighted the critical need of early warning systems. Sri Lanka’s focus switched from disaster response to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Preparedness and community resilience remain key, notes Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi, and one of the major lessons gleaned from the 2004 tsunami, he says, is the need to simply create public awareness of natural hazards.
At that time, most Sri Lankans had no idea what a tsunami was. Many lost their lives as they went out along the shore to watch the sea receding, instead of moving to higher ground.
As part of its post-tsunami assistance, UNDP supported the establishment of the Coast Conservation Department, which developed the first-ever coastal risk profiles. And it provided training at national, district and community levels to streamline warning, rescue and evacuation systems in the event of a disaster. Now, says Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi, the use of technology, connections to mass media, strengthened infrastructure, and involvement of the military, are all key elements of Sri Lanka early warning system.
Still, he adds, “we have a tendency to rely and focus solely on technology, but it shouldn’t only be about these systems and mechanisms. Everything depends on the people and their capacity.”
Overall, “one of the main challenges we have faced is informing the public about disasters at night, when most radio and TV stations are closed,” Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi notes. He has been instrumental in addressing this gap by employing the services of coastal military camps, which are alert day and night. If the situation arises, he says, “Sri Lanka is now one of the very few countries in Asia that has the capability to evacuate the population in advance.”
At the same time, the initiation of a UNDP-supported database to systematically analyze disaster trends and their impacts has resulted in the implementation of more effective prevention and mitigation measures. In turn, lessons learned from the tsunami are being used in other disaster situations across the country. For example, UNDP assisted the government in securing shelter, food and drinking water for 1 million people affected by floods in 2011 alone, including in post-conflict settings.
UNDP has also led the way in creating an innovative toolkit for development partners and UN staff alike. It takes an integrated approach to disaster recovery, ensuring that issues such as conflict sensitivity, gender equality, human rights-based approaches and disaster risk mitigation are an integral part of all recovery projects.
Maj. Gen. Hettiarachchi describes the continued support by UNDP on crisis prevention and recovery in Sri Lanka as: “magnificent and fantastic … a tremendous amount of work.”
“Looking back, I am happy to have been able to steer a dynamic team to build community resilience and help vulnerable communities,” he adds. “We must, however, keep in mind that we are dealing with lives, and our responsibility is high. We must not forget that this is a continuous process and a lot more needs to be done toward building a safer Sri Lanka.” (Source: http://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/)
CJS campaigns to protect the elephant in the wild
- A first in Sri Lanka where an international celebrity with a local corporate supports an environmental cause
- The collection spotlights importance of elephant conservation
The majestic elephant, who has for five thousand years been a symbol of Sri Lanka’s wild becomes the heart and soul of the latest collection unveiled by Colombo Jewellery Stores. ‘Unforgettable’, a collection that truly articulates ‘A Future In The Wild’ espouses the extraordinary natural beauty secreted in the wild, where the gentle yet ample presence of the wild elephant balances the vignettes of nature that may go unseen to the human eye.
It was this unique balance of nature, the wild and contemporary elegance that award winning Bollywood actress and CJS Brand Ambassador Jacqueline Fernandez, herself an animal lover launched in Colombo, spotlighting the danger of immense population decline these Olympian animals face if the rising human-elephant conflict continues.
Collaborating with the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, CJS used the backdrop of the remote Pussellayaya and Weheragalagama villages in Wasgamuwa, which is home to about 350 elephants, to place its Unforgettable campaign upon, committing to seek sustainable solutions for the villagers to live unitedly with the elephant in the wild, encouraging a cohesive tolerance and a habitat that would encourage co-existence rather than conflict.
Having herself experienced the sights and sounds of the Pussellayaya and Weheragalagama villages, the launch of the campaign began with Jacqueline participating in the elephant walk through the elephant corridor, beginning at the electric fence surrounding the Weheragalagama village. While conversing with the villagers who joined her, together with Chairman of CJS Akram Cassim and SLWCS Founder and President Ravi Corea, the walk headed over the tank bund, the Tree Hut Corridor and concluding at the Tree Hut. Jacqueline gleaned more information about elephant issues from the villagers, while elephants grazed on the horizon, keeping a watchful eye on the walkers.
“I believe strongly that a brand like CJS, by joining the SLWCS, can spur immense awareness and educate not only the inhabitants of the village but also the general public of the need to conserve the elephant in the wild,” she opined. “We don’t realise how difficult it is for people in remote villages to balance a sustainable livelihood, but what we also don’t realise is that through decades of development, humans have encroached on elephant habitats and made their livelihoods in these habitats making it difficult for elephants to find new habitats because the fact is there is no new land to move into.”
A wildlife enthusiast himself and an avid elephant photographer in his earlier days, Akram articulates the inspiration of ‘A Future In The Wild’ in his indelible masterpieces, beautifully hand-crafted earrings, bangles and bracelets, using amethysts, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and citrines. Slightly abstract and marrying both contemporary and classic design features, Unforgettable reflects the understated elegance that is the CJS hallmark.
In introducing the entire CJS range of stones in this Collection, Akram communicates nature’s multi-hued pallette, opening up a canvas of thought provoking persuasions designed to make the beauty of nature and thereby, the elephant in the wild, the conversation piece. The fluidity of swirling diamonds interwoven with emeralds speaks of running waters interspersing fern fronds lying hidden in the depths of multi-coloured foliage, ideally described through purple and gold chromaticity placed on double sided chandelier earrings, reds, blues, golds and sparkles showcasing drops of dew on textured ferns and unfolding leaves seen in the whirls worked into bracelets and bangles.
The SLWCS, which has been working for elephant conservation for nearly two decades, mooted one of the longest operating participatory community based human-elephant conflict resolution projects in the world, Saving Elephants by Helping People, which won the prestigious UNDP Equator Initiative Prize in 2008 in addition to a host of other awards.
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‘Life as Art’: Capturing extraordinary beauty of ordinary moments
‘Life as Art’, an exhibition and sale of photographs by freelance photographer Chatrini Weeratunge, organised by Emerge Lanka Foundation in aid of its reintegration program, was held at the Barefoot Gallery from 28-30 November.
‘Life as Art’ is a collection of photographs taken by Weeratunge over a decade, presented in different mediums to emphasise the art form of photography. Evocative landscapes capture the inherent beauty of the world she views, highlighted through the subtleties of light and colour: the calming beauty of flowing water, a lily blooming out of the still water in Bolgoda Lake or seemingly uninhabited settings in Jaffna. Others capture random moments of ordinary life in all its glorious beauty, the images offering an insight into the lives of those she photographs, placing particular emphasis on movement and style. 
The collection as a whole captures moments which exist ordinarily but are extraordinarily beautiful.
“From my childhood I have studied art and have worked with different mediums. Photography was a natural extension of my creative expression. It empowers me as I am able to explore and capture different facets of the world around me. I see photography as an art and a tool to tell a story and also promote awareness of various issues,” Weeratunge said.
“I got involved with Emerge Lanka Foundation because I wanted to help make a difference in the lives of these girls who have gone through immense trauma and been robbed of their childhood,” she added.
Weeratunge is a freelance photographer specialising in art, travel and humanitarian photography. Her photography has appeared in travel magazines, newspapers and online publications including Serendib, LT and The Picture Press. They have also been used by United Nations agencies such as the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) for advocacy efforts. She has photographed in over 25 countries around the world and has had her photographs purchased in just as many of them.
Weeratunge’s photography complements her career as an international development specialist. She has experience in research, policy advocacy and program management in the areas of socio-economic development, gender, education, trade policy and corporate social responsibility.
Currently a scholar at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, she views photography as an art and a tool she can use to promote awareness of various social issues.
Some of her work can be viewed at:www.chatriniweeratunge.com and http://thepicturepress.org/a-childhood-robbed/
Emerge Lanka Foundation is a charitable organisation which works with girls between the ages of 10 and 18 who have survived sexual abuse and are placed in shelters for their protection as they testify in court against their abusers. It is currently filled beyond its capacity, with 83 girls between 12 and 18 years spread across three shelters.
The Emerge program includes life skills, mentorship and its unique Beads-to-Business curriculum, which teaches girls to make high quality jewellery as well as entrepreneurial and financial skills enabling them to become independent women as well as leaders in their communities.
Each unique piece of jewellery is sold in the United States, Sri Lanka – through Barefoot, Buddhi Batiks, Selyn, Whatever Studio, Cozy Linen, White Walk and Cantaloupe Aqua – and online. All profits are deposited into the girls’ individual savings accounts, which they can use as adults to take care of themselves, and in some cases, their children.
The Emerge reintegration program, for which the exhibition is in aid of, is designed to provide support for the girls after they have left the shelter and help them create a future of their choice.
Emerge Lanka Reintegration Officer Charuni Ranchigoda stated: “Emerge aims to establish an empowerment centre designed to increase employability of the girls as well as support them in the crucial three-month period after leaving shelters. In the frame of a halfway house, the girls are enrolled in a curriculum which increases their employability as well as connects them with resources such as educational and vocational training and business opportunities while providing them with emotional support, food and lodging. Emerge Lanka also actively assists them to find jobs or get further education.”
‘A foothold in life’
Emerge continues to keep track of the girls even after they have left the nest with the staff always available to offer advice, assistance or just listen. They also meet the girls every once in a while to make sure they are doing well, including an annual reunion.
Emerge Lanka Country Manager Mumtaz Aroos Faleel said: “It is our societal responsibility to help these girls, much in need, to get a foothold in life and emerge into adulthood safely and well. We have already let them down as a society in their childhood and it is our duty to at least help them now as adults. It is with reintegration that we can have the biggest impact.”
“We thank all the sponsors who came forward to assist us in making this fundraiser possible and thus help some very deserving girls. We are very thankful to Chatrini, for donating the proceeds of her photography exhibition to help these girls in need,” she added.
Emerge was the brainchild of Alia Whitney-Johnson, a MIT student who arrived in Sri Lanka in 2005 as a tsunami relief volunteer and encountered a heartbreaking reality – girls as young as 11, some even pregnant as a result of incestuous rape, cast out from their own families and denied the right to formal education.
Emerge began as a successful pilot program before Emerge Global was established in 2008 and its implementing partner Emerge Lanka Foundation in 2009, with the goal of empowering girls who have survived sexual abuse to rediscover a sense of hope, build a strong community and fulfil their own visions of the future.
The Beads-to-Business curriculum was created by Whitney-Johnson, herself a jewellery maker since the age of seven, when she discovered in the course of holding a beading workshop for the girls that the act of creating jewellery could become a tool for transformation, uplifting the girls’ spirits and ultimately helping them to overcome the emotional, social and economic obstacles they faced.
The Emerge Bead Programme was born as a way to sustain the girls’ work, connecting the young women to supplies and training, a global market and a global community of support.
In addition to its Beads-to-Business program, Emerge Lanka Foundation currently runs three other programs designed to empower these strong young women: Life Skills, taught in five components including community, healthy lifestyles, money and banking, reproductive health and jobs; Mentorship, where female role models interact with girls creating a positive presence as well as broadening horizons; and Reintegration, which includes a peer educator internship program, a past participant scholarship program, annual reunions and a future empowerment centre focused on providing Emerge alumnae with skills and resources tailored to increase employability and provide educational/business support to succeed in their lives once they leave shelters.
DHL, UNDP prepare airport staff for disaster relief logistics
- First Get Airports Ready for Disaster (GARD) workshop in Colombo to prepare airport personnel for post-disaster logistics situations
- 34 participants to learn to assess local requirements and create detailed contingency plans
From left: DHL Express Director of Humanitarian Affairs Chris Weeks, DHL Global Forwarding Sri Lanka CFO Yishani Abeysuriya, UNDP Deputy Country Director Lovita Ramguttee, Bandaranaike International Airport Safety Manager Wing Commander Dhammika Wijeysooriya and Ministry of Disaster Management Secretary S.M. Mohamed
Deutsche Post DHL, the world’s leading mail and logistics services group and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Ministry of Disaster Management and Ministry of Civil Aviation, today kicked off a disaster preparedness initiative ‘Get Airports Ready for Disaster’ (GARD) workshop in Colombo. The four-day workshop will be held from 2 to 5 December 2014, and will provide training to 34 Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) personnel to effectively deliver and support vital relief operations in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
The GARD training is strongly supported by the Ministry of Disaster Management and the Ministry of Civil Aviation, both of whom were represented at the program’s kick-off ceremony.
According to Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management, S.M. Mohamed, “We consider GARD to be an essential part of improved disaster preparedness at a national level. GARD will have special significance for Sri Lanka being an island country, which depends heavily on airports to get required external assistance and inputs in the event of a national disaster. We look forward to gaining from the DHL-UNDP experience at the GARD workshop and getting our airports prepared to face disasters of all scales.”
Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Dr. T.R.C. Ruberu added, “When disasters strike airports are a vital point in disaster management and recovery. Preparedness of airports to face national disasters will enable delivery of rapid and effective response and build capacity of the nation to be more resilient in the face of crises. We appreciate DHL-UNDP collaboration, which provided an excellent opportunity for Sri Lanka to learn from previous GARD experiences in other countries. The GARD workshop will provide training and key expertise for our officials to swiftly respond to disaster situations. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is keen to work together with DHL and UNDP to ensure that our airports are resilient and responsive in the face of disasters.”
Launched in 2009, the GARD program was co-developed by Deutsche Post DHL and UNDP with the objective of preparing airports in disaster-prone areas to respond quickly and effectively to the challenges of disaster relief logistics.
“Over the years we have conducted numerous disaster relief management exercises and have come to understand that efficient airport logistics are critical to getting aid to the people who need it. Airports can quickly become overwhelmed with the large volume of incoming relief supplies, and this can delay – or even stop – the onward transport of lifesaving supplies. The GARD initiative is our way of being able to pass on our logistics expertise to local communities so they may be able to operate swiftly despite the high-pressure challenges they may face in times of disaster,” explained Chris Weeks, Director of Humanitarian Affairs for DHL.
Participants at the four-day workshop will receive training on GARD Methodology, airport assessment and the formulation of an action plan, through a mix of classroom elements and on-site assessment work. GARD trainers are DHL experts in this field who conduct the training on a pro-bono basis and provide relevant materials, while UNDP manages the project, leads the coordination with relevant government authorities, and support logistical arrangements for the workshops.
“Over the last decade, UNDP has continuously supported the formulation of disaster management policies and institutional development in Sri Lanka. Currently, our focus is to support the implementation of the Sri Lanka Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (SLCDMP), which is Sri Lanka’s main approach to mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and enhancing resilience. UNDP considers GARD to be a strategic component of SLCDMP and as such the planned training programme is a valuable and timely contribution to strengthening disaster management in Sri Lanka,” said Subinay Nandy, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative.
Dhammika Wijesuriya, Airport Safety Manager, Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), said, “We are acutely aware of the significance of this training for Sri Lanka as it marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating 2004 Tsunami later this month. Disaster risk management has been a strong focus among key stakeholders of this community and a workshop of this nature offers an ideal foundation for us to boost disaster response capacity and devise practical contingency plans at BIA, Sri Lanka’s main airport.”
International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women
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John Keells launches Project WAVE: Working Against Violence through Education
Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November, the John Keells Group officially launched Project WAVE: Working Against Violence through Education the latest social responsibility initiative of the Group, which is planned and implemented via John Keells Foundation (JKF), the CSR arm of the John Keells Group.
This initiative is deemed timely, considering the alarming increase of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child abuse globally and in Sri Lanka.
GBV takes different forms ranging from physical, psychological and sexual violence and in a majority of the cases it is women who are affected. According to a 2013 global review of available data, one in three women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence. Violence can result in physical, mental, sexual, reproductive health and other health problems, and may increase vulnerability to HIV.
According to the Gender Based Violence Forum in Sri Lanka, rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, forced prostitution and trafficking are the most prevalent types of violence against women in Sri Lanka. The forum further states that these crimes are not specific to a particular region or locality, but they are reported across class, race, religion, and ethnicity. Sri Lanka is also said to be fifth among countries that have a higher rate of domestic violence. Obtaining reliable data is difficult mainly because victims are reluctant to reveal such incidents due to social stigma.
Meanwhile, according to statistics tabled in Parliament in November 2014, as of 31 August 2014, the National Child Protection Authority had received 6,973 complaints on child abuse including 324 cases of child rape, 320 cases of severe sexual assault and 320 of sexual harassment. These are only reported cases and it is known that a large number of incidents are unreported. Violence causes immediate consequences to survivors on physical, cognitive and psychological levels together with long-term consequences to their physical and mental health and development, which result in high costs for different sectors of the society including their workplace.
JKF decided to espouse the cause of combatting the growing incidents of GBV and child abuse in Sri Lanka through an effective awareness creation model aligned to its focus area of health. Project WAVE is a long-term initiative designed to commence with the employees of the John Keells Group and thereafter to encompass various vulnerable communities associated with the Group’s business locations and the general public. The official launch of Project WAVE took place on 12 November 2014, at Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, further to a series of successful pilot awareness sessions conducted to diverse groups of John Keells Head Office staff.
Speaking at the launch, John Keells Holdings PLC Chairman Susantha Ratnayake expressed that further to the alarming increase in the cases reported in the news in the last couple of years, he, together with the members of the Board, felt that it is imperative that the Group takes action to educate both staff and the public on this grave issue. He said, “It’s something that we at John Keells have a zero tolerance for and we give leadership to take the message out to all our stakeholders and the community at large.”
JKF Head of Operations Carmeline Jayasuriya explained the background to, structure and scope of Project WAVE and the roll out plan to the audience which included senior management of the Group including members of the Group Executive Committee, Group Operational Committee and business and functional heads, as well as invitees representing gender/child rights focal points of the ILO, UNICEF, WHO, Save the Children, EFC and UNDP. She explained that Project WAVE is the result of extensive research done by JKF in discussion with UN agencies such as the ILO, UNICEF and WHO and reputed NGOs such as CARE and Women In Need (WIN).
She further noted the direct relevance of this initiative to the workplace, given that exposure to violence within and outside the workplace hinders the productivity of the worker, while potentially resulting in the discontinuation of the job and eventual withdrawal from the labour force. This in turn means lower income levels on a household level and lower female labour force participation on a national level. There is no doubt that economic development will be hindered for as long as GBV persists in society.
The awareness sessions such as the one conducted at the launch of Project WAVE will be conducted by a resource pool of external consultants via a model similar to the one adopted by JKF for its highly successful HIV and AIDS Awareness Campaign (which has educated over 65,000 persons over eight years to Group Staff, corporates, the armed forces and even ex-combatant rehabilitees).
The awareness sessions of Project WAVE include discussion on current and local issues and news items that the audience can relate to as well as an interactive Forum Theatre element. During the Forum Theatre segment, staff volunteers of the John Keells Group act out different scenarios of subtle verbal and sexual harassment which are common in the workplace, as well as a scenario of domestic violence.
This segment is believed to be impactful when coupled with the presentations made by experienced trainers, as it enables the audience to get a better understanding of potential situations of GBV in the workplace and the domestic scenario.
More information on all social responsibility projects and initiatives of JKF under the vision ‘Empowering the Nation for Tomorrow’, can be found on www.keells.com.
The ‘other’ Hambantota story
Alternative human development
The city of Hambantota in the arid zone of the dry zone in southern Sri Lanka is the presently, for well-known reasons which do not require repetition in these columns, the cynosure of all eyes.
Development with a capital D. That’s the only word which describes the current situation! A harbour, through which all motor vehicle imports into Sri Lanka are routed by administrative fiat; an international airport which averages, reportedly, three flights a day, mainly from Sri Lankan and Mihin; highways, flyovers, roundabouts, international conference centres, an international sports stadium and many, many other things, provincial, regional, national and international.
The list is never static, and updates happen on a regular basis, developments take place, like the proverbial ‘mushrooms appearing after a shower of rain’. These developments complement, if that is the correct word, historical buildings like the ancient dagobas and viharas of the Ruhunu Kingdom and the Martello Tower of the British days.
The Martello story
The Martello story will reverberate with today’s developments. During the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon was on the shores of France, about to invade England across the English Channel, That sliver of water that has meant so much to the sovereignty of Great Britain, similar to our Palk Strait; this is especially poignant at a time when the Merry Men of Scotland (and women) have by a 10% margin rejected independence, in favour of enhanced devolution. But that is another story.
The English were worried, having advance intelligence of Napoleon’s plans, and had deployed a whole host of spies to be on the French coast to keep an eye and report. One of these spies was an Italian called Martello. On receiving information that his cover in Normandy, where he was operating, was about to be blown, the spy Martello fled to England. When he landed there, he was terminated from service by the English, and had no way of surviving.
It was at this time that Martello came up with the innovative idea of building a series of towers on the coast of the English Channel from which lookouts would be maintained to monitor the movement of French vessels, to spot preparations for an imminent invasion. In the context of today’s ‘ lingua franca’ of development, I guess this would be one of those notorious ‘unsolicited proposals’ put up by developers, which are so common in this ‘Wonder of Asia’.
Martello convinced some sponsors and a series of such Martello Towers were built, on the English coast on the Channel. Without doubt , as with such ‘unsolicited proposals,’ good and bad money would have been made in spades, up and down the line, by promoters, designers, contractors, builders, landowners, suppliers, brokers and good old Martello himself, not to mention the soldiers manning the towers and harassing the poor local inhabitants.
For some reason that research has not been able to yet divulge, a British colonial administrator, decided to build such a Martello Tower, on the Hambantota Bay. May be the need was felt to be able spot naval threats to Hambantota in advance – shades of the sea going sampans of Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho of the 1400s, operating under the orders of the Sung Emperors of China. Or, probably, the local administrator, in collaboration with some local Muhandirams, wanted to undertake just another ‘unsolicited proposal’ to build some useless infrastructure to make some pocket money and keep the natives busy!
These are not new phenomena; they have existed from the beginning of time! This Martello Tower is fast becoming a tourist attraction, together with the other white (and there is actually a photo of an albino elephant) and black elephants, leopards, bears, etc, of Ruhunu Rata. So, the long and short of the story is that Hambantota is well on the way to be one of the iconic wonders of the ‘Wonder of Asia’.
Another wonder in Hambantota
But there is another wonder in Hambantota, over which we should ponder. When in 1989, the Poverty Alleviation Project of the Government of Sri Lanka , the Janasaviya program, was launched, a number of donor organisations, included the World Bank, the UNDP, JAICA and Germany’s KFW, supported a project to work with civil society organisations, involved in social development activities to strengthen and support the Government’s Poverty Alleviation Program.
A Social Fund called the Janasaviya Trust Fund was launched for this purpose. To implement the various programs of the Janasaviya Trust Fund (JTF), the trust required partner organisations among established civil society entities. The JTF was able to identify some partner organisations with capacity to make the required interventions in social mobilisation, nutrition, micro finance and community projects. One of the established partners, which had over time developed the necessary capacity, was the Women’s Development Federation of Hambantota and the Janashakthi Banku Sangam, its micro finance subsidiary.
In 2010 the WDF had 754 branches with 40,468 members. Today it has expanded to 1,272 branches with 69,676 members. The Janashakthi Banku Sangam had 99 branches in 2010; today it has expanded to 158 branches. The WDF operates in 12 divisions of the Hambantota District and five divisions of the Monaragala District. The Janashakthi Banku Sangam branches operate mostly out of premises belonging to them. The headquarters of the WDH at Hambantota and the Viharamahadevi Training Complex is built on land allocated to the WDF.
Over time the WDF has built up a net asset base of Rs. 517 million. This is all depositors’ and borrowers’ savings and loan repayments. The depositors now own the Banku Sangam. This is the miracle of micro finance, which the ‘Godfather of Micro Finance’ Prof. Yunus of Grameen speaks of – depositors become borrowers and then become owners. In 2013, operationally the WDF had a financial surplus of Rs. 70 million. This indeed is an impressive performance for a rural women’s organisation such as the WDF.
Kingdom of Ruhuna
Time was when the Hambantota District was a quiet backwater in Sri Lanka’s Deep South. In ancient times, when the Kingdom of Ruhuna was in existence, it was a highly-developed area. Extensive cultivation of rice and other crops supported by an intricate water management system was the base of a highly-developed Buddhist culture and civilisation.
The high standards of the hydraulic civilisation which existed in the Raja Rata at those times would have undoubtedly spread to southern Sri Lanka. The name Wel-Laksha (Wellassa) land of 100,000 paddy fields gives a clue to this economic powerhouse. The area was also a focus for the extraction and distribution of salt to the rest of the country.
The dry climate was ideal for collecting sea water in vast areas of low-lying land on the coast, and letting the water evaporate under the heat of the glaring sun. The salt distribution was the monopoly of Muslim traders, who took salt by pack bull to the interior hills and bartered it for spices, which they brought back to Magampura and exported.
Research has shown that the development of Muslim communities in the interior of the island have been on this salt route inland, roughly a day’s march apart. Similarly, before the advent of the Europeans, the Muslims held the monopoly of the internal trade in salt and the external trade in spices.
Ancient Magampura (today’s Hambantota) was a harbour on the southern sea route from the West to the East – what has today been branded as the Spice Route. Indeed some historians argue that the name Hambantota is derived from ‘Sampan Thota’ – the harbour used by Chinese seagoing sampans which traversed the southern seas in the 1400s well before the European colonisers arrived. A stone plaque at Galle records that Admiral Cheng Ho visited the Galle Port with his fleet at that time and kidnapped the local ruler and took him and his family back to China. Some time ago the descendants of that family visited Sri Lanka as guests of the Government.
The international flavour of southern Sri Lanka can be measured by the fact that the Galle plaque is in four languages – Chinese, Persian, Arabic and Tamil. Even at that time, Sri Lanka was clearly globalised.
An ancient carved edict on a rock near the ancient port of Magampura gives specific details of the tax revenue to be collected from imports and exports moving through the port, as prescribed by the ruler’s revenue department. It was certainly an emporium for international trade. Ruins of ancient Buddhist religious buildings, some renovated, and antiquities recovered from archaeological sites in the area, provide a backdrop to the regions rich cultural diversity.
The prominent Muslim Malay part of the population is said to be partly descended from seafarers from the Malay Archipelago who travelled through the Magampura Port, and over time settled down. The presence of a pre-existing Malay community prompted the British Colonial Government to disband and settle soldiers of a Malay Regiment which had fought with the British in the Kandyan wars at Kirinda near Hambantota.
Arrival of the European colonialists
After the arrival of the European colonialists, and the focus of the Galle Harbour, Hambantota went into quiet decline. The Portuguese and the Dutch were primarily interested in the spice trade and focused on the wet zone in the western part of Sri Lanka. Hambantota was an arid zone, located within the dry zone, and the interest of the colonials was mainly due to the salt pans, from which salt was extracted and distributed to the rest of the country.
The Portuguese and the Dutch, who were challenged by Muslim traders from West Asia in this spice trade, were keen to break the monopoly the Muslim traders had in the distribution of salt locally and to the Kandyan Kingdom. The Portuguese and Dutch built and garrisoned forts at Bundala to guard the saltpans and control the internal trade. The British moved the garrison to Hambantota and built a Martello tower (that Italian style unsolicited proposal), overlooking the bay, which stands to this date as a lookout post for enemy vessels.
The British established the administrative centre of the District at Hambantota, situated the Kachcheri (revenue office), the Court House, the Police Station and other Government establishments in the town. A Customs post was also established. The Green Line, a round island ship service during colonial times, called at the Hambantota pier.
During the colonial years, Hambantota District went into gradual decline and the only industries of any capacity were salt extraction and the dairy industry and due to the large quantities of milk produced, which could not be stored for marketing, a curd industry developed as the main cottage industry of the district. The brand Ruhuna ‘Meekiri’ or Ruhuna Curd is even today a product for which there is excellent brand recognition.
Leonard Woolf, a young British Assistant Government Agent in Hambantota, has written extensively on the district and its poverty. This is well-reflected in his masterly novel ‘Baddegama – The Village in the Jungle,’ which was later made into an award-winning film. Hambantota was a stopover on the way for pilgrims travelling to the jungle shrine of Kataragama.
Hambantota Women’s Development Federation
When Hambantota was still a poor district with social indicators well below the national level, at the height of the 1989 insurrection in the south, a remarkable event was kindled. A group of mothers, who were worried about their young sons and daughters who were caught between a group of vicious terrorists fighting the Government and Government Police and soldiers who were waging an equally-vicious campaign to wipe out terrorism, appealed to some senior Government servants serving in the district to assist them to build up their collective capacity to secure their lives of their children and develop their families.
At that the time, around 1988, the government has launched a major poverty alleviation program, called Janasaviya – based on two legs. The official Government Janasaviya program based on a hand out of funds and social mobilisation component by the Janasaviya department of the Government on the one hand, and the Janasaviya Trust Fund (JTF), an apex funding agency, which worked through civil society partner organisations on the other.
The district had some capacity development instilled into its poor and marginalised, through an extensive Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) implemented with the support of Sweden’s SIDA. Building on this capacity, the officials concerned formed the women who came for their help into small groups and encouraged them to look at what steps they can first take within themselves as a Self Help Group (SHG). This is the classic SHG model which has been highly successful in other parts of South Asia and also was the basis of the initial development of microfinance in Bangladesh by Nobel Prize winner Professor Mohammed Yunus’s Grameen bank.
The officials used the mobilisation funds available from the official Janasaviya program to provide resources to the women’s SHGs. The funds handed out were used to generate a savings movement, and later the women within the SHG began to lend money among them from their group savings fund. The officials realising the opportunity offered by partnering the Janasaviya Trust Fund (JTF), encouraged the women’s SHGs to formalise their informal arrangement by Federating the SHGs into the Hambantota Women’s Development Federation (WDF).
The micro financing aspect of the operation, which had now collected funds centrally and had begun making advances to the SHGs, in addition to the SHG members transacting their own funds, were organised into Janashakthi Banku Sangam, or Banking Association of People’s Power. The WDF became a partner organisation of the JTF. The Janashakthi Banku Sangam became an implementing partner of the JTF’s credit fund, one of the most efficient. The WDF itself was involved in the other development windows of the JTF, the Social Mobilisation Fund, the Nutrition Fund and the Community Projects Fund.
The WDF responded heroically to a challenge thrown to them by the founder Managing Director of the JTF, at one of the Annual General Meetings of the WDF that ‘if they perform and show results, the JTF will be unstinting in their support’. The WDF was one of the most effective Partner Organisations of the JTF, continuing its relationship even after the JTF name was changed to the National Development Trust Fund (NDTF) and even when the credit fund was transferred to the Sri Lanka Savings Bank, after the poverty alleviation project ended.
The WDF and the Janashakthi Banku Sangam is today one of the most formidable and efficient instruments for empowering women in Sri Lanka. As at June 2014, it had a membership of 69,676 women. The number of Women’s Society SHGs is 1,272. The number of Janashakthi Banku Sangam branches is 158. The number of clients to which the Janashakthi Banku Sangam provides microfinance program services is 107,175.
The total value of shares in the enterprise purchased by members is exceeds Rs. 72,920,352. Depositors have invested over Rs. 503,430,218 in the enterprise. The number of active borrowers from the Janashakthi Banku Sangam’s micro finance program is 37,676. This is an outstanding performance and profile for women from, what was at one time, one of the most underdeveloped areas of Sri Lanka, achieved in the timeframe of 25 years. Hambantota’s social indicators are also much improved.
What of the future?
What of the future? The first requirement is that the microfinance operation of the WDF through the Janashakthi Banku Sangam must be placed on a firm legal footing. For this, the draft legislation on setting up a regulatory framework for microfinance must be enacted soon, ending the current legal lacuna.
The second would be enhancing the WDF’s capacity to provide insurance services to its membership and to others. The poor and marginalised remain poor mainly due to the fact that they are unable to cope with economic shocks – sudden unexpected events such as death, sickness, catastrophes such as floods, cyclones, fire, theft, etc.
The WDF has already a micro insurance scheme for its members. This insurance scheme covers: death of the borrower, permanent paralysis of the borrower, natural catastrophes like flood and drought, if the enterprise which has been set up by the loan is destroyed by fire, theft or robbery of the assets of the enterprise. In the future the WDF should consider hiving off its insurance business into a separate entity, in compliance with the regulatory environment of insurance in Sri Lanka, get into a fully-fledged subsidiary which would focus on providing micro insurance to poor residents of the region. The regulatory framework for micro insurance in Sri Lanka needs reform if this is to be achieved.
The third future step for the WDF would be to provide technical support to other women’s groups in and out of Sri Lanka who aspire to set up an institution such as theirs. This is already being done in a small way. But this service could be enhanced and developed and turn into an income generating enterprise, through the provision of consultancy services.
In terms of human development and empowerment of women, this other Hambantota story is one which deserves and has received world class recognition. In the sphere of microcredit, the WDF’s Janashakthi Banks have already been recognised as a historic achievement. The lessons learnt must be mainstreamed and women’s organisations in all parts of Sri Lanka must be provided with the opportunity to develop in the way the women of Hambantota have done in this alternative ‘other’ development story emanating from the Deep South.
(The writer is a lawyer, who has over 30 years of experience as a CEO in both State and private sectors. He retired from the office of Secretary, Ministry of Finance and currently is the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka Business Development Centre.)
Govt. urges UN to ensure fundamental principles to objectivity and fairness
The Government has expressed shock over the recent conduct of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The Government’s reaction was on account of the OHCHR Spokesperson, in response to a question raised by a Sri Lankan newspaper, had on 2 November stated that while officially the deadline for submissions was 30 October, which will not be extended, since they are aware that some material may take time to arrive, late submissions would not necessarily be refused. 
Such a position was revealed unofficially soon after the request from Ananthi Sasitharan, a member of the Northern Provincial Council, addressed to the three experts of the OISL, for an extension of the period for submissions.
In that context, the Government whilst noting that was perfectly acceptable to extend a deadline openly, to do so in a clandestine manner, so as to benefit selectively a group of persons expressing a particular point of view, was unacceptable and expressed shock at the unprofessional conduct demonstrated by these developments.
The matter was taken up and the Government’s position was explained when Minister of External Affairs, Professor G. L. Peiris on Tuesday (4) met the Heads of Mission and Representatives of the main proponents of the Investigation on Sri Lanka by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the High Commissioner of Australia. The Deputy Country Director of the UNDP also participated representing the UN system.
Following is the statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry:
Minister Peiris explained to these representatives, the details regarding the recent arrest of Sinnathamby Krishnarasa, a non-rehabilitated LTTE cadre. This action led to the discovery in his possession of blank forms containing signatures of persons affected by the conflict. The Minister revealed how questioning Krishnarasa had led to the disclosure that he had been employed by Alva Pulle Vijendrakumar alias Sun Master, a close associate of the TNA, to obtain signatures of those affected by the conflict on blank forms on the assurance that this exercise was for obtaining monetary compensation from the UN. He had also received instructions from Sun Master to collect death certificates and National Identity Card details of persons who had lost their lives during the last phase of the conflict and personal data of war widows and photographs of disabled persons. Minister Peiris explained that Krishnarasa had revealed that the forms with signatures were to be completed with fabricated “eye witness” reports to be submitted to the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL). He observed that these revelations point to several others having been employed and tasked with the collection of similar information to be presented to the OISL, particularly as Krishnarasa was in possession of a diary containing details of 400 persons who were missing, had died or been injured.
The External Affairs Minister expressed concern that there is evidence which indicates association between prominent personalities of the Tamil National Alliance and Sun Master. Further, he said that there are moves by Sun Master to seek asylum abroad. Investigations in this connection are continuing. The Minister observed that although the TNA, in a statement, has denied that Vijendrakumar alias Sun Master is a TNA official, his prominent role in the activities of that political party is apparent from evidence including photographs taken at public functions and on other public occasions.
There is, moreover, clear evidence of a very large number of telephone communications between Krishnarasa and Sun Master during the last two months. These conversations have taken place on an almost daily basis; Sun Master telephoned Krishnarasa even while the latter was being interrogated.
The discoveries that resulted from Krishnarasa’s arrest, the Minister emphasised, reveal the manner in which interested parties are manipulating the OHCHR Investigation to deceive those affected by the conflict through luring them with false promises of compensation, and by taking advantage of their suffering to present distorted evidence to the OISL. Minister Peiris elaborated on a series of concerns pertaining to the questionable process of the OISL and matters relating to its integrity and transparency. He stated that on 1 August 2014, the OISL had made a formal public announcement, including on its website, that submissions by individuals, organisations and governments must be made by midnight Geneva time on 30 October 2014 and had given explicit reasons for the imposition of such a deadline. However, to his surprise, on 2 November 2014, the OHCHR Spokesperson, in response to a question raised by a Sri Lankan newspaper, had stated that while officially, the deadline for submissions was 30th October, which will not be extended, since they are aware that some material may take time to arrive, late submissions would not necessarily be refused.
He commented that it is interesting to note that such a position was revealed unofficially soon after the request from Ananthi Sasitharan, a member of the Northern Provincial Council, addressed to the three experts of the OISL, for an extension of the period for submissions. While stating that it is perfectly acceptable to extend a deadline openly, to do so in a clandestine manner, so as to benefit selectively a group of persons expressing a particular point of view, the Minister stressed, is unacceptable and expressed shock at the unprofessional conduct demonstrated by these developments.
Minister Peiris further explained that although the Programme Budget Implications of the Resolution 25/1 make provision for staff of the OISL to travel to Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and North America to access alleged victims and witnesses living outside the country, the OISL has not revealed details of dates and venues where such hearings are to take place. The Minister disclosed that the OHCHR has indicated that such information is confidential and regretted that this process is shrouded in impenetrable secrecy. The failure to share such information makes it evident that the investigation is not freely accessible to the public, he said. The Minister added that the impression created by such action is that the OISL will make arrangements to only interact with persons of their choosing which will provide them access to information of the nature that they wish to receive. External Affairs Minister Peiris expressed strong displeasure at the selective and biased approach followed where the investigation determines the nature of the information they wish to receive, for a specific outcome. Prof. Peiris stressed that this flawed procedure infringes on the basic norms of justice and fair play. He said that though Sri Lanka has rejected the UNHRC Resolution establishing an international investigation, it was only reasonable for the international community to expect, as the minimum requirement, that the investigation would follow certain fundamental principles relating to objectivity and fairness.
Professor Peiris observed, in conclusion, that the Government of Sri Lanka will do everything in its power to protect the national interest in this situation.
Tagged:
Sniffer dogs in search of bodies
- Recovery operations continue despite rain and mist, troops dig by hand
- Govt. to enact new laws to resettle vulnerable groups even without plantation company cooperation
- Seven districts under landslide threat, people in relief camps grow
- 1,200 people evacuated in Nuwara Eliya and in 15 centres
By Uditha Jayasinghe in Haldumulla
Sniffer dogs were deployed yesterday to search for bodies of hundreds who are still missing after a massive landslide in central Sri Lanka while relief measures for hundreds displaced by torrential rain continues, an official said.
Relief efforts restarted for the third day on Friday but a mammoth task still remained as more than 120 houses, a milk collection centre, two shops and a Hindu Temple remained buried.
Hundreds of Army troops were deployed to the Meeriabedda village near the central hill town of Haldumulla, but they still need to clear thousands of cubic metres of mud to get at as many as 200 people believed to have been buried alive by the landslide on Wednesday morning.
Despite hours of digging, no bodies were recovered on Thursday. The official death toll remains at three. However, varying numbers of up to 10 bodies being recovered have been quoted by different parties in local media. Recovery operations have been hampered by bursts of rain and heavy mists, as well as fears of triggering a fresh landslide.
“Fresh troops have been deployed to dig by hand in areas further up the landslide where the three sniffer dogs are trying to locate bodies.
Fifty-two Air Force personnel have also been deployed,” confirmed Central Province Security Commander Major General Mano Perera.
Meanwhile, in Parliament, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera making a statement to Parliament pledged to enact new laws empowering the Government to intervene and resettle communities in landslide-prone areas even without the cooperation of plantation companies.
Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe also visited the area and United National Party (UNP) MPs also pledged to support relief measures taken by the Government, in a rare show of unity.
The United Nations said it is saddened by the loss of human life caused by the deadly landslide in the Koslanda village of Badulla District in Sri Lanka.
“We at the United Nations and Humanitarian Community are saddened by the human loss and missing persons caused as a result of the landslides in the Haldumulla division of Badulla District,” a message by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative in Sri Lanka said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Sri Lanka.”
The Resident Coordinator further said that the United Nations System and the Humanitarian Partners in Sri Lanka remain committed and stand ready to lend further assistance to efforts to respond to meet the needs of the affected communities and support the authorities to expedite search and rescue efforts.
India, the US and many local and foreign companies in Sri Lanka have also joined to offer relief. The Sri Lankan Government has announced it will take responsibility for some 75 children who were orphaned by the landslide and have requested the public to come forward with any information of other children who may have been affected.
The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) says seven districts are currently being monitored for possible landslide situation, where volunteers and Government officials are on standby to assist in a possible evacuation.
Red Cross volunteers assisted in evacuating over 1,200 people in Nuwara Eliya due to the threat of landslides. They are now housed at 15 evacuation centres in the district and being provided with required non-food relief items and first aid support.
In a statement issued today, SLRCS said it continues to support the people affected by the Koslanda landslide, currently being housed at two temporary camps in Poonagala and Koslanda.
“As of this morning, Red Cross volunteers and officials assisting the search and rescue efforts in coordination with the Ministry of Disaster Management and the military handed over a consignment of baby formula and other relief items, and also safe drinking water bottles. One hundred body bags were also handed over to the military today upon a request by the Ministry.”
Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Assistant Director Pradeep Kodippili acknowledged adequate relief items were flowing in but noted they were not being distributed immediately.
“There is a space problem at the camps and we cannot distribute everything that is being sent because then there will not be enough space for them to be kept. So we are directing the relief to be warehoused and distributed accordingly. We assure essential items have been distributed,” he told reporters.
Numbers in relief camps are expected to increase after landslide warnings were issued to five districts. The Metrological Department has warned rainy weather is likely to continue for several more days.
UN saddened by the human loss due to Koslanda landslideThe United Nations said yesterday that it is saddened by the loss of human life caused by the deadly landslide in the Koslanda village of Badulla District in Sri Lanka. The Resident Coordinator further said that the United Nations System and the Humanitarian Partners in Sri Lanka remain committed and stand ready to lend further assistance to efforts to respond to meet the needs of the affected communities and support the authorities to expedite search and rescue efforts. |
Bangladesh to be Stigmatized!
Sri Lanka’s favourite sons of anarchy, progressive metal quintet Stigmata are once again making global waves as tidings have reached every shore that they will head overseas to represent the country at the biggest rock festival to be staged in Asia to date.
Stigmata will elaborately showcase that it is not only with cricket that the Land of Lions harbours great talent and an unequivocal sense of passion and success but that when it comes to memorable élan and bountiful accolades, these guys have what it takes to create an unforgettable experience with chaotic rhyme and sonic reason.
The quintet have always been an acquired taste in their own homeland, but have nevertheless garnered a massive following overseas with stunning live performances, gritty showmanship, binding charisma, admirable musical wizardry and classy yet homegrown compositions that never lack originality or intensity.
South Asian Rockfest
The South Asian Rockfest in Bangladesh is on 24 October and features nine renowned bands from five countries and will be staged at the Army Stadium in Dhaka, and is said to draw 15,000-20,000 rock fans and music enthusiasts.
The festival is the largest concert staged in Bangladesh’s history. Stigmata will represent our country with their unique sound and style gearing to formulate a storm with their authentic brand of ‘Pure Sri Lankan Metal’ to mesmerise and amaze audiences.
The other prominent acts that will perform will include Albatross from Nepal, Kaya and Noori from Pakistan, The Color Compound featuring Rachel from India and leading Hard Rock and Metal Bands Nemesis, Arbovirus, Shunno, Warfaze and Aurthohin from Bangladesh.
Stigmata performance
Stigmata will perform compositions fresh off the stove; new numbers ‘And Now We Shall Bring Them War’ and ‘Our Beautiful Decay’ which is material that is to be featured on their highly-anticipated fourth album (a current work in progress), due out in 2015 to celebrate the ensemble’s colossal 15-year anniversary next year.
Stigmata will take to the stage hoping to perform anthems off all three of their celebrated albums; 2003’s ‘Hollow Dreams’, 2006’s ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ and 2010’s ‘Psalms of Conscious Martyrdom’. The band upon special request by the organisers will also pay tribute to three legendary icons covering Pantera’s ‘Cemetery Gates’, Judas Priest’s ‘Painkiller’ and Arch Enemy’s ‘No More Regrets’, illustrating that the band have the chops to compete with the world’s heavyweights playing renditions of some of rock and metal’s most revered classic anthems.
Stigmata launched an official video for ‘On the Wings of the Storm’ earlier this year to much praise, pushing the envelope of video production in the country thanks to a budding team and collective effort by Abhishek Guneratnam and Shanjei Perumal of Arcane Productions with post production handled by Odlo VFX.
A busy year for the metal martyrs
It has truly been a busy year for these metal martyrs, with many of its members involved in prestigious public musical events and corporate competitions; some as judges and others as music advisors and directors, while they constantly balance the plights of the daily grind working and studying with their passion for creating incredible music that is captivating and timeless.
In a country where music is widely considered a hobby and not a lucrative venture, Stigmata have proven time and time again that with proper time management and thorough planning, you can pursue your passions and dreams with a measure of pragmatism and practicality.
The band earn their bread-and-butter from day jobs, many of them pursue their higher studies and manage to stringently rehearse daily (if possible) every night from 9 p.m. to midnight or up to the wee hours of the morning if required. They are grateful to Amishka Botejue and Cult Studios for providing artists in this island with a state-of-the-art rehearsal space that is soundproofed and avails artists with a hub to practice at ungodly hours if necessary, a much-needed luxury for professional and up and coming musicians in this country.
Keeping the magic alive
One of the quintet’s members quoted: “It is never an easy thing striking that balance or sense of equilibrium when one is a part of an entity like Stigmata. Sometimes you have to be driven to the point of sheer relentlessness to etch a lifestyle that balances one’s corporate life, personal life and one’s life’s passion, but finally when you do see the forest from the trees it’s definitely worth the effort. We realise that materialistic things are fickle and impermanent.
“We’ve been playing this game for so long that you need to trust yourself and trust in each other to accept that you must never be afraid to pursue your dreams. You need to lose some battles in order to win the war, you know. And after 14 years of hardship and chaos, that fire within has not been quelled. In fact we are still hungry to create music and keep the magic alive. When we leave this earth, our music will live on and that in itself makes the journey worthwhile.”
Milestone in Stigmata’s 14-year career
The South Asia Rock Fest will be a guaranteed milestone in Stigmata’s 14-year career, having headlined and rocked audiences throughout Australia (The Melbourne Arts Festival), Malaysia (The Southern Ultimate Explosion), India (The SAARC Band Fest and the South Asian Band Festival) and Maldives (The Rockstorm Festival), although this will be the quintet’s debut experience performing at a stadium of such size and scope.
It is also the band’s first time performing in Bangladesh and they are thrilled and honoured to be representing Sri Lanka at this humungous event, looking forward to showcasing their musical prowess to their Bangladeshi fans. This proves that Stigmata stands true to their reputation as one of the region’s most sought after live bands.
Make no mistake that Stigmata will not only kick some serious butt in Dhaka at the South Asian Rockfest but their stellar performance to such a magnitude of people in Bangladesh with their brand of ‘Pure Sri Lankan Metal’ is bound to leave the country Stigmatized.
(Article by The Keeper of the Seven Keys)
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
“Judge Sri Lanka in proportion to the challenges it has faced”
Following is the Introductory Statement by Ravinatha P. Aryasinha, Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka and Leader of the Sri Lanka delegation at the presentation of
Sri Lanka’s 5th Periodic Report submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 7 October
Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Committee,
It is an honour for my delegation to have this interaction with the Human Rights Committee to present Sri Lanka’s 5th Periodic Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to continue the constructive engagement we have maintained with the processes of the Human Rights Council. We recognise that the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights together with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, form the core pillars upon which the International Bill of Rights and the international human rights system has been constructed.
We acknowledge the onerous responsibility of this Committee and look forward to
a fruitful and constructive dialogue with its Members. To facilitate this task, the Government of Sri Lanka has included relevant senior officials who have hands on experience on the issues that we will be discussing in this forum, from the Ministries of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, Resettlement, Defence, Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms, Law and Order, External Affairs and also representatives from the Attorney General’s Department and the Bureau for Reconciliation.
Protracted conflict period
Mr. Chairman,
Sri Lanka’s last formal interaction with this Committee took place in 2003, when a short lived cessation of hostilities prevailed between the Government and the LTTE, the terrorist organisation which at the time had unlawful control of 1/3 of the country’s land mass and 2/3 of its coastline. However as with several such previous endeavours towards a negotiated settlement sought by successive governments of Sri Lanka during the conflict which lasted nearly 30 years, the LTTE, having used the period only to re-arm and re-group, violated the ceasefire agreement (CFA) by resuming its killing spree, most prominently by assassinating Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the former Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka in August 2005. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) comprising delegates from Scandinavian countries who observed the CFA, ruled that the terrorist group had continued to violate the CFA through assassinations, abductions, extortions and recruitment of child soldiers and forced conscription. During all these years, the challenge which confronted successive governments was the preservation of human rights in the context of violent acts of terrorism perpetrated by LTTE.
Mr. Chairman, you described in your opening comments, that what was happening with respect to the group that was claiming statehood in Syria and Iraq and pursuing policies were “simply the antithesis of universal values and human rights standards.” What Sri Lanka overcame was a similar “brazen challenge”, when it defeated the ruthless terror of the LTTE in 2009, a group that similarly claimed a mono-ethnic state glorifying murder.
As the members of the Committee would be aware, successive Governments and the people of Sri Lanka suffered for almost three decades at the hands of a ruthless terrorist organisation, the LTTE, which was proscribed by many countries including the US, India, the European Union, and Canada. Repeated attempts at peace talks and ceasefires were violated by this group. The Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who was elected to office in November 2005, also engaged in two rounds of peace talks with the LTTE. In the face of continued intransigence by the terrorist group that closed a vital sluice gate at Mavil Aru which provided water for drinking and irrigation to parts of the Eastern Province, the Government was compelled to intervene militarily on humanitarian grounds to protect the basic human rights of over 50,000 people (belonging to 15, 000 families) to life, water, livelihood and other rights, which have been recognised in International law including human rights law, as well as by a number of UN political declarations and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This action on the part of the terrorist group is an example of the scant regard it had for the rights of the Tamil people that it claimed to represent.
This process resulted in liberating the people of the entire Eastern province from the control of the LTTE by July 2007, which was then followed by a prolonged military campaign in the Northern province which took over two years as the LTTE continued to hold civilians as human shields. The Sri Lankan security forces defeated the LTTE in May 2009, bringing almost 300,000 civilians including over 12,000 ex-combatants through safe corridors, also effectively liberating the entire country from the threat of the LTTE.
It must be remembered that the hallmark of the government’s approach during and after the conflict was the centrality of all its citizens. I wish to point out that during the entirety of the conflict, the Government continuously supplied food, medicines and other essential requirements to the citizens who were under terrorist dominated areas. This was done through agencies such as the ICRC, despite being fully conscious that much of the supplies meant for civilians were being taken away by the terrorists for their use. This process of providing humanitarian assistance was coordinated and monitored by the Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA) comprising the Co-Chairs of the Peace Process (US, EU, Japan and Norway) and all the UN Agencies based in Colombo. This prompted former Special Rapporteur on IDPs Dr. Francis Deng to single out Sri Lanka’s action for commendation. Dr. Deng has stated, “Sri Lanka represents an unusual situation of a Central Government providing relief aid to persons under the control of a main opposition group. In a world replete with examples of Government and rebel groups using food as a weapon against civilian populations, the situation in Sri Lanka is one that deserves closer attention if not more publicity as an important precedent. (UN document No.E/CN.4/1994/44/Add.1)
Post-conflict period
Mr. Chairman,
Sri Lanka firmly believes that equal enjoyment of human rights without discrimination is the best guarantee of non-repetition of conflict. To this end the Government is committed to the realisation of all rights: civil and political, economic, social and cultural including the right to development, for its citizens which is recognised as important for the future wellbeing and collective progress of all.
Sri Lanka views the promotion and protection of human rights not as an end in itself but as an indispensable component of peace building and reconciliation following a three decade long conflict against separatist terrorism. In a country where no one was spared the horrors of terrorism, the Government of Sri Lanka has succeeded in restoring to the entirety of Sri Lanka’s population the most important right, the right to life. We believe that the distinguished members of this Committee would look at the ensuing developments relating to civil and political rights in Sri Lanka in this context.
When the conflict ended on 19 May 2009, Sri Lanka faced unprecedented post-conflict challenges. The Government had to respond to the immediate humanitarian needs of the people and the restoration of socio-economic and civil and political rights of the people in the North and the East who had been deprived of their rights by the terrorist group. The Government restored the democratic framework including the civil administration system in the Northern and Eastern Provinces making them fully functional. Local government and provincial council elections were held in both the Northern and Eastern Provinces. While Provincial Council elections in the Eastern Province were held after 1988, in the Northern Province, Provincial Council elections were held for the first time in September 2013. Although Sri Lanka has enjoyed uninterrupted democracy since 1931, Provincial Council elections in the Northern Province were delayed by more than two decades because of the refusal of the terrorist group to politically empower the people in the North. Today, the Tamil National Alliance is in control of provincial administration in the Northern Province. The Government has also taken measures to ensure sustainable peace and reconciliation and rapid development, in the country, as it is an important step to ensure the full enjoyment of civil and political rights by all. Action continues to be taken in de-mining, resettlement, rehabilitation, reconstruction, socio-economic development in the former theatre of conflict together with political empowerment, which my delegation will detail in the presentations to follow.
Meeting international obligations and engagement with the UN
Mr. Chairman,
In the period since presenting our last report, consistent with its international obligations, Sri Lanka has made progress in meeting its international obligations. In addition to the enactment of the ICCPR Act No. 56 of 2007, this includes the following:
- Enactment of Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 2005
- Ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OP-CRC-SC) in 2006
- Signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007
- Incorporating amendments to the Act No. 28 of 1996 on “Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” in order to bring it in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In line with its treaty body commitments, Sri Lanka continues to engage and submit its periodic reports to the respective treaty bodies. Sri Lanka’s 3rd and 4th Report to the Committee Against Torture came under consideration in November 2011. Sri Lanka submitted its 5th report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in October 2012. In September 2013, it responded to the Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Currently, the Government’s 5th report under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is under preparation. The Government is in the process of preparing its reports due in 2015 under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW).
Sri Lanka continues its proactive engagement with the Human Rights Council, the OHCHR, the UN system, including the Joint Needs Assessment with UNOCHA and through the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2013 – 2017 signed between the Government and the UNDP. This provides for cooperation on human rights and good governance, as well as “sustainable and inclusive economic growth with equitable access to quality social services, strengthened human capabilities and reconciliation for lasting peace”
In 2013 the Government of Sri Lanka received the High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms. Navenethem Pillay to Sri Lanka on a week-long, comprehensive visit which included travel to the former conflict affected areas in the North and the East; the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. In 2014, Sri Lanka received the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants. These visits and exposure enabled Sri Lanka to demonstrate firsthand, the tangible progress on the ground with regard to reconciliation and in advancing civil and political rights. The Government has extended an invitation to the new High Commissioner for Human Rights as well and has already begun engaging with him constructively.
In continuation of the Government’s engagement with Special Procedures Mandate Holders, while an invitation has already been extended to the Special Rapporteur on Education, invitations would be considered to other Special Rapporteurs as mutually convenient and taking into account national imperatives. While Sri Lanka’s regular engagement with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) continues, a bilateral interaction took place in Geneva last month, as part of our ongoing engagement with the Chair and members of the WGEID. The Government of Sri Lanka has also announced that it will seek to process the request for a visit to Sri Lanka by the WGEID once the work of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons (COI) in Sri Lanka concludes its work, as the findings of the latter could have some correlation with that of the Working Group.
Mr. Chairman,
Since the last submission before this Committee, Sri Lanka has participated in two UPR cycles – in 2008 and in 2012, where it accepted a number of recommendations for implementation. The National Plan of Action for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights 2011-2016 (NHRAP) was a commitment that grew out of our initial UPR Review in 2008. Some recommendations contained in Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) Report fall under the ambit and scope of the NHRAP and efforts continue to consolidate our gains and to systematically address the various issues and challenges in the field of human rights. We will provide additional briefing on how we have embarked upon our domestic reconciliation mechanism, based on the recommendations of the LLRC and undertaken commitments, during the course of our discussion.
Conscious that reconciliation is a multifaceted process, and consistent with assurances made, in order to achieve justice, accountability and reconciliation the Government embarked on a domestic mechanism, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), in order to strengthen the national reconciliation process and ensure the dividends of peace to all Sri Lankans and the full development of human rights that evaded the population for 30 years due to the conflict. Since the public release of the LLRC Report in December 2011, the Government is in the process of implementation of the recommendations of the LLRC under the National Plan of Action (NPoA) with main focus on areas such as IHL Issues, Human Rights, Land Return and Resettlement, restitution/Compensatory Relief and Reconciliation. Consistent with the recommendations of the LLRC, the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which was set up in November 2012 to achieve a multi-party consensus in respect of political and constitutional measures continues to endeavour to fulfil its mandate. Despite calling for a political solution, the persistent refusal of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) to participate in this process has been a serious impediment to achieving this objective. In September 2014, the ‘Special Bureau for Reconciliation’ was set up to assist the Committee headed by Secretary to the President to effectively monitor the progress of line ministries and agencies implementing LLRC Recommendations. The Special Bureau will function under the authority of Secretary to the President and carryout tasks entrusted to it facilitate the operationalisation of the National Plan of Action.
A three-member Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Missing Persons (COI) in the Northern and Eastern Provinces appointed in August 2013 has made progress, in executing their mandate. During seven sittings already held in Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu and Mannar, the COI has received 19,471 complaints including over 5000 from the relatives of the security forces. In order to better execute its obligations and responsibilities, the Chair of the COI requested from the Government, assistance of international experts in the fields of international human rights and humanitarian law. As requested, the President appointed a five-member Advisory Council which includes internationally recognised experts to advise the Commission on matters pertaining to their work.
A Bill of “Assistance to and protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses” which safeguards the rights of victims and witnesses has been presented to Parliament in September 2014. The salient features of the Bill include, inter alia, the recognition and setting out of rights of victims of crime and entitlements of witnesses; creation of certain offences that may be committed against victims of crime and witnesses; establishment of a mechanism for inquiry into complaints against infringement or imminent infringement of rights or entitlements of victims of crime or witnesses; establishment of an authority for the purpose of administering the provisions of the Bill; establishment of a special division by the Inspector General of Police to provide assistance to victims of crime; imposing duties on courts, commissions or law enforcement authorities in providing protection to victims of crime and witnesses; establishment of a special fund to be utilised for the payment of compensation to victims of crime and providing for the recording of evidence through contemporaneous audio visual linkage from remote locations within Sri Lanka.
These are significant endeavours for a developing country to complete in so short a time. The international community, especially those countries that have faced the challenge of emerging from protracted conflict or continue to be embroiled in such conflict would particularly appreciate the significance of these achievements.
Contd. on page 18
Mr. Chairman,
As there have been concerns raised on alleged violations of certain civil and political rights, I wish to share some pertinent developments in this regard.
The Government of Sri Lanka wishes to reaffirm and emphasise its commitment to uphold the fundamental rights guaranteed to its people, by the supreme body of law in the country, the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
These include the freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the right to equality. In keeping with Sri Lanka’s societal, cultural and historical norms, regular dialogue continues to take place at various levels to ensure interfaith harmony and understanding amongst its diverse populace.
The Government is firm in its commitment to uphold law and order and bring to justice any individual or group that causes communal dissension in the country. Sri Lanka’s legislation contains necessary provisions to act against statements or behaviour intended to cause religious discord. Provisions in the Penal Code as well as specific terms of Section 3 of the ICCPR Act passed by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2007, also provides the means to initiate action. Whenever an alleged infringement of this right has been reported, the legal process has been set in motion. This is evidenced by the action taken to address reported incidents of disturbances as well as legal action taken against those who have violated the law of the land, once sufficient evidence has been gathered for prosecution.
It must be noted that like in all countries where a number of communities with different religious affiliations reside, unfortunate isolated incidents can occur. As such, there have been sporadic incidents focusing on places of worship of all four religions. Whenever an incident of this nature has occurred, the Government has been quick to condemn and action has been taken.
With reference to the incidents that took place in June 2014 in Aluthgama/Beruwala, prompt action was taken by the law enforcement authorities to bring the situation under control. The police has taken steps to investigate the incidents and to bring the suspects before courts.
148 people (116 Sinhalese and 32 Muslims) have been arrested so far. Three have been remanded, three have been granted police bail and 142 have been granted court bail. In addition, the police has reported facts to court, in 461 cases, on the basis of complaints made.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Sri Lanka Police has been assigned to conduct an overall investigation on the incident. In the course of its investigations, the CID has questioned suspects including those who were alleged to have indulged in hate speech, which includes eight Buddhist monks. Upon completion of investigations, the report will be referred to the Attorney General for advice on the institution of legal proceedings.
In order to expedite the repair and reconstruction of damaged property, the Sri Lanka security forces were instructed, by President Rajapaksa, to undertake this task. So far, construction work on 55 houses and 13 commercial buildings have been completed. The work on 114 houses and 34 commercial buildings are in progress.
Following the incident, sustained campaigns aimed at promoting religious harmony and creating greater understanding between communities have been launched by the government, civil society, professionals, academics, business and community leaders.
Mr. Chairman,
The Constitution of Sri Lanka recognises the sacrosanct right that “all persons are equal before the law and are entitled to the equal protection of the law” (Article 12 (1)). Article 14 (1) (a) of our Constitution, is the bulwark upon which every citizen of the country irrespective of political affiliations or ideology, is able to enjoy the right to speech and expression, including publication enshrined in the Constitution. Any alleged transgression of these rights, enables the citizens who feel aggrieved to resort to legal remedies available under the laws of Sri Lanka.
In this context, the government of Sri Lanka is fully committed to the protection of human rights defenders and media personnel or institutions. Although no special laws have been formulated with regard to these specific groups, any person who seeks to facilitate or vindicate human rights has the option of filing a Fundamental Rights application in the Supreme Court, or a Writ Application in the Court of Appeal, or making a complaint before the National Human Rights Commission, on their own behalf or in the public interest. The full gamut of constitutional guarantees, including effective remedies, is available to individuals or groups who wish to espouse social causes and advocacy, also encompassing the area of human rights, or to canvass for the rights of media personnel. The wide range of interactions that High Commissioner Navenethem Pillay had with civil society during her visit in 2013, as well as the active engagement of civil society from Sri Lanka in successive Human Rights Council sessions stand testimony to the vibrant nature of Sri Lanka’s civil society and the freedoms they enjoy.
Further, in recent years, the spread of social media networks and online news outlets have contributed to the diversity and the increased speed of propagation of information throughout the country at large. The wide spectrum of views on display in Sri Lanka is amply demonstrated by its print and electronic media, much of which is fiercely critical of the Government. Despite some of the views expressed being on occasion vituperative and targeted at individuals, it is nevertheless recognised that this is the price to be met for upholding the democratic norms of a free and vibrant media. It should also be noted that during the period of the present Government, no press censorship has been imposed. Further the law relating to criminal defamation has been repealed by Parliament. Further, in order to ensure media freedom, the Government of Sri Lanka is seeking to strengthen grievance mechanisms which include complaints to Police, processing Fundamental Rights applications filed in the Supreme Court and complaints to the Press Council.
It is important to note that media pluralism is well established in Sri Lanka and that the State has no monopoly of the means of communication which is a matter of concern in many settings in the context of the principle of freedom of expression enshrined in article 19 of the Covenant. Out of 217 newspapers registered in the country as at 2014 while 31 are state owned, 186 are private sector owned. With respect to radio channels, out of a total of 54 channels while 18 are State owned, 36 are private sector owned. As for television channels, out of 25 such channels, while seven are State owned, 18 are private sector owned.
The right to freedom of speech and expression including publication can be restricted in so far as provided in Article 15(2), 15(7) and 15(8) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka. In all such instances, the restrictions have to be prescribed by law. Under Article 15(2), restrictions are permitted in the interests of racial and religious harmony or in relation to parliamentary privileges, contempt of court, and defamation or incitement to an offence.
Under Article 15(7), restrictions are permitted in the interests of national security, public order and the protection of public health or morality or for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedom of others or of meeting the just requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society.
Article 15(8) applies only to members of the Armed Forces, Police and other forces charged with the maintenance of public order, and restrictions are permitted in the interest of proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them.
Taking cognisance of the provisions of Article 19 (3) of the ICCPR, which specifically qualifies the right to freedom of expression, it is imperative that such a right should not be abused in a manner that is disrespectful to others. In this context, due consideration has been given in Article 28 (e) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, that imposes a constitutional duty on every person in Sri Lanka that the exercise and the enjoyment of rights and freedoms is inseparable from the performance of duties and obligations. Therefore, it is the duty of every person to respect the rights and freedoms of others in the exercise and enjoyment of one’s rights and freedoms. In this context, dissemination of content with the intention of causing incitement among the communities, propagating hate speech and defamatory statements have not been condoned by the courts of Sri Lanka and the government would continue to ensure the exercise of such rights in accordance with the constitutional duties cast upon its people.
Whilst there remains certain unresolved cases of violence against media personnel, there is no restriction placed on what may be reported by the press. The law of evidence plays the most crucial role, and due process is required for prosecution. This should not be interpreted as unwillingness on the part of the Government to bring perpetrators to justice. The Government is also pursuing investigations into current cases of alleged attacks on media personnel and institutions.
Mr. Chairman,
Although the LTTE has been militarily defeated in Sri Lanka in May 2009, the threat of terrorism has not abated. Its overseas network which includes a number of trained cadre, funded by some sections of the expatriate Tamil community, continues to remain in place, posing a medium and long term security challenge to Sri Lanka and the region. Therefore, Sri Lanka has to be continuously vigilant to safeguard against any resurgence of terrorism in the country. Details of such activity have been comprehensively explained by Sri Lanka to the Human Rights Council.
In March 2014, the Government of Sri Lanka took measures to designate entities and persons pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1373, against whom there was cogent evidence of financing the committing, attempting to commit, facilitating or participating in the commission of acts of terrorism. This designating process is reviewed periodically. Those designated entities and persons have recourse to an appeal procedure provided for in the said Regulation where they can furnish evidence that they are not linked to terrorist organisations and thereby challenge the listing in a Court of Law.
Further, some statements made by political leaders as well as other prominent members of society in the North can be construed to incite violence and a possible resurgence of terrorism. As the use of terrorism to secure political and ideological objectives including a separate state remains a possibility, the time is not right as yet to repeal the PTA.
It was a fundamental obligation of the Government of Sri Lanka, as a democratic state, to protect its citizens from terrorism, and protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Terrorism, as you all know, has a direct impact on human rights – on the physical integrity of individuals, their right to life and liberty. In addition, terrorism can destabilise governments, jeopardise peace and security and negatively impact on social and economic developments which in turn deprives people of the full enjoyment of human rights.
Conclusion
Mr. Chairman,
The situation in Sri Lanka is no different to any other country that is traversing through a transition period following a protracted conflict. We have endeavoured with commitment and dedication to address issues related to civil and political rights in Sri Lanka. Given the challenges at hand what we request is an objective assessment of Sri Lanka and in that spirit, we are open to constructive criticism. We look forward to a fruitful dialogue with the distinguished members of the Committee and trust that your recommendations would assist the Government of Sri Lanka to carry forward the productive measures taken so far in the promotion and protection of civil and political rights.
Thank you
Lankan Army keeps close watch to nip LTTE revival in bud
(NIE): Civilians in Kilinochchi keep complaining about ubiquitous surveillance by the army and state intelligence agencies, and say that the former “war zone” is today an “open prison”.
But security forces justify spying on the grounds that it was necessary to prevent the recrudescence of the terrorist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and ensure a peaceful life.
“What is ‘spying’ for you is ‘being aware’ for us. It is a thin line which divides spying from being aware,” said Kilinochchi Security Forces Commander Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe.
Justifying the compulsory presence of military intelligence personnel in civilian functions and meetings, he said: “We do not interfere with the proceedings. We just listen to find out if anyone is promoting terrorism and anti-state activities.”
The general then produced a book of Tamil poems on the Tamil separatist movement written by a Catholic priest, Fr. Anton Stephen, with provocative headings, one of them being ‘Bloody History’.
A Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP had asked government schools to place this seditious book in their library. The TNA dominates the Northern Provincial Council under which the schools come.
“The politico tried to put the germ of terrorism in young impressionable minds. We prevented this from happening,” General Ranasinghe said.
“The army is working for peace and development. It is giving 2,275 scholarships to school students. Forty-five university scholarships are also given, with each beneficiary getting `3,000 per month for four years. And, every month, my soldiers collect `130,000 from amongst themselves to pay for the education of local children,” General Ranasinghe said.
He pointed out that LTTE cadres who had been rehabilitated by the army and released into society have not indulged in any disruptive activity. “Cadres like Appan and Gobi, who were caught trying to revive the LTTE, had not gone through rehab,” the general pointed out.
Asked about the Tamil National Alliance’s demand that the army quit the North, he said: “If a referendum is held on this, the people will vote for the army to stay because it has ensured a peaceful, crime-free district.”
Army says demining nearing completionThe Army has said the demining process is nearly 98% over and work to free the remaining land area from mine risk is progressing fast. |
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DFCC Consulting conducts study-tour on renewable energy technology and financing
DFCC Consulting is a fully owned subsidiary of DFCC Bank providing specialised consulting expertise in a variety of fields including renewable energy. The company recently conducted a five day study-tour on Renewable Energy Technology and Financing in Sri Lanka, with a special focus on hydro projects. The program was targeted at a delegation from Nepal, consisting of banks, ministries and government organisations that deal with power.
Facilitated by the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC) of Nepal and funded by the UNDP, this program was aimed at providing in-depth understanding on financing clean and renewable energy projects in Sri Lanka, and aiding the participants in preparing detailed and competitive proposals. It consisted of excursions to wind project and mini-hydro project sites as well as classroom sessions giving insight into how to appraise hydro-projects.
The delegates also learned the functions of the former Administrative Unit which was housed at DFCC to administer Energy Services Delivery Project (ESD) and Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development (RERED) World Bank projects.
Speaking on this, DFCC Consulting Chief Executive Officer Prasanna Premarathne said, “The role of renewable energy in achieving energy transformation, improving the environment and supporting rural economies has become a topic of great importance across the world. However, as approaches differ significantly in different countries, exchanging experiences and lessons learned is crucial.
“DFCC Consulting has been active in responding to this need, having organised a range of study tours in the past helping decision makers explore and discuss innovative solutions to unlock the potential of renewable energy in various communities. Accordingly we have conducted programs on renewable energy for Uganda, Ghana, Cambodia, Nepal and Mozambique, utilising the expertise of former members of the administrative unit.”
Recording a first, the firm was also recently awarded a World Bank funded international assignment to provide consultancy services to the Uganda Energy Credit Capitalisation Company (UECCC), in developing a Solar Loan scheme to be marketed In Uganda.
DFCC Consulting (DCL) was established in September 2004 and offers consultancy services with expertise in setting up new business ventures, pursuing expansions and modernisation of existing business. Services include: due diligence for startups, due diligence for existing projects, comprehensive financial feasibility assessment, training on due diligence, project appraisal and follow-up, environmental appraisals, raising debt capital, syndication of loans, renewable energy study tours and other consultancy services.
The firm also performs a wide spectrum of support functions for DFCC Bank providing supplementary expertise in specialist areas such as project engineering, environmental impact assessment and renewable energy. This parent and subsidiary equation has resulted in a strong confluence of resources, expertise and experience and is proving to be an impetus for continuing success in developing current and future business prospects.
Cycling Tour 2014: ‘Volunteering to Make a Difference’
Cycling Tour 2014: ‘Volunteering to Make a Difference,’ a project initiated by the United Nations Volunteers program in Sri Lanka, was pre-launched on 12 August, coinciding with International Youth Day.
Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperuma and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Subinay Nandy attending the event marked the launch by handing over a bike for the tour to UN Volunteers.
The cycling tour will contribute to the advocacy efforts to strengthen youth volunteering for peace and development in Sri Lanka by implementing the recommendations of the UNV research report titled ‘Sri Lankan Youth: Volunteering to Make a Difference,’ which was launched during the World Conference on Youth in May 2014.
A group of 20 volunteers will be cycling for two weeks, starting from Vavuniya on 24 November passing through 10 different locations and the riders will reach Colombo on International Volunteer Day, 5 December.
During the tour, local communities, especially youth, will have the opportunity to learn and get involved with volunteering activities for sustainable development, and get to know organisations they can further get involved with.
The cycling tour is organised by the UN Volunteers with the support of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, UN agencies, volunteer involving organisations and youth-led organisations.
The UNV research report can be found at: www.unvlk.org/youthreport. For more information regarding the cycling tour please email in...@unvlk.org.
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CCC to hold first-ever National Forum for SME empowerment
By Waruni Paranagamage
The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) intends to organise and conduct the first-ever National Forum on Small and Medium Enterprise Empowerment (NFSMEE) on 13 and 14 October, at the Hilton, Colombo. The aim of the forum, which the CCC intends to make an annual event, is to create a great platform in order to establish a SME development unit at the CCC, in order to facilitate the SME sector in Sri Lanka.
The role that the SME sector plays in any emerging economy is significant for economic growth, employment generation and wealth distribution. With the 2013 Budget allocation, the Government allocated money to develop programs in the SME sector such as providing training and capacity development.
Government institutes carried out programs for women’s entrepreneurial development, having identified the lack of entrepreneurial capacity as a prime reason for the failure of SMEs to meet their financial obligations.
It also facilitated export development programs for SMEs to find export markets. In 2013, increased focus was given to develop the technology-based SME enterprises in the country. However, access to financial solutions for the sector is still a barrier.
The CCC intends taking the lead on behalf of all stakeholders including the banking sector, in terms of meaningful initiatives to create a framework that will enhance, empower and uplift the SME sector in Sri Lanka.
CCC Solutions Ltd. Managing Director Chandula Abeywickrema said that the affordability of finance resources, delivering services to the public sectors and private and Government sector collaboration were the main barriers that the SME sector had to be overcome.
“Marketing the products, quality of the products and finding buyers and sellers are also some problems SME entrepreneurs are facing. We want to create a CCC hub to overcome the barriers facing the industry,” Abeywickrema said. He said that under the guidance of the district chambers, entrepreneurs islandwide could participate in the forum to collaborate with financial and other links to make a central platform to represent them.
The forum will feature eight sectors: SME sector capacity building, supply and value chain linkages, market creations, productivity and quality standards, strategic information sharing and lobby and advocacy.
Representatives from the Central Bank and Ministries of Finance, Economic Development, Industries and Commerce, Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development and Science and Technology will participate in the forum. Private sector participants include the World Bank, IFC, ADB, GIZ, UNDP, ILO and the Asia Foundation.
CCC Chairman Suresh Shah said: “There should be collaboration between the private and Government sectors to enhance SME sector entrepreneurs so we invite islandwide small-scale entrepreneurs to contact the district chambers and participate in the forum to reap the benefits.” The CCC believes that the regional chambers will address and identify specific regional issues through targeted regional forums which will be presented and discussed at the NFSMEE. The forum will create a platform which can act as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for all SME needs. The forum is open for all types of SME sector participants.
Youth and development: Towards a more inclusive future
- UNDP’s Sri Lanka National Human Development Report presented to Youth Affairs Minister
The Sri Lanka National Human Development Report (NHDR) 2014 published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was launched yesterday at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall.
The National Human Development Report, a major vehicle for policy development and implementation in Sri Lanka, was launched as a collaborative effort of UNDP Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development and the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
Expressing his thoughts during the launch, Chief Guest, Dullas Alahapperuma, Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development, stated: “2014 has been the year for Sri Lankan youth; launch of the first National Youth Policy, hosting of the World Conference on Youth 2014 led to an outcome statement : Colombo Declaration on Youth being jointly agreed upon by the policy makers and youth delegates for the first time in the history, declaration of the National Skills Day, establishment of the first-ever Commonwealth Youth Council Secretariat in Sri Lanka and now the launch of the NHDR on Youth.”
Minister further noted: “Findings and recommendations of UNDP’s NHDR could be used as key policy tools as it provides a new platform for policy development and reforms in youth development which would serve as a strong advocacy tool for promoting youth empowerment and human development in Sri Lanka.”
Globally, Human Development Reports (HDR) have been commissioned and published by UNDP since 1990 as intellectually independent, empirically grounded analysis of development issues, trends, progress and policies. The ultimate goal of the report is to help advance human development. In parallel to global HDRs, individual countries have been producing NHDRs, reflecting country level issues that have an impact on human development.
Speaking at the event, Subinay Nandy, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, noted, “We at UNDP firmly believe that this report will serve as a platform for strengthening collaboration between the Government and non-governmental actors, and importantly youth themselves, towards revitalising and prioritising the implementation of key existing policies that benefit youth and the country at large. The Report also looks to inform the formulation of strategies and a national action plan to give effect to the Youth Policy 2014.”
Commenting further, Nandy noted: “We hope that Sri Lankan youth will take ownership of the report, and realise their full potential as catalytic agents of change.”
UNDP’s third Sri Lanka NHDR ‘Youth and Development: Towards a More Inclusive Future’ was launched on 12 August coinciding with the International Youth Day.
Sending a special message on the occasion of the launch of the Sri Lanka NHDR, Ahmad Alhendawi, United Nations Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, noted: “Globally, the UN is committed to listening to young people, engaging them in our work and providing them platforms to realise their full potential.”
In his written message Alhendawi also congratulated UNDP Sri Lanka for launching the Report on a special day where we celebrate youth, International Youth Day, and urged Sri Lankan youth to build on their desire to be part of the mainstream and be part of the solution.
Speaking at the event, Dr. B.M.S. Batagoda, Deputy Secretary to the Treasury and Co-chair of the NHDR National Steering and Advisory Committee, stated, “UNDP’s NHDR identifies in its analysis and reiterates the need to feature young voices in national agendas to address the challenges Sri Lankan youth face”. Dr. Batagoda, commenting further, stated: “Development agendas including the post-2015 development agenda needs the participation of youth at all levels for its success. Working with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development and key development partners like the UNDP, we remain committed to involve young voices at all levels of development planning.”
Several Ministers, Members of the Parliament, Ambassadors, Secretaries to Ministries, Members of the Youth Caucus in Parliament, Members of the Women’s Caucus in Parliament, Provincial Councillors, Heads of UN Agencies and civil society representatives attended the launch event.
The report is currently available in English language and will be made available in Sinhala and Tamil in the near future.
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Sri Lanka progressively improves in human development
Sri Lanka has progressively improved in human development over the years and is ranked 73 in the category of High Human Development Country in the Human Development Report (HDR) 2014 released on Thursday by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The 2014 Human Development Report ‘Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience’ covering 187 countries was launched in Tokyo, on 24 July.
The 2014 HDR highlights the need for both promoting people’s choices and protecting human development achievements and offers a fresh perspective on what makes people vulnerable, and proposes ways to strengthen resilience.
Sri Lanka’s Human Development Index (HDI) has progressively increased up to 0.750 in 2014 compared to 0.513 in 1980.
The country, up by two notches from last year’s rank, is placed at the 73rd position, the highest among the nine South Asian countries, in the index that is a composite national measure of health, education, and income for 187 countries.
The average HDI value for the Asia region, at 0.588, is below the world average of 0.702 and only Sri Lanka in the South Asian region is above the average.
“Sri Lanka, which shares a colonial history similar to that of India and the rest of the subcontinent, achieved nearly universal education and health care despite years of militancy and war,” the 2014 report said.
The report has considered Sri Lanka’s favorable social indicators of literacy, life expectancy and year of schooling to place the country in the High Human Development group.
Sri Lanka has performed far better in human development than in income alone as seen in the large difference in the Gross National Income per capita and HDI rankings, the report noted. Sri Lanka’s Gross National Income per capita ranked 103 while the HDI ranked 73.
Sri Lanka’s nearest neighbor, India is ranked at 135 in the index, among the ‘medium development’ countries along with Bhutan at 136 and Maldives at 103. Pakistan ranked 146, Nepal at 145 and Afghanistan at 169 are in the ‘low development’ category.
South Asia has the largest multidimensionally poor population, with more than 800 million poor and over 270 million near-poor – that is, more than 71% of its population. This makes the region home to 56% of the world’s poor and more than 35% of the world’s near-poor.
“Staggering rates of poverty, high inequality and frequent natural disasters and crises threaten the progress of human development in Asia and the Pacific. Addressing these challenges requires a host of initiatives, including universal provision of social services and a strong system of social security benefits,” the 2014 Human Development Report said.
It takes the view that vulnerability threatens human development and, unless it is systematically addressed, progress will be neither equitable nor sustainable.
HDR 2014 introduces a gender development index (GDI) for the first time, which compares the HDI calculated separately for women and men among 148 countries.
Worldwide, female HDI values are eight percent lower than those for males, with large variations between countries. Sri Lanka ranks 66 in the GDI with an HDI of 0.720 for women and 0.750 for men.
Although the HDI gap is relatively small on average, the disparity between genders in the estimated gross national income per capita is very high: per capita income for men at the global level is more than double that for women.
This year’s report points to a slowdown in human development growth across all regions noting that threats such as financial crises, fluctuations in food prices, natural disasters and violent conflict significantly impede progress.
In the current report, the top five countries ranked in terms of the HDI are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and the US. The bottom five in this ranking are Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Sierra Leone.