The Situation in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has a multi-ethnic and religiously diverse population of nearly 21 million. It is ranked 97th out of 183 countries on the Human Development Index (2011), a result achieved in large measure by the provision, since 1948, of free and compulsory universal education up to age 14, free health services and several poverty alleviation schemes. Following the May 2009 end of the conflict of almost three decades and recovery from the tsunami devastation of 2004, the country is ready to take advantage of emerging opportunities for durable peace with sustained and equitable growth. The country is increasingly investing in economically lagging areas to reduce regional disparities. It encourages more equitable development towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals through the national plan ‘A Ten-Year Horizon Development Framework: Mahinda Chinthanaya: Towards a New Sri Lanka, 2006-2016’ (referred to here as the Ten-Year Development Plan 2006-2016). Prevailing peaceful conditions contribute to free mobility within the country, facilitating economic and social integration. Sri Lanka achieved lower middle income status in 2009, with a per capita GDP of $2,400, and recorded 8 per cent economic growth in 2011. In relation to Millennium Development Goal 1, the rate of poverty fell from nearly 23 per cent in 2002 to 8.9 per cent in 2009/10, excluding three districts in the north where the survey was not completed as information on household sampling frame was not available due to high movement of population immediately after the cessation of the conflict. The incidence of poverty ranges from 3.6 per cent in Colombo district in the Western Province to 20.3 per cent in Batticaloa district in the Eastern Province. The Gini coefficient for household income increased from 0.47 in 2006/2007 to 0.49 in 2009/2010, indicating a skewed income distribution.
|
