SRI LANKA COUNTRY PROFILE

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CP2002-SRI LANKA PAGE 68 Of 106
WSSD was slow to reach the NGO community in Sri Lanka compared to UNCED. One main cited reason for this is
the lack of funds allocated to UNDP and lack of funding to governments and NGOs to organize themselves and
participate in the process. However, few voluntary efforts by the some Sri Lankan environmental NGOs led to
consult the public on sustainable development issues and to prepare an independent report. The second effort is by a
group of individuals to establish National Council for Sustainable Development. This group is made out of
individuals working for NGOs in the fields of social justice and constitutional reform, development alternatives &
sustainable technology, women’s rights and democracy, poverty alleviation and trade democratization, community
health and demographics, sustainable development and environmental conservation, etc. However, neither process
has made significant improvement by the end of year 2001. It is expected that more interest, momentum and
organization will take place during the year 2002 in close-up to the WSSD in August/September. Capacity-
Building, Education, Training and Awareness-Raising: The School of Social Services of the Ministry of Social
Services is conducting several training programmes including Diploma programmes for the NGOs. Several NGO
fora such as Sarvodaya, NGO Forum, Energy Forum, Intermediate Technology Development Group and
Environmental Jurnalist Forum are also conducting various training programmes for NGOs. Some Universities are
offering post-graduate level courses targeting NGO community such as M.Sc in Community Development in
Colombo University, M.Sc in Human Security in Sri Jayewardenepura University. Only few NGOs in Sri Lanka
have built their institutional capacity or self sustenance of their activities. Therefore in order to develop NGO
capacity several projects have been under taken by the government. Among them the Environment Action 1 Project
of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources funded by the World Bank has a separate component called
Community Environment Initiatives Facility purely for the NGOs to undertake environment projects to build their
capacity to engage in national development programmes. At present there are more than 300 such projects
implemented by the NGOs. GEF Small Grant Projects are also under way with the participation of the NGOs. Rural
credit programmes, village development programmes, social empowerment programmes, environmental
conservation programmes, community education programmes, community enterprise development programmes and
many other initiatives by the NGOs were useful programmes that rural communities benefited. There is a strong
NGO awareness campaign both by the government and the NGO themselves is being carried out in the country.
The Central Environment Authority has developed a NGO directory including 3000 registered with them for using
dissemination of information and awareness creation. Information: The Ministry of Social Services, Ministry of
Environment and Central Environment Authority (CEA) have compiled information on NGOs. Ex. NGO Directory
of the CEA. Sharing of information has not been satisfactory within the NGO sector. The territorial mindset of
NGOs and lack of togetherness within the sector makes them protective about sharing information and resources.
Information sharing has to develop within the sector and also with other sectors through networking and partnership
building. Research and Technologies: The government makes use of NGOs to undertake various research and
technology development. Intermediate Technology Development Group has developed various clean technologie s
i.e. mini hydro power plant. However in general NGOs lack the ability, capacity and professionalism that are
required by the true levels of research and technology. More concentration towards campaigning, lobbying and
awareness creation has taken away the NGO community from research and technology. Also lack of funds for R&T
is a main cause for the lack of interest. This has resulted in NGOs becoming more and more reactive rather than
being proactive. Financing: Most NGOs depend on funds from foreign donors. However government also supports
them. Hence, changes in donor policies and subject areas for funding decide the fate and performance of these
NGOs. Lack of consistency by donor support has destabilized NGOs working in the areas related to sustainable
development. Self-financing NGOs are very few in existence. Even the fund raising projects of NGOs have not
been sufficient to sustain their activities. Cooperation: Regional and international co-operation amongst NGOs is
commendable. The interest of partnership building, networking and conferencing has always been at a high level
among the NGOs. However, there is no significant bilateral or regional NGO co-operative programmes and projects
within South Asia that can be highlighted. The need for co-operative effort to find solutions to common problems in
the region need to be felt more.
Local Authorities: Decision-Making: The Constitution of Sri Lanka has recognized the Local Authorities (LA) as
important agencies that implement development programmes for the benefit of the local community. The Thirteenth