Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Sunday Sep 22, 2024
Thursday, 28 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Shabiya Ali Ahlam:
Q: What was the theme for the 68th UN day and why was it selected?
A: The theme for this year was ‘Uniting Youth’. Sri Lanka’s youth population is needed to sustain development for the next years and especially with the revolution in technology, the engagement of the youth to the development agenda becomes key.
Q: Is this theme only for Sri Lanka or is it the global theme for the 68th UN day celebrations?
A: Each UN country team has the flexibility to select a theme. In Sri Lanka, we chose youth but we decided to also create awareness on the UNDAF Pillars.
Q: What are the activities that took place around the UN day?
A: There were two main activities. One was an exhibit of the different projects that the UN, in partnership with the relevant ministries, is working on. These projects were developed under the four pillars of the UNDAF. The second activity is the awarding of the winners for the Youth Art Competition.
Q: There also was an art competition that showed many interesting subjects. How was that?
A: The art competition was absolutely fantastic. It was one of the event’s highlights. We had about 1,500 submissions under the four UNDAF pillars that I mentioned. The theme was ‘My Future, My Sri Lanka’. There were many beautiful paintings and also digital art. The number of entries and the quality of the submissions showed how eager the youth is in illustrating their future environment. We are going to keep most of the art works. They will be used in different UN communication materials in the future.
Q: Most of the art had sustainability as the subject. Could you elaborate on that?
A: Yes, most of the artwork was on caring for the environment. This gives us an idea of how sensitive the youth are towards the environment they live in. There were some creative expressions on the Sri Lankan landscape and rural scenes. My experience here is that young people are truly committed to their environment and are keen to preserve it. As they say, a picture speaks a thousand words. The artwork showed harmony among different activities, and that is something we have to keep in mind. The UN and the people should work together in achieving the development goals of this country.
Q: Why is sustainability and environment an interesting topic amongst the youth?
A: I think young people are realising how important it is to have a good environment. You feel better when you have a good, clean environment around you. I think the young people also realise that this island is unique in terms of its biodiversity, and the call is clear that they must protect it. They also understand that it will be important to maintain the quality of the environment when it comes to development.
Q: Is the younger generation being more responsible than the older generation with regard to the environment?
A: The previous generation was working very closely with the environment because the economy was based on agriculture. For a long time, people valued natural resources. Now that development relies heavily the expansion of infrastructure, the impact on the environment is much bigger. It took a few decades to realise how the consequences will affect the growing population. Now, the young generation is more aware that they don’t want to lose the environment, and this is the same in many other countries. It is easier for young people to adjust and adopt new agendas and the environment is one of the most challenging agendas globally.
Q: The fourth pillar of the United Nations Development Ass-istance Framework (UNDAF) attempts to reduce the footprint?
A: Yes, the fourth pillar is dealing with environmental sustainability, with climate change mitigation or adaption, along with disaster management and reduction.
Q: In that area, what are the issues observed in Sri Lanka?
A: There is a wide range of issues. For example, access to water and good sanitation is heavily related to environmental sustainability. It is not just an issue of infrastructure and urban development. It is really about how the country is going to manage its water sources, and how it is going to make sure that the environment will not get polluted with the developing urban areas and higher production of waste, and how the consumption and distribution of water should be optimised to minimise the tapping of natural resources.
Recently there were few cases of pollution, either from industries or sewage, and these have immediate impacts. I think people understand that they cannot have heavy and extensive production without continuing to destroy the environment, because it has a direct impact on them. People are falling sick, and the neighbourhood is getting dirty.
Climate change is very important in Sri Lanka. When we hear about rising sea levels, how do we deal with that? Tourism is going to be a major element of the economy here. If the country loses the beach and if it gets polluted because of bad industrial development and poor waste management, income from tourism is at risk. In terms of disaster management, it is very important for Sri Lanka to have the right mechanisms in place. I was amazed when there was a small earthquake in Colombo last year ago, there was a fear of another Tsunami. I was travelling at that time and within an hour and a half, the towns were evacuated. Now there is awareness, and there is a system in place. And that is very important—to make sure people are ready to react in case there is an incoming disaster.
The second part, which is more long term, is to make sure that the disaster doesn’t have a larger impact on the country. This can be done through building the right infrastructure, regulate land use, and increase the awareness amongst all segments of the population
Q: Another area that Sri Lanka is finding difficult to address is in waste management. How is the UN linking with the Government in this regard?
A: UNOPS in partnership with the local authorities implements waste management projects. We work at different levels on waste management. We work with the local authorities, for collection and disposal, but we also work with the Ministry of Environment and the Central Environmental Agency to develop the right policies required for a strong ground level implementation. We also work at the central level with the local Government to ensure that the policies are implemented, and done in a proper manner. There are some very good and comprehensive policies in Sri Lanka. The challenge is in the implementation of the projects. The implementation for waste management is not complicated, but there is a need for it to be structured, systematic, and disciplined.
Q: So what are the barriers that stand between policies and implementation?
A: Sometimes, it is lack of awareness, from the people and the local authorities. Sometimes, it is the lack of discipline in implementing a system. Another barrier is the lack of resources, which includes human resources and capital. Nobody wants to deal with waste, but when people start to understand the importance of waste management, it is not so difficult. Community management with the right leadership it can work really well. The good thing about Sri Lanka is that the top leaders are very keen to make this country clean. This is why Colombo is so clean. The first thing that most visitors say when visiting Sri Lanka is how clean Colombo is compared to other countries. That is a big achievement and it is slowly getting into the mind of the people.
While the waste in Colombo is being collected regularly, the issue now is what can be done with the waste. There are systems to handle the waste, but waste is accumulating. So the next issue to be addressed is how waste can be reduced. This goes back to the community and the private sector. It is a whole process, but it is not complicated. It is a matter of identifying every part of the process and making sure that somebody is responsible at every level. But then, it should also be understood that to have that process there will be costs involved. . Municipalities need to raise the proper revenue to provide the service.
Q: Does UNOPS help the local authorities in any way to raise revenue?
A: Yes, we do. We work at several levels. Beyond the infrastructure built and the equipment provided, the largest expenditure of the programs is building the capacities of local authorities for them to organise their collection well, operate their equipment, train their staff and raise their revenues. It is challenging, but very rewarding for the local authorities to see the positive impact of improved management and operations of public services.
Q: Can it be said that waste management is improving in Sri Lanka?
A: Certainly, it is improving very much. There are other large projects coming up in Galle and Kandy. However, Jaffna and the West coast need to get some attention with this regard. But it is an agenda that is really moving.
Q: UNOPS is also involved in infrastructure development, an area where the Government has been showing great interest. What are the issues observed in that area?
A: There are many issues. The overall development strategy is heavily based on infrastructure development. This means that the country is going to need huge amounts of investment to support that development. The two main issues in this regard are prioritisation, and quality assurance.
What we try to suggest with some of our partners is how a particular ministry or a local authority should prioritise their infrastructure, and do a cost benefit analysis. Say a local authority wants to build a fishery harbour. For this, they need to look at the cost, the size, expected revenue, distance from other harbours, and number of boats coming in. There is a lot of data and parameters that needs to be looked at before making an investment. The economic and the social dimensions should be looked into, so that there is a real added value in building a particular infrastructure, not just a political interest.
The second aspect of that is how the infrastructure is built with high quality. If infrastructure is constructed poorly, and not maintained correctly, chances are it will fall apart within three or five years.
This is happening already with some of the roads that have been built in the past four years. So the decision making process has to balance the speed of the investment (need for social/economic/political reasons), with the quality of the investment, as well as the budget required for the actual investment, vs. the budget required for an active and effective maintenance.
The other issue is when building infrastructure in rural areas, there is a lack of skilled labourers. There is also limited operation management skills, and financial management skills within the contractors community. Our experience is that many contractors can do one project very well, but when given a number of projects, they are unable to handle it.
The major issue here is how to fill the gap in the skills needed for the next five to ten years, since a lot of young people want to be well educated and do not want to be part of the construction sector.
Q: UNOPS recently won the Global award for fisheries harbour development. Any key lessons for Sri Lanka?
A: Yes, there are certainly lessons from it. First, planning and good project management is very important. This only means that we need to invest in human resources in the planning phase to ensure that all the different aspects of the project are considered, and all stakeholders consulted and involved. We need to make sure that strong quality control mechanisms are included. The schedule and the cost of the project should also be looked at.
One of the reasons why we won the award is that aside from quality, we also managed the project within the cost, budget and the time frame. Many of the infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka are not completed on time. The delay leads to cost over runs which can be expensive and add to the fiscal burden that the country has to bear. It is important to mention that Sri Lanka has been borrowing a lot of money to invest in infrastructure. Finally, this project had a very significant economic impact, as more than 10,000 families have seen their income from fishery activities boosted up, and new activities have developed around the harbours. With the improvement of the road network around the country, it also means that fishermen in remote areas now have access to larger markets in Colombo or other major cities.
The next challenge for the country will be to carefully manage its fish stock in the southern seas. So once again, it will be essential to find the right balance between the level and size of infrastructure investment, and the preservation and sustainable management of the natural resources for future generations.
Q: From the UNOPS perspective, are there any gender concerns in Sri Lanka?
A: In the context of UNOPS work, a key gender concern is equal treatment and economic opportunity for women. It is very important to continuously create job opportunities for both women and men. When there are no opportunities for women, many women consider migration as a means of employment. This migration results in many hardships for their families. The good thing about migration is it brings a lot of remittance to the country. However, many people forget to understand migration’s social impacts. Hence, promoting employment, economic opportunity, and economic empowerment for women in country is essential for the social wellbeing of Sri Lanka.
Q: Having just celebrated the UN day, what is your message for Sri Lanka?
A: The UN works towards peace, prosperity, togetherness, and happiness. The UN works with all the communities at different levels. It is important for us to integrate our actions, in the strategic and operational level. We have to make sure that we are bringing good practice, and good examples from other middle income countries that have been successful. We are eager to assist Sri Lanka in pacing its development in the right way to avoid getting into the middle income trap. Sri Lanka is strong willed. Things are moving very fast in this country. The advantage is that it is a small country with 20 million people, so it is more manageable, unlike other countries where logistics is a big challenge. I just hope that while developing the country, we should be able to maintain its beauty.
