Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012.pdf

This is a considerable task, but it must be tackled. As
this report has tried to demonstrate, Sri Lanka confronts
numerous development challenges without the financial
and human resources to deal with all of them at the
same time. Any new development strategy will need to
establish priorities, identify and exploit synergies, and
ensure sustainability. This will not happen during the
short-term, especially if the goal is human development,
which by nature is a long-term commitment engaging
all stakeholders. Sri Lanka has the potential to be a
development leader in South Asia, but to realize that, it
must make such a commitment.
With the end of civil conflict and an overwhelming victory
in the last election, the Government has the political
capital to do so. It is also necessary to convince different
stakeholders of the need for change and to secure their buy
in so that socio-political differences do not hold back wellconceived
policy changes.
Major challenges include disparities across provinces,
urban and rural areas and the estates, and persistent
poverty, especially among deprived population groups.
Key health issues encompass poor nutrition, along with
the need to improve good quality and comprehensive
health services in deprived locations, and reorganize the
health system to respond to non-communicable and
other emerging diseases. On the education front, access to
basic education for the most deprived population groups
needs to increase, while the whole country would benefit
from the modernization and expansion of collegiate and
tertiary level education, and vocational training. All levels
of education require more and better teachers in English,
Mathematics, Science and Technology.
Employment challenges include mismatches between
the competencies of graduates and the demands of the
labour market. High unemployment prevails among
young people, women and the educated in general. Heavy
dependence on agriculture for employment continues,
especially outside the Western Province, even as agricultural
productivity remains low. Across the country, people need
more housing, a more adequate network of roads, better
transportation systems, and increased access to electricity,
water and information technology.
Many of these challenges should not be sequentially
pursued, since there are overlaps, linkages and dynamic
feedback effects. Poor education, poor health, malnutrition
and poverty are problems that influence each other and
need to be addressed at the same time. The traditional
approach to health as simply the outcome of actions in the
health sector, is not likely to be successful, for example.
Health is influenced by policies and actions linked to
issues from education to employment to migration. In
establishing priorities, synergies have to be exploited, not
simply noted and put aside.
Three issues require urgent consideration by relevant
authorities. First, Sri Lanka has reached a stage where it is
necessary to modernize, diversify and upgrade education
and health services. Greater private participation is
needed to move forward, given resource and technological
limitations in the public sector. Exactly how to do this is
something that should be studied and carefully debated.
Already, unregulated private participation has underscored
the need to ensure quality and standards of services, means
for monitoring and fair access.
Second, the dire shortage of resources, rising demand and
competing priorities point to the need to streamline and
prioritize publicly provided health and education services,
while encouraging private provision in other areas.
These measures must be complemented by governance
mechanisms to ensure monitoring and compliance. Care
will need to be exercised so that administrative costs do
not exceed benefits.
Third, special and perhaps preferential attention is
required for conflict-affected areas, the estates and remote
rural areas where poverty is high, malnutrition widespread
and educational outcomes low. In-depth knowledge on
the special challenges of extending public services to these
areas needs to be acquired in order to integrate them
into the mainstream of life and provide amenities similar
to those enjoyed by the rest of Sri Lankans. This process
could be understood as both a development priority, and a
prerequisite for peace and security.
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sri lanka Human Development report 2012