Sri Lanka

Overview

After the end of a 25-year ethnic conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka is ready to move forward on its long-term development plan to reduce poverty. The country ranks 97 out of 187 countries on the United Nations Development Programme's 2011 human development index.

Pockets of deep poverty persist in the plantation areas in central Sri Lanka and in conflict-affected areas in the east and north. Unemployment is high, especially among women and youth. Large numbers of internally displaced persons are returning to their villages and homes, but the extensive damage caused by the conflict means they face significant barriers to earning a living. The country is prone to frequent natural disasters such as floods, drought and landslides.

Sri Lanka is a parliamentary democracy, though governance and the rule of law are weak. The country's ethnic reconciliation and economic rebuilding challenges were compounded by the 2009 economic downturn, which slowed economic growth by almost half―from 7 percent to 4.2 percent―and reduced tax revenues. Economic growth is now beginning to rebound.

Despite the longstanding conflict, Sri Lanka has made good progress in health and education, as well as in food self-sufficiency. Women take an active role in livestock production, forest-resource use and fishery processing and are important to Sri Lanka's future economic development.

Thematic Focus

The goal of CIDA's program in Sri Lanka is to continue to promote equitable and sustainable economic growth in a post-conflict environment while also emphasizing the important role of human rights in reducing poverty.

Economic growth

CIDA focuses on:

• Increasing skills for employment
• Supporting small agricultural businesses
• Improving the business climate
• Increasing women's access to economic assets and jobs

This includes developing and rebuilding small-scale agriculture and infrastructure, including irrigation systems, rural access roads, and agricultural storage and processing facilities. CIDA's program focuses on internally displaced persons as they return to their villages.

Democratic governance

CIDA will improve human rights in Sri Lanka by supporting the implementation of Sri Lanka's official language policy. This will help minority groups to access social services such as health, education and police protection in their own language.

Democratic governance is one of the Government of Canada's five priority themes for international assistance and one of CIDA's cross-cutting themes.

Progress on Aid Effectiveness

Sri Lanka endorsed the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness (PDF, 317 KB, 23 pages). CIDA and other bilateral donors do not provide funding directly to the Government of Sri Lanka. Donors, however, have developed a common set of principles to guide their work in Sri Lanka and conduct joint evaluations where feasible.

Economic growth

• Helped increase incomes of poor and returning displaced person members of 57 community groups in four regions by 20 percent
• Provided 10,386 Sri Lankans―more than one third, women―with vocational training
• Helped 40 local vocational training providers gain certification, register with the Technical and Vocational Education Commission and provide nationally accredited training

Democratic governance

• Helped 768 plantation workers in Central Sri Lanka obtain national identity cards, improving their access to services available to all citizens

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