Millennium
Development Goals report released in Kandy - 2005
Daily News 2005/05/18 |
Rising poverty and unemployment, worsened by
the tsunami and slow development in conflict-affected areas,
threaten Sri Lanka's social sector gains, warns a report issued
yesterday the Sri Lanka Development Forum.
The country's first Millennium Development Goals Report, presented
to a meeting of representatives from countries and donor agencies
that provide support to Sri Lanka, shows that despite huge strides
made in health and education, the goal of halving poverty by
2015 is not on track.
The bold report underscores the fact that although the 26 December
2004 tsunami disaster magnified development challenges, persistent
slow growth, rising unemployment and malnutrition in rural areas
and the conflict districts in the North and East are long-standing
issues that need to be tackled, a UNDP news release said.
"The tsunami disaster has increased the vulnerability of
a large proportion of the very people whose income was to be
uplifted under the Government's poverty reduction programme,"
says the report.
On the positive side, the country is no track in achieving many
of the United Nations' millennium targets and has plans to merge
the global development goals with its own blueprint for poverty
alleviation.
Said Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Treasury and Chairman
of the National Council for Economic Development: "The
government has taken necessary action to re-align the country's
development plans with the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals).
"The medium-term Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy
will navigate the achievement of the MDGs. This will be supported
by accelerated policy reforms, budget restructuring and international
support".
Noted Miguel Bermeo, the Resident Co-ordinator/Humanitarian
Co-ordinator for the United Nations in Sri Lanka: "Sri
Lanka has long been at the forefront of human development among
developing countries. Access to health and education is widespread
and the results have been impressive,".
"But the tsunami disaster and the two-decade internal conflict
have raised tremendous challenges," he said.
The Millennium Development Goals Report, a survey of the country's
progress in meeting the world's targets for dramatically reducing
extreme poverty in its many dimensions, hails Sri Lanka's decades-long
success in tackling infant and maternal mortality, high literacy
rates and near universal education for both girls and boys.
While the Western and Southern provinces have prospered, other
areas however, have recorded significant increases in poverty
levels, with over five million people - nearly one in four Sri
Lankans - still living below the national poverty line.
"The Government has recognized the regional disparities
in growth and development and the need for pro-poor, pro-growth
initiatives," said Dr. Jayasundera.
"The supportive environment in achieving MDGs is in place.
However, the challenge now lies in implementing our policies
for which hard work, good partnerships and close collaboration
is a pre-requisite," he observed.
A critical aspect of poverty within the country is the situation
in the conflict affected areas. "Two decades of conflict
have hindered Sri Lanka's economic progress," says the
report. "The war has further aggravated the poverty situation
and unemployment, especially in the Northern and Eastern provinces
and border villages to the conflict areas."
Because of the conflict, there are no exact figures for the
population in eight districts of the country and the surveys
used to capture the incidence of poverty have not yet reached
all areas.
It points to the under-utilization of productive land and vital
infrastructure needed for economic resurgence "owing to
landmine and UXO (unexploded ordnance) contamination".
"Prior to the conflict, the districts were highly productive
agricultural areas. Lots more need to be done to reduce the
impact of these explosive devices on productivity levels and
poverty."
According to the report's co-authors. Tilani Jayawardhana and
Shihana Samad, Sri Lanka ranks 96th with an index of 0.740 among
177 countries in terms of the Human.
"Our social indicators such as life expectancy, literacy
and mortality rates are well above those in comparable developing
countries and are on par with many developed countries. However,
one in four Sri Lankans on average is poverty stricken with
wide regional disparities. In addition, there are discrepancies
in the provision of health and education services across districts,"
they said.
The report recommends a poverty reduction plan that concentrates
on eight districts in the North and East and six districts in
the South that would create productive jobs or enable people
from those areas to move to productive means of employment.
"The centrepiece of this strategy is the massive infrastructure
development in neglected areas as the basis for development
of agriculture, industry, tourism and other activities to provide
employment," says the report.
The report also sounded the alert on rising unemployment figures,
especially among the nation's 3.1 million young adults between
the ages of 15 and 27 years. Enrolment in primary education
and literacy rates are above 95%. "The government's role
has been crucial in ensuring that all children within 5-14 are
in school." The challenge remains in ensuring that children
of marginalized groups are brought into the system.
Furthermore, Sri Lanka's achievement in reducing maternal deaths
is a "widely accepted success story," says the report.
The consistent decline in maternal mortality for over five decades
is attributed to a wide network of maternal services which has
been integrated with childcare and a trained cadre of public
health midwives. In 2002, infant mortality stood at a regional
low of 17 per 1,000 births, according to the report.
The report was produced by the government's National Council
for Economic Development, and supported by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the World
Bank and the UN Country Team and Multilateral Group in Sri Lanka.
At a glance: Millennium Development Goals report
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Over five million Sri Lankans (about a quarter
of the population) live below the national poverty line.
(The national poverty line as set by the Department of
Census and Statistics is: Rs. 1,423 for real food and
non-food consumption per person per month). |
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There is great disparity in poverty figures from urban
and rural areas. Between 1990 and 2002, poverty has declined
sharply in the Colombo district but has increased in the
Moneragala, Badulla, Ratnapura and Kegalle districts.
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It is likely that the overall level of poverty would
be higher if data from the north and east were available. |
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Malnutrition is an acute problem especially among pre-school
children and mothers in Sri Lanka. Some 13.5 per cent
of children below the age of 5 are stunted, while 14 per
cent are wasted and 29.4 per cent are underweight. One
of every three women is stunted and 36 per cent is anaemic. |
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Youth literacy rates increased from 92.7 per cent in
1990 to 95.6 per cent in 2001. |
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Some 50,000 school aged children in the north and east
are not in school. The dropout rate is 15 percent. |
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Unemployment rates rose from 6.8 per cent in 1999 for
males to 7.3 per cent in mid-2002 and 11.8 per cent for
females in 1999 to 14.8 mid-2002. |
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Female unemployment rates have been double those of
men for three decades. |
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In the last decade, over 40 per cent of unemployed people
are from the 20 to 24 age group. |
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In 2002, 54 per cent of total unemployed people either
qualified in the General Certificate of Education ‘Ordinary
Level’ examination or above. |
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Infant mortality in 2002 was only 17 per 100,000 live
births. |
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The 1996 maternal mortality rate is 24 maternal deaths
per 100,000 live births. |
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HIV prevalence between 15 to 49 year olds in 2003 was
less than 0.1 per cent. |
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