Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress in human development
Sri Lanka’s Human Development Index or the HDI value for 2018 is 0.780 which puts it in the high human development category, positioning the country at 71 out of the 189 countries and territories. Making this point, State Minister for Economic and Policy Development John Senevirate, the Chief Guest at the launch of the UNDP Human Development Report 2019 at the United Nations Conference Hall in Colombo 7 recently, said: “It is important to note that between 1990 and 2018 Sri Lanka’s HDI value has increased from 0.625 to 0.780, an increase of 24.9 per cent. This shows how the country has been developing but as a government we have the responsibility to bring Sri Lanka to a higher standard. ” The State Minister said that the launch of the report is timely as it gives us an idea as to where Sri Lanka stands and what more needs to be done in order to achieve this vision.
Referring to government policy, he said that the human development concept is very much at the core of the Sri Lankan Government and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s vision to have a prosperous country with human development indices on par with developed countries.
In 2015, Sri Lanka pledged commitment to the 2030 agenda to address 17 goals of the 192 other member states of the United Nations. Sri Lanka made a commitment to pursue a substantial number of economic, social and environmental targets through a holistic and a balance approach. As Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are ambitious it requires a big change in the way in which the Government must work to help Sri Lanka reduce inequalities across the country “That is why we continue to rely on the support of UNDP and the UN as a whole.”
The State Minister said with a decade left to achieve SDGs, it was essential to disrupt traditional approaches to development and adapt thinking to a rapidly changing landscape to meet the ambition of Agenda 2030. UNDP is already working on some comprehensive initiatives in the areas of integrated water management, SDG Financing and Innovation and “we count more support in taking Sri Lanka forward beyond income and beyond averages today,” he added.
UNDP Sri Lanka Resident RepresentativeRobert Juhkam said the report looks at inequalities in human development with a new lens. It assesses what inequalities are becoming important and how they differ around the world and among population groups, and how they are changing. “But the future of inequalities is in our hands,” he said.
UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Hanaa Singer said: “As the UN in Sri Lanka we are working towards ensuring fair and inclusive development, while ensuring the rights of every citizen are upheld in our journey towards helping Sri Lanka achieve the sustainable development agenda that leaves no one behind.”
Meanwhile a panel discussion on human development was held to discuss issues relating to Sri Lanka. The panelists were Dr. Chandranath Amarasekera, Director Economic Research, Central Bank; Prof. Dileni Gunawardena of the University of Peradeniya; Dr. Rohan Fernando, Director – Plantations and Business Development at Aitken Spence Plc; and K. Romeshun, Senior Research Professional, Centre for Poverty Analysis.