A Culture of Dependency
The following article is a translation of a story by our sister site examining the exploitative practises of microfinance companies based in the North and East, which are causing fresh trauma for…
Poverty
Conflict-Affected Women in Sri Lanka – Still Waiting For Answers
There has been a marked increase in female-headed households in the North and East of the country as a consequence of the war in Sri Lanka concluded in 2009. Women in Sri…
The Story of a Man who Built Five Cinemas: Combating the Culture of Poverty
The story of Veerappa Alagoo and his family is also that of one the most disadvantaged and discriminated against among the major communities of this island. Alagoo’s story relates to a minor…
Vijay Nagaraj: Contributions to public discourse in many guises
Vijay Nagaraj, who passed away in a tragic car accident in August, was someone I interacted with for around six years. We didn’t meet regularly, yet when we did, we carried on…
The Budget and the Inequality Crisis
Gintota is a grim warning. The abyss is still with us. We remain a country where a private dispute can be interpreted as a religious issue and used to ignite a violent…
Unpaid Care Work: The Overlooked Barrier in Women’s Economic Empowerment
Photograph via video produced by Institute of Development Studies There is broad consensus that women’s empowerment underpins the success of the new 2030 Agenda for Development (also known as the Sustainable Development Goals).…
Modi’s visit to the central hills brings welcome attention to a marginalised community
Last Friday (12 May) Sri Lankans living in the central hills lined its narrow streets to catch a glimpse of that Indian tea-seller who rose to become the Prime Minister of India.…
Three scenarios for Sri Lanka’s future: Lecture by Razeen Sally
An expected economic take-off has not happened two years into the change of government says Prof. Razeen Sally, chairman of the Institute of Policy studies in Sri Lanka. Delivering a public lecture…
Culture and Poverty in our Neo Liberal Economy
In this neo liberal or free market global economy, Sri Lanka was counted as a country moving into the middle income group with an annual per capita income of 3,230 US dollars…
Sri Lanka: Where Free Market Wouldn’t Sell Reform & Reconciliation
Featured image courtesy Asianews The case for serious reform necessary to return to a decent, civilised life for all in Sri Lanka has not been seriously argued in political forums all these…
Voiceless: Stories of the Displaced
On Friday, posted a map to the displaced and marginalised, marking the International for the Right to Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims, which falls on…
Economic Justice and Democratic Survival
Featured image courtesy IndiaTimes In ‘’, his long piece on the Obama Presidency, Jeffery Goldberg writes that Mr. Obama, reflecting on his failures in the Middle East, privately laments, “if only everyone could…
Evicted under the World Bank’s Watch
Forcible demolition of 34 Watta homes when court case was ongoing, September 2014. Photograph by Selvaraj Rajasegar. As part of on-going research at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) dealing with evicted communities in…
Post-war Economic Progress: Investment, Positioning, and Reforms in a New Sri Lankan Economy
Photo courtesy As the war was intensifying in the jungles of the Vanni in early 2009, another battle was being fought – the battle for the Sri Lankan economy. The global economic…
Re-imagining development in Sri Lanka: In conversation with Nilakshi De Silva
Nilakshi De Silva is a Senior Research Professional at the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA), and in this interview, talks about the multi-faceted challenges facing development in Sri Lanka post-war, including the…