Will COVID-19 Trigger a Baby Boom or Bust?
*Sandamali is 26 weeks pregnant but she doesn’t yet know the sex of her unborn child. She lives in Bodagama with her husband and her two children, where healthcare facilities are at…
Economy
Lost and Confused – An Economic Policy in Shambles
At the time of gaining independence 74 years ago, Sri Lanka was a prosperous country that was recognised as a model economy with a per capita income of $120, on par with…
Short Sighted Agricultural Policies Spell Doom for Farmers and the Country
The decision to ban chemical fertilizer is one of the crucial policy changes taken by the current government since coming to power. It received mix reactions from the public. The government’s argument…
Managing Economic Inequity During and After COVID
When the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for economic sanctions against Sri Lanka, everyone over here sits up and takes notice. For the first time in years, the Government suddenly talks…
Institutional Discrimination Puts Plantation Community at Risk
Over the last two decades the plantation sector has undergone huge changes in Sri Lanka including a sharp reduction in the labour force, poor social welfare provision, lower productivity and a rapid…
Lack of Good Governance Will Cost Sri Lanka Dearly
The Sri Lankan government’s failure to respect human rights, democracy and accountability have caused alarm at home and abroad and may prove still more costly in various ways. After a recent decision…
Avoiding Necrocapitalism in Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zones
Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Zone (FTZ) workers are employed in global factories deeply embedded in global supply chains. Historically, they contribute significantly to Sri Lanka’s export income and economic development goals. Women,…
Hidden and Discounted: Child Labour in Tea and Tourism
In the South Asian region, Sri Lanka is a success story when it comes to tackling child labour. The widely prevalent forms of child labour in the 1990s and before, such as…
Navigating Geopolitics: The Need for a Balanced and Nuanced Approach
The visit of Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe to Sri Lanka in late April 2021 – the second visit by a high ranking Chinese official since the pandemic – has raised…
Vaccine Inequality and the Cost to Garment Sector Workers
Sri Lanka’s admired initial coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic is now a distant memory. The second wave that multiplied from the Brandix factory in Minuwangoda should have sounded a warning to…
Ban on Chemical Fertilizer a Threat to Food Security
The ban on the import of chemical fertilizer makes sense to some and not to others; however it has far reaching implications for food security. In the pre independence era, the population…
Bridging the Generational Divide to Prevent Future Conflict
The youth of a country are the forerunners of social progress; notwithstanding this historical fact, we cannot underestimate the role other social strata play in the social development of a nation. Youth…
Bitter Sugar, Poisoned Oil
The recent scandals involving sugar and coconut oil should point the country to the dangers of private sector mafias and rent seekers. These are not your typical consumer goods: they are fast…
Drowning in Debt, Women Farmers Take a Firm Stand
Trapped between unscrupulous microfinance companies and duplicitous governments, Sri Lanka’s rural women farmers are drowning in debt. Over 200 have committed suicide, some with their young children; families have been wrecked and…
Rural Women Demand Relief from the Vicious Cycle of Debt
Saumya is a mother of two from Polonnaruwa who has taken a loan of Rs. 200,000 from a well-established microfinance company in the region to start a small apparel business to make…
