Pri's blog

Last week the world’s governments adopted a new sustainable development agenda , and moved towards new ways of ‘doing development’ that if implemented,  will result in new partnerships between the global north and the global south, between private corporations, national governments and  international institutions, and between citizens and the state.   In Sri Lanka, the year 2015 saw us embark on a new phase of governance that aims to combat political patronage and corruption, emphasise accountability, and safeguard the rights of the people and respect their right to information and to equal treatment by the state.   The new regime that Sri Lankan citizens have elected into the legislature (supported also by a newly elected President) inherits a post-war society that has an average GDP growth of around 6-7%, a lower middle income status, dramatic reductions in poverty head count ratios, and a record of most MDGs achieved.  But it is also a society of considerable vulnerability,

While one group of Colombo’s bold and beautiful gathered at the Lakshman Kadirigamar Institute for International  Relations and Strategic Studies to listen to a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair,  protected by riot squads of Police who looked like they would welcome some excitement after almost an year of inaction, another section of Colombo’s bold and beautiful met at the Balmoral Room of the Kingsbury Hotel to celebrate the life of an important Sri Lankan, Deshamanya Vidyajothi  Ray Wijewardene , and to present The Ray  Award for Innovation 2015.  Just before both those events, yet another group, this time a group of Colombo’s intellectuals were at the Institute of Ethnic Studies (ICES) listening to Kumari Jayawardene, Farzana Haniffa, Ahilan Kadirgamar and Vijay Nagaraj  with Harini Amarasuriya moderating,  reflect on the past ethnic and religious riots, the impact it had on the individual and the collective, and speak about some of the causes and conseque

  I have just seen RED.   Not because it is the auspicious colour for the New Year, but because I have just read in the Island of 11 th April the seventieth Pathfinder Economic Flash entitled Colombo Port City: Monster or transformative opportunity.   There has been a lot written about how transformative the project promises to be – not just of the Sri Lankan economy, but also of the environment in which we Sri Lankans live.   Some consider the transformation monstrous, others an opportunity! I had gone to the Pathfinder article with a view to finding some evidence for the latter view; for learning about the ‘potential benefits of a massive integrated development project of this nature’, especially the benefits of the marina and yacht club, the seaview apartments, the five star hotel, the mini golf course, the shopping and entertainment centre and the ‘many other modern facilities’.   IMHO, the benefit from projects such as the Colombo Port City Project is a zero sum game.  

Just returned from the above UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction - where I represented Duryog Nivaran , and had two speaking slots: as a panellist at the launch of the Global Assessment Report 2015  and at the Ministerial Roundtable on Governing Disaster Risk: overcoming challenges.  Also worked closely with the Women's Major Group, coordinated by WEDO.  Interesting as UN conferences go, but significant, since its the first of three that are aiming to frame the post-2015 world development agenda - what the world is going to do about disasters, sustainable development and climate. Many interesting thoughts to share... but for now, here is my intervention at the Ministerial Round Table chaired by Ms Maria del Pilar Cornejo, Minister Secretary for Risk Management, Ecuador.  at the roundtable with the African Union President on my left and the City of Istanbul on my right. Photo by Ramona Miranda G ood afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, I represent Duryog Nivaran

One of the most productive outcomes of my visit to Istanbul was the time spent in reading and reviewing four papers that were presented at the  session on ‘Varying perspectives on the global development agenda’ at the Southern Voice Global Conference that preceded the TTI 2015 Exchange . The papers were: Ibrahima  Hathie’s  ( IPAR, Senegal ) The post-2015 Development Agenda – favourable for Africans? Mireya Villacis’ ( CEDA, Ecuador ) Alternatives for or to Development Ajaya Dixit’s ( ISET-N, Nepal ) The Changing intersection of society and development goals: an examination aimed at improving policy Bitrina Diyamett’s ( STIPRO, Tanzania )    Is the current booming growth in Africa worth celebrating?  Some evidence from Tanzania The papers produced some clear messages that cut across the geographical divide of three continents.  They emphasised the need for inclusive growth, recognising that economic growth in itself is not enough, that it is a necessary but not suffi

Here are what some would call 'irrational’  and possibly heretical  initial thoughts, after listening to President Sirisena’s interview on Rupavahini last night, and considering aspects of  the 100 day mini budget.     President Sirisena has called for a change in the ‘political culture’ of Sri Lanka. But unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an equally strident call for a change in attitude about what constitutes well being for Sri Lankans, and what we need to do to ensure a more sustainable Sri Lanka.  For those of us working on sustainable development it is obvious that the current levels of consumption and the mantra of unbridled economic growth cannot continue in Sri Lanka (or in the world).   Ravi Karunanayaka’s ‘Robin Hood’  mini budget speech,  laudable because it is catering for the lower income citizens  of Sri Lanka, has a disturbing statement  “ in order to encourage low income families to purchase a motor car to improve their living standards, I propose to r

I spent three days last week  in Nairobi, Kenya at the Advisory Group Meeting of ENERGIA, the international network on gender and sustainable energy.  ENERGIA, led by its beautiful and energetic head, Sheila Operaocha, has transformed itself from a network of organisations (mainly NGOs working with women and renewable energy technologies) interested in mainstreaming gender into energy projects and programmes and empowering  poor women, to a 15 million euro programme intent on providing energy services to poor women, through fostering women’s entrepreneurship in the energy services sector.   The goal of  empowering women  and going to the last mile to address energy poverty is still part of the network’s vision, but this fifth phase programme is a  huge step up  (up?) from what it was doing before, and the organisations delivering the programme ( Solar Sisters , Kopernic etc)  are much better described as social entrepreneurs rather than NGOs.  Interestingly Practical Action