Life after this Death?
“All that is solid melts into the air…” Marx and Engels (The Communist Manifesto) The socio-economic edifice that is Sri Lanka’s informal sector is collapsing. According to the 2020 Labour Force Survey,…
Poverty
The Economics Of Poetry
I will try to balance the books, moral and historical ones, caused by migration, that give me a paycheck and put food and drink on the table, that keep my…
Child Labour: Remedies in a Humanitarian Crisis
Our numbers are good, that is, if you glance at them and move on. We are proud to acknowledge that we have some of the lowest rates of child labour in South…
Supporting Urban Poor Families in Colombo
Low income settlements in Colombo experienced greater food insecurity even before the pandemic with 72% of households being food insecure[1]. Women in low income households in Colombo were more likely to be…
Rescuing the Poor from the Economic Abyss
At a small grocery store, an elderly man pointed at a particular packet of biscuits and asked what the price was – it was Rs.70. The man asked if there were biscuits…
Protecting the Rights of the Disadvantaged When Talking to the IMF
Had the decision been thought out and strategic like that of Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia during the Asian financial crisis, I would have backed the Sri Lanka government’s lack of interest in going…
Our Planet, Our Health
Today is World Health Day World Health Day, a global health awareness day, was declared to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 7, 1948. World…
The Ides of March: Protests, Discontent and Disconnects
The month of March has seen widespread discontent expressed by many Sri Lankans from all walks of life on new and old social, economic and political concerns leading to more than 100…
Water Pumps and Chickens: Rhetoric vs Reality in the North
December 19, 2021. Jaffna town. 6 am. Three motorcycles parked one behind the other at an angle with headlights on. Two armed military personnel, clad in black, on each motorcycle. Women headed…
Urban Beautification, Military Design
“As an abstract political force, poverty is very useful; it scares and disciplines the working classes, keeps wages down…” Parenti, 1999 Visible urban poverty disrupts the gilded cityscape. It shatters the sanctity…
The Plight of Up Country Tamils in the North
Ever since they were brought to Sri Lanka from South India by the British colonists to work on the coffee, tea and rubber plantations Malayaha Tamils, more commonly known as Hill Country Tamils, Up…
COVID Lockdowns: A Look at the Lower Income Tiers
My daily commute to Colombo has been on hold for quite some time since my office adopted work from home as part of our work routine. If it is anything that I…
Coping with Regional Disparities in Services During a Pandemic
The access to and distribution of public services have a history of uneven and unequal distribution across geographies due to scarce resources, contextual factors and competing interests. This disparity is most visible…
The Impact of COVID-19 on Peace and Poverty in Asia
Photo courtesy of Centre for Poverty Analysis The 2030 agenda for sustainable development encompasses a transformational vision for a world free of poverty and hunger through its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)…
Four Stylised Facts about Covid-19 Impacts in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is reputed for having the highest human development indicators in South Asia as early as the 1970s through notable social spending relative to its per capita income. The end of…
