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A dynamic society survives and thrives on application of greater inclusion rights to participate in progressive economic empowerment and development through appropriate capacity building vertically and horizontally.
Sri Lanka leads on key
areas of inclusion
Whilst a majority of countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia have visibly noticeable large marginalised populations, Sri Lanka stands out as a country where the State has taken key responsibility in sustaining and building capacity in the area of healthcare and education, where inclusion is created for every citizen to have access to free education and free healthcare.
Perhaps Sri Lanka most probably is the only country in Asia that has sustained this kind of inclusive benefit to its people for well over five decades though the people of this country do not realise and appreciate this at times.
Far behind in greater inclusion
With a population of over 20 million, high literacy rate of over 94% and greater longevity, the country has yet to achieve significant milestones as depicted in key economic performance indicators in comparison to some of the similar size economies in Asia which were far behind Sri Lanka a couple of decades back. This is mainly attributable to non-availability, inaccessibility and un-affordability of opportunities for all key sectors and segments of society to involve in beneficial economic engagement as a producer, a propagator and consumer.
Availability, accessibility and affordability – key for inclusion
In a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-cultural society like Sri Lanka, we have far more polarised segments that demand availability, accessibility and affordability for economic engagement, empowerment and enrichment.
The clear and visible gaps and needs that are surfacing pose continuous challenges to all the key stakeholders of Sri Lankan society to build capacity and offer more pragmatic solutions in the short-term, mid-term and in the long-term for inclusion.
Future depends on inclusion of all key segments
The youth segment and rural segment of Sri Lanka are still key areas that needs significant and multiple stakeholder engagements in capacity building for economic inclusion. As Sri Lanka progresses towards achieving key milestones in economic development, as a country one cannot forget the two key segments that greatly contribute to the economy of the country.
One is the estate worker and their family segment and the other is the migrant worker and their dependent segment looking for more support and assistance to come out of the cycle of poverty and engage in economic independence.
Partnership between public and private sector key for inclusion
Towards creating a greater economically inclusive society in Sri Lanka, leaving the sole responsibility and capacity building exercise squarely in the hands of the State and of the Government is not fair as many stakeholders would derive benefits from all segments of society.
This is where responsible, viable and pragmatic public/private sector dialogue needs to be initiated and multiple collaboration and engagement created for more sustainable and accountable solutions to empower Sri Lankan society vertically and horizontally across the length and breadth of the country.
See the big picture
and eye-to-eye
In a recent study done by independent entity, what very surprisingly surfaced was that around 35 leading private sector corporate business entities in Sri Lanka allocate and spend over Rs. 2 billion annually on CSR activities.
The same study also revealed that most companies spend in bits and pieces here and there on pet projects of the respective companies rather than on nationally important areas and projects, leading to overspending and duplicity. Further, none of these companies do an impact assessment of their projects on society in a scientific manner.
Just think about the impact it can create on Sri Lankan society if this Rs. 2 billion spent annually by the private sector was allocated for capacity building on nationally important three to four key areas with joint collaboration and engagement of the private and public sector.
Need more champions
for social inclusion
In the weeks ahead, through a series of advocations in the Daily FT under the caption ‘Inclusive Society,’ I intend to enlighten all stakeholders to see the big picture and possibly see eye-to-eye with each other in creating an economically inclusive Sri Lankan society, covering all segments of society.
The writer is the Project Director of Hatton National Bank and the Chairman of Asia’s largest microfinance network, BWTP. He also serves on the boards of a number of national and international financial institutions that advocate and practice financial inclusion. The thoughts and comments expressed here are his own and are in no way connected to the organisations that he represents. He can be reached at
[email protected].)
