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Millennium Development Goals in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Man and Child

Sri Lanka prides itself for possessing the most advanced development indicators in South Asia. The country is known for the strides it has taken in reducing levels of maternal and infant mortality through an effective network of community health workers. Literacy levels for both sexes are close to 100% and life expectancy high. The net enrolment ratio in primary education is above 95 per cent and immunisation coverage is successful with 88 per cent of one-year-olds immunised against measles and polio.

Despite the strong track record, there are deep regional disparities across the MDG indicators associated with income, poverty and child nutrition. Firstly, these welfare standards are not matched by adequate livelihoods, with 23 per cent of Sri Lankans living below the poverty line. A recent World Bank poverty assessment report states that rural areas account for 80% of the population and about 88% of the poor. Much of the country’s wealth and economic activity is concentrated in the Western province where growth is 2 to 3 times faster than the rest of the country. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for poverty and hunger are assessed as “not on track” in the progress report published in 2005.

The second issue is that swathes of the country have been largely cut off to government agencies for over 20 years and reliable human development data for the conflict regions in the north and east is not yet forthcoming. In an unusual step, the MDG progress report recommends that a strategy for achieving the Goals in the conflict regions should be separated from plans for the rest of the country.

Food Security in Sri Lanka

Farmers in Sri Lanka

The World Food Programme (WFP) has listed the country as one of “hunger’s global hotspots,” where half of the population consumes less than the recommended daily calorie intake and malnutrition affects 29% of children. Likewise the FAO has put Sri Lanka among 14 countries facing "food emergencies" due to rising prices. This is partly because the country is unable to grow enough rice to feed itself, and partly because of poor internal infrastructure for food distribution. Import duties on rice have been removed and the government is depending on friendly neighbouring countries to make available sufficient supplies.

The escalating civil war creates the worst possible environment for dealing with a potential food crisis, especially as the rice surplus regions in the north coincide with the conflict zone. A recent WFP report states that the conflict presents a “serious threat to overall food security”. An unsettling development in 2008 is the temporary suspension of the WFP feeding programme for 175,000 people in the northeast, due to lack of funds.

Climate Change in Sri Lanka

Climate change will accentuate growing fears about food security, given the predictions of falling crop yields and disruption to the water cycle. Sri Lanka’s paddy farmers have already adjusted the timing of the planting cycle in response to changing monsoon patterns. Floods destroyed 2.5% of harvests in early 2008.

There are inevitable worries about the impact of rising sea levels on a coastline already battered by the 2004 tsunami. The irony of the more serious projections is that the Jaffna Peninsular, over which so much blood has been spilt, faces the risk of being submerged as it is the most low-lying coastal region.
Conflict in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has been afflicted for over two decades by a civil war between its Government and a separatist militant group known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The origin of the conflict lies in a long history of grievances between the Sinhala Buddhist majority (approximately 74 percent) and the largest minority, the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are predominantly Hindus (approximately 13 per cent). Open violence broke out in 1983 in the form of an insurgency by the LTTE demanding an independent state in the north and east of the country. Over 70,000 people have been killed during the war and large areas of fertile land are riddled with landmines and unexploded ordnance.

An Action Against Hunger project in Sri Lanka © Benoit Mirabel / Action Against Hunger-USA

A Norwegian brokered ceasefire, secured in early 2002, was followed by protracted and intermittent rounds of discussions, again under Norwegian mediation, in search of a long term peace and political settlement. However, neither side consistently observed the ceasefire, symbolised by the 2006 massacre of 17 Tamil employees of the aid organization, Action Against Hunger. The decision by the European Union and Canada to label the LTTE as a terrorist organisation added complexity to the negotiations.

By December 2006, the president had announced the decision to re-impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which had been in place from the late 1990s until 2002. Defence spending has been increased to about 20% of the national budget, whilst an All Party Representatives Committee set up to recommend a long term political solution has failed to gain any momentum. It came as little surprise when in January 2008 the government announced the termination of the ceasefire and its intention to defeat the LTTE on the battlefield.

A Sri Lankan child displaced by violence © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

Over 5,000 people have been killed in the period since early 2006. Aided by a splinter group of Tamils, at that time under the leadership of Vinayagarmoorthi Muralitharan, known as Karuna, the government has been successful in driving the LTTE out of the Eastern Province and is now seeking to capture remaining areas under LTTE control. This escalation of hostilities in the north and east of Sri Lanka has displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes - indeed many people just recovering from the intense trauma suffered in the tsunami have found themselves displaced for a second time. Whilst many have been able to return to the east, about 200,000 remain displaced and the UN Refugee Agency has made contingency plans for this number to increase to 500,000 during 2008.
Tsunami Reconstruction

Hambantota house destroyed by tsunami © Peter Armstrong

There were many who dared to hope that, out of the tragedy of the tsunami in which 31,000 lives were lost, a new spirit of reconciliation would prevail and unite the country. For a fleeting few weeks in June 2005, such hopes seemed to have come to fruition in the signing by both government and LTTE of the Tsunami Joint Mechanism. This laid down procedures for joint administration of aid funds, thereby overcoming donor reservations about dealing directly with the LTTE. However, signing the agreement had been highly controversial and it was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Sri Lankan High Court.

Nevertheless, over $3 billion of reconstruction funds were pledged, mostly required for rebuilding 120,000 homes and assisting 1 million displaced people. On the 3rd anniversary of the tsunami in December 2007, a report by Transparency International claimed that only $1.2 billion has been received of which only $634 million has been spent.

Sri Lankan children in tsunami camp © Peter Armstrong

Less than 40% of post-tsunami house reconstruction has been completed in the conflict-hit north compared to over 90% in the relatively stable south.

The consequence is that over 8,000 poor families along the coast remain in inadequate temporary accommodation facing enormous difficulties in recovering their livelihoods.
Politics in Sri Lanka

The art of political compromise is not easily found in Sri Lanka although no-one could envy the personal risks carried by politicians in a country where assassination has been a tragically regular occurrence. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest parliamentary democracy with universal suffrage for both men and women since 1931 and parliamentary government since independence from British rule in 1948.

The president of Sri Lanka is the Head of State, the Commander in Chief of the armed forces as well as head of government, and is popularly elected for a six-year term. The president has extensive powers to appoint the prime minister and the cabinet, drawn from 196 elected members of parliament.

Sri Lanka has had two dominant political parties for decades – the UNP (United National Party) and the SLFP (Sri Lanka Freedom Party). However, with the mushrooming of several other political parties, the UNP and the SLFP have resorted to coalition politics in order to gain a parliamentary majority. The UNP’s coalition is now known as the United National Front (UNF) and the SLFP coalition goes under the banner of United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA).

UPFA candidate Mahinda Rajapakse was elected Sri Lanka’s fifth Executive President after winning the 2005 election with the support of the People's Liberation Front (JVP) and the National Heritage Party (JHU), having appealed to Sinhala nationalists with promises of a tougher line in negotiations with the LTTE. Instructions from the LTTE calling voters to abstain from voting in the North and East severely undermined the chances of victory of opposition United National Party (UNP) candidate Ranil Wickremasinghe. His position had been closer to that of the international donor community which is looking for conflict resolution and accelerated tsunami reconstruction.

Rajapakse’s government, which has been in office since April 2004, has been ruling without a clear majority since 2005 when the JVP withdrew from the coalition, unhappy with the proposed tsunami agreement. The JVP has also been highly critical of the Government’s attempts to consider a federal solution to the ethnic conflict.
Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Many of the human rights violations in Sri Lanka are the direct result of twenty years of civil war. Disappearances, threats and intimidation are the order of the day and, if a civilian reports such abuse to the authorities, he/she is likely to face serious repercussions without adequate protection. Whilst many of the violations are linked to the LTTE, an increasing number are attributed to the Karuna faction which enjoys the tacit backing of the Sri Lanka Army. Indeed the Government itself has been accused of orchestrating disappearances, the situation deteriorating since the resumption of hostilities in 2006.

This deterioration is reflected in a stream of critical reports from UN agencies through 2007 and 2008. The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances has singled out Sri Lanka for concern. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, reports that torture has “become routine in the context of counter-terrorism operations”. These concerns culminated in a call by Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that her office should work actively with the Sri Lanka government. Since the departure of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission at the time of the ceasefire breakdown, international human rights organisations have increased their calls for a UN human rights commission to be established in Sri Lanka to ensure independent monitoring and an end to impunity.

The government has rejected such proposals with increasingly vehement language, whilst failing to support its internal body, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. The President’s Commission of Inquiry, established to investigate 16 cases of human rights violations, has lacked effective resources and fell out with an international group of experts invited to monitor progress.

The aftermath of the tsunami prompted incidences of child recruitment, often from vulnerable refugee populations. Abductions and forced training of children as soldiers to make up for the declining number of volunteer fighters continues by both the LTTE and the Karuna factions which together hold about 1800 children, according to Unicef. Furthermore, Human Rights Watch investigations have found evidence that the Sri Lanka military and police have been directly involved in some of the abductions in the east of the country. The government has denied the allegations, as does the LTTE which points to action plans to release children within its ranks. But the continued dissatisfaction of watchdog groups will be a concern for donor agencies whose support for redevelopment of the Tamil areas will be conditional on an end to child abuse.
Information and Media in Sri Lanka

Whilst a wide range of both state and private media is available, Sri Lanka is increasingly considered a highly dangerous country for journalists. Government interference in the media has become commonplace with media staff being threatened if they attempt to present dissenting opinions. The Government has been considering censorship laws for military news similar to those in force before 2002.

International media watchdogs have sounded alarm bells throughout 2007, citing cases of journalists being physically assaulted or killed with impunity. There was outrage at the Sri Lankan air force bombing of The Voice of Tigers – the official radio station of the LTTE – in which 5 editorial staff died.

The well known online Tamil news outlet, TamilNet, was closed to Sri Lankan users during 2007. Government harassment is however by no means confined to Tamil language media. In Colombo the editor of the Daily Mirror reportedly received phone threats from the Defence Secretary warning her of physical danger and threats to ‘exterminate’ a staff journalist for an article on the plight of displaced people in the East.



Faraza Farook is a journalist with over five years experience for The Sunday Times in Sri Lanka and also as a freelance writer for UNICEF. She was recently Communications Coordinator for South Asia Partnership International and is currently based in London.

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