Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012.pdf

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The Moors comprise 8.3 percent of the population, Burgers 0.2 percent, Malays 0.3 percent and others 0.2 percent (Table A1). Sri Lankan Moors and Malays are mainly Tamil speaking and are mostly Muslims. Close to a third of Sri Lankan Muslims live in the Eastern Province and about a quarter in the Western Province. There are high concentrations of Muslims in the North Western and Central provinces, while the others live in pockets throughout the country. Conflict and the Governance Structure Sri Lanka has experienced a series of socio-political disturbances over the past several decades. Many conflicts occurred along ethnic and regional lines, rising from the multiple and multifaceted grievances of both Sinhalese and Tamils. Some underlying causes included the unequal distribution of the benefits of economic growth, postcolonial language legislation, perceived injustices regarding ethnic representation in public institutions, access to land and water, and devolution of central power to regions. 10 Even before Sri Lanka’s independence from Britain in 1948, the governance structure and means of ensuring the rights of minority groups received the attention of political leaders. The new nation was characterized by a centralized form of government that had safeguards for minority groups, including in terms of parliamentary representation. 11 Nonetheless, group interests along ethnic lines came to the forefront of the political arena. Differences peaked in the 1977 parliamentary election, with the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), mainly representing the Sri Lankan Tamil population, campaigning on a platform of a separate state for the country’s Tamil population in the north and east of the country. Steps to alleviate grievances were incorporated in the 1978 Constitution. Some key measures included the recognition of Tamil as an official/national language alongside Sinhala, and the adoption of proportional representation in parliamentary elections to accommodate smaller constituent interests. Ethnic agitations were unmitigated, however, and from the early 1980s, Sri Lanka was caught in a conflict that escalated into an armed uprising by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was only in May 2009, after a painful and costly three-decade long conflict, that Sri Lanka was able to end the aggression. Sri Lanka has been prone to other conflicts along socioeconomic and political lines in the past. The country suffered two uprisings led by a Marxist-oriented political party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( JVP), in 1971 and 1987-89. It drew support primarily from rural youth as a result of endemic youth unemployment, primarily among educated youth. In particular, the socio-political tensions that led to the uprising of the late 1980s were fuelled by the “perceptions among…the rural poor and urban working classes that the dynamics of the early liberalization phase had effectively by-passed them.” 12 Since independence, different population groups have argued for diverse forms of power sharing. Following the social conflicts in the early 1970s, decentralized administration of development was considered a means for reaching the grass-roots, a political demand voiced mainly by rural Sinhalese. 13 The district development councils, established in the mid-1970s and transformed into elected bodies in 1981, were some of the main initial attempts to link development administration to people. For their part, the Tamils called for greater autonomy to manage their affairs in the regions where they were highly concentrated - the north and east. Immediately following independence, the demand was for a separate federal state, 14 which changed to demands for a separate state by the mid-1970s. This then led to conflict. Various governments, sometimes assisted by the international community, attempted to arrive at a political solution to the conflict. The 13th Amendment to the Constitution, brought about by the Indo-Lanka Political Accord of 1987, was one important attempt at devolving some powers to the provinces. It stipulated that the provinces would be governed by provincial councils, elected for a five-year period. Below the provincial councils are municipal and urban councils, and pradeshiya sabhas (village councils). People directly elect officials to all local councils. Unfortunately, different political groups have considered these attempts at power sharing inadequate. Chapter 1 WHY REVISIT REGIONAL DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 3
Negotiations are still ongoing to find a lasting solution acceptable to all communities. Changes to the electoral system have impacted governance over time. Given the current system of proportional representation, the likelihood of a single-party Government with a clear majority is small. 15 However, experiences with coalition arrangements with a slim majority in Parliament have led to political and policy instability. One example is the emergence of the parochial interests of small political groups at the expense of national priorities, which over time has resulted in an increase in the number of line ministries responsible for sectoral policy management. Ambiguities in assigned responsibilities among central ministries, as well as between different levels of government, can confuse and weaken development efforts. An effective post-conflict scenario has to be based on the efficient demarcation of institutions, proper coordination between various government bodies, accountability in appointing personnel, and improved physical and human resource capacity. Recent Patterns in Growth and Poverty The Sri Lankan economy maintained an average economic growth rate above 6 percent from 2003 to 2010. 16 This is an especially noteworthy achievement considering that conflict not only held back development in directly affected areas, but also delayed development in other regions, since security concerns required a reprioritization of resources. One estimate places the economic cost of the conflict from 1983 to 1996 at twice Sri Lanka’s 1996 gross domestic product (GDP). 17 Defence expenditures rose significantly, increasing from 1.4 percent of GDP in 1983 to as much as 6 percent of GDP in 1996. 18 In 2009, defence expenditure was 3 percent of GDP. 19 These increases have crowded out any fiscal leeway for boosting investments in health, education and other productive assets. 20 In addition, the volatile security situation has made it more difficult to compete for international investments. With economic growth, per capita income increased, reaching US $2,400 in 2010 from US $981 in 2003. 21 A general improvement in living standards meant the number of people living below the official poverty line declined from 4.3 million in 2002 to 1.8 million in 2009- 2010, a reduction of close to 58 percent. The proportion of the population living below the official poverty line (known as the poverty headcount ratio) dropped from 22.7 percent to 8.9 percent over the same period. 22 Figure 1.1: Share of GDP by Province, 2003-2009 Source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka, annual report, various years. 4 sri lanka Human Development report 2012
Page 1 and 2: SriLankaHumanDevelopmentReport 2012
Page 3 and 4: Sri Lanka Human Development Report
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements This report would
Page 7 and 8: sri lanka Human Development report
Page 9 and 10: Access to water 89 Accessibility to
Page 11 and 12: Figure 1.1: Share of GDP by Provinc
Page 13 and 14: Table 2.1 Table 2.2: Table 2.3: Tab
Page 15 and 16: CHAPTER 1 Why Revisit Regional Dime
Page 17: spreading its fruits more equitably
Page 21 and 22: Box 1.1 A Selected Summary of Damag
Page 23 and 24: Other Vulnerable Groups A number of
Page 25 and 26: education financing and the distrib
Page 27 and 28: CHAPTER 2 Patterns of Human Develop
Page 29 and 30: population. It accounts for inequal
Page 31 and 32: Regional Variations in the Human De
Page 33 and 34: Map 2.1: Human Development Index 20
Page 35 and 36: Gender Inequality Index Among distr
Page 37 and 38: Comparing Districts Across Indices
Page 39 and 40: 14.5 percent in 2009-2010. As seen
Page 41 and 42: Economic Growth and Inequality Alth
Page 43 and 44: The poverty gap index, which measur
Page 45 and 46: half the headcount index. For the e
Page 47 and 48: What are the factors that push peop
Page 49 and 50: lowest incidence of both income and
Page 51 and 52: CHAPTER 3 Bridging Human Developmen
Page 53 and 54: disability of the heads of poor hou
Page 55 and 56: Infant Mortality and Under-five Mor
Page 57 and 58: and given three doses each of polio
Page 59 and 60: as the absence of illness, but also
Page 61 and 62: Box 3.2: Gender-based Violence The
Page 63 and 64: Figure 3.7: Distribution of Governm
Page 65 and 66: Figure 3.10: Medical Officers per 1
Page 67 and 68: While access to public health care
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Data on access in the Northern and
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People in Conflict-affected Areas F
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CHAPTER 4 Bridging Human Developmen
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Levels)—mark the end of the senio
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Funding Education Public investment
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Figure 4.2: Distribution of Out-of-
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Male children are generally less li
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Deficits in information technology
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supports displaced children who ret
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Educational Performance: Senior Sec
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Building a Knowledge Economy Sri La
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Figure 4.10: Distribution of Univer
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offered by private institutions. 18
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CHAPTER 5 Bridging Human Developmen
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twice the rate for the economy as a
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across geographic locations and by
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Box 5.1 Programmes to Improve Infra
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Figure 5.5: Extent (Ac) of Agricult
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towards constructing multipurpose r
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The length of national, provincial
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performs better in terms of mobile
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Technological advancements and tran
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Figure 5.12: Number of Fishers and
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CHAPTER 6 Bridging Governance Gaps:
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Figure 6.1: Sri Lanka’s Tax Reven
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When taxation becomes more visible,
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Table 6.2: The CPI: Comparing Count
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While the objective is laudable, it
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There has been progress on some ind
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to collect their own revenue throug
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the public sector in policy reform
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Table 6.6: Women in Elected Politic
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CHAPTER 7 Building on Peace, Progre
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This is a considerable task, but it
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The Ministry of Health in associati
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nationally and locally. The decline
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Notes sri lanka Human Development r
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54 World Health Organization 2001.
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amount equivalent to 8 percent of G
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Bibliography sri lanka Human Develo
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———. 2009e. Statistics databa
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Draft-13%2006%202010.pdf]. Last acc
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———. 2008c. Land Reforms in S
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Table A2: Human Development Index a
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Table A4: Income Poverty, Multidime
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Table A6: Income Poverty and Measur
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Table A8: Demography, Land and Hous
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Table A10: Infant Mortality, Under-
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Table A12: Maternal Nutrition, Tota
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Table A14: Health Awareness Percent
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Table A16: Primary Gross Enrolment
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Table A18: Government Schools and S
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Table A20: Labour Force Labour forc
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Table A22: Unemployed Population Un
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Table A24: Household Possessions Co
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Table A26: Average Distance and Tim
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Technical Note sri lanka Human Deve
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HDI= (I Life Expectancy ) 1 / 3 ×
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where MMR=maternal mortality rate;
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Multidimensional poverty headcount(
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Figure T.2: Intensity of Poverty an
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of the total deprivations of poor p
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178 sri lanka Human Development rep
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