Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka: with Special Reference to Samurdhi (Prosperity) Movement
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Poverty Alleviation in Sri Lanka: with special reference to Samurdhi (Prosperity) Movement By Sunil Jayantha Nawaratne Professor of Management & E-Commerce Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology Chairman Centre for Strategic Management ContentsContents Poverty in the Global context Poverty in the South Asian Region Back ground of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Economic History Poverty in Sri Lanka Poverty Alleviation Programs in Sri Lanka Samurdhi Movement of Sri Lanka Samurdhi movement today It’s Strengths and Weaknesses Future of Poverty Alleviation of Sri Lanka Future of Samurdhi Movement of Sri Lanka Some comments on our Joint Research Project Final Comments and Q&A sessions PovertyPoverty inin thethe GlobalGlobal ContextContext Definition : People living with an The commonly used income of $1 a day –Low $1 a day standard, income countries measured in 1985 $2 a day – middle income international prices National Poverty Rate and adjusted to local (NPR): – is the currency using percentage of the Purchasing Power population living below Parities (PPP). that national poverty There are many line problems related to Different countries have this poverty line different definitions of poverty. PovertyPoverty RatesRates inin thethe RegionsRegions Share of people living on less than $1 a day (%) Sub-Saharan Africa 50% South Asia 36% China 20% East Asia and Pacific 19% Latin America and Caribbean 12% Europe and Central Asia 8% Middle East and North Africa 5% (Source: World Development Indicators, Page 1) PovertyPoverty InIn thethe GlobalGlobal ContextContext Source: 2004 World Development Indicators, Page 55-56 Country National Poverty Line International Poverty Line($1) Algeria (1995) 22.6% 2% (1995) Bangladesh (1996) 51% 36% (2000) India (1993-94) 36% 34.7% (2000) Kenya (1994) 40% 23%(1997) Madagascar(97) 73% 49.1% (1999) Pakistan (1993) 28.6% 13.4% (1998) Sri Lanka (1991) 20% 6.6% (1996) Zimbabwe (1991) 25.8% 36.0% (1991) ExtremeExtreme PovertyPoverty 19901990 vs.vs. 20012001 1990 ($1 a day) 2001($1 a day) 1,219 million people or During the next 11 years 28% of the low and GDP of those countries middle-income grew 31% countries , lived in less than $1 a day. Poverty rate has fallen to 21% or 1,100 million people in extreme poverty Population growth of those countries was 15% during the period OtherOther IndicatorsIndicators ofof PovertyPoverty Low Income Hunger Low education Gender inequality High child mortality Poor Maternal Health Poor Shelter Poor Infrastructure BriefBrief IntroductionIntroduction toto SriSri LankaLanka Historical Back Ground 2550 years 1505 – 1948- Portugese / Dutch / British 1948 – 1977 – Closed Economy 1977 – To date – Open Economy Overall Evaluation of Sri Lanka PovertyPoverty AlleviationAlleviation ofof SriSri LankaLanka History of Poverty Alleviation Janasaviya (peoples vigor) Samrudhi (Prosperity) Movement 1994 – 2004 2004 onwards Reaching MDGs in Sri Lanka (MDG=Millennium Development Goal) Background In September 2000, all 189 UN member states adopted millennium declaration: There is wide spread political support in the development mainstream – internationally and nationally People Centered and clear roles for all development partners (Governments, international Organizations, Citizens, CSOs and private sector): Scope for internalization and national capacity building (CSO=Community Service Organization) Results oriented: MDGs are results based & can make international institutions and governments more accountable for results. UN & the MDGs – Core Strategy The guiding principles for the overall strategy are that: (i) all 8 MDGs & their 18 targets are equally important; (ii) national ownership and participation will be pivotal to the achievement of the MDGs; (iii) partnership, with Governments but also with CSOs and the private sector, will be essential; (iv) much of the work required to achieve the MDGs is already underway but demands greater focus & urgency; (v) focus on MDGs neither diminishes nor precludes the important work of UN system in other mandated areas 8 Goals 18 Targets and 48 Indicators 1 GOAL 1 – Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger 22 GOAL 2 – Achieve universal primary education GOAL 3 – Promote gender equality and empower 33 women 44 GOAL 4 – Reduce child mortality 55 GOAL 5 – Improve maternal health 66 GOAL 6 – Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other 77 diseases 88 GOAL 7 - Ensure environmental sustainability GOAL 8 – Develop global partnership for development 8 Goals & 18 targets at a glance Goal 11 :: ExtremeExtreme PovertyPoverty && HumberHumber Half (1) extreme poverty and (2) hunger by 2015 Goal 2 : Universal Primary Education 3. Achieve Universal Primary Education by 2015 Goal 3: Gender Equity 4. Eliminate disparity in all levels of education Goal 4 : Reduce Child Mortality 5. Reduce under 5 and infant mortality rate by 2/3 Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health 6. Reduce MMR by 75% Goal 6 : Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria … 7.Halt and reverse spread of HIV/AIDS; 8. Same for Malaria and other major diseases Goals, targets & indicators at a Glance Goal 7 : Ensure environmental sustainability. 9. Integrate “Sustainable Development” in national policies & progs & reverse loss of environmental resources. 10. Halve lack of access to safe drink water; 11. Improve the situation of slums Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for development 12. Open, rule-based trading & financial system 13. Address special needs of LDC 14. Address special needs of Land locked Cos 15. Deal with debt problems 16. Dev. & implet. strategies for youth employment 17. Affordable essential drugs in dev. Cos 18. Make available benefits of the new technologies especially infor. & comm. Goals, targets & indicators at a glance Goals (8) & Targets (18) Indicator(48) Goal 1 : Extreme Poverty & 1. Population < $1; Hunger 2. Poverty Gap ratio; Halve (1) extreme poverty and (2) 3. share of consumption of poorest 20%; hunger by 2015 4. % of underweight >5y; 5. % below min. dietary energy consump. Goal 2 : Universal Primary 6. Net Primary Enrolment Ratio; Education 7. % children reaching Grade five; 3. Achieve Universal Primary 8. Literacy rate of 15-20 Education by 2015 Goal 3: Gender Equity 9. Female Gross Primary Enrol Ratio as a % 4. Eliminate disparity in all levels of of male ratio; education 10. 15-20 M:F Literacy Ratio. 11. Share of women in non agric. wage employment. 12. % women MPs Goal 4 : Reduce Child Mortality 13. <5 mortality rate; 5. Reduce under 5 and infant 14. IMR; mortality rate by two – thirds 15.% of <1 immunized against measles Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health 16. MMR; 6. Reduce MMR by 75% 17. %births attended by skilled health workers Introduction Samurdhi means – Prosperity. Started in 1994 as the national poverty reduction program. It’s just an 11 year old movement but a strong and steady one. The original concept was designed and developed by Hon. S.B. Dissanayake, who was the Minister of Samurdhi, then. Situation Now Today, it is a giant organization with a national network of CBOs as well as public administration network. (CBO=Community Based Organization.) At present, nearly 26,000 full-timers are engaged as “Change Agents” of the movement. 24,000 SDOs and 2,000 graduate managers. (SDO=Samurdhi Development Officer) Nearly 2,000,000 families are covered. Vision & Mission Samurdhi movement has a very clear Vision. Mission, Goals, Objectives, and Strategies. We will highlight the Vision and Mission here. Vision Prosperous Sri Lanka with Minimized Poverty Mission Contributing to the national development through empowerment and graduation of the low-income people out of Poverty Line and reducing disparity in their livelihood in the manner of participatory development through the process of identification and development of innate abilities of the low income families in the form of effective, efficient, sustainable and pro-poor manner. Our Major Achievements During the last 10 years the movements major achievements are as follows: Our Formal & Informal Organizational Structure Samurdhi Movement is a combination of both formalformal && informalinformal structures. Formal Structure Ministry, Departments, Authority, District Secretaries, Divisional Secretaries, Areas(kalapa), Village Vasama (Grama Vasama). Formal Structure MINISTRY OF SAMURDHI POOR RELIEF DEPARTMENT SAMURDHI AUTHORITY SAMURDHI COMMISIONER'S DEPARTMENT SUBSIDY PROGRAMME EMPOWERMENT AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMESOCIAL INSURANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPEMNT Formal Structure National Level Provincial Level – 9 provinces (no office) District Level – 25 Districts Divisional Level – 323 Divisions Grama Vasam – 14,100 vasam Villages – 52,000 villages Families – 4,000,000 (total number) Informal Structure Family level – 2,000,000 5 member group – 326,000 groups Samurdhi Society – Village level Area (kalapa) Society – Area level – 1,000 General union (Maha sangam) level – 179 District level – 25 National level – 1 ( Poor Peoples Parliament) Major programs Programs are divided into six major areas. 1. Social Welfare (safety net) 2. Social Insurance 3. Infrastructure Development 4. Micro Credit 5. Income Generation 6. Socio-cultural Development Social Welfare Implemented by the department of poor relief. Poverty Line – Rs. 1,500 per family/per month. Subsidy scheme – Rs. 1,000, 700, 400, 350, 250, 140 Total subsidy amount Rs. 12,000,000,000. (US$120,000,000) Samurdhi Subsidy Program by year 2005 – No. of Families Dis Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Nu Tot Am tric 1 6 4 3 2 1 mb al ou t 0 0 0 5 5 4 er Fa nt 0 0 0 0 0 0 mil y 0 All 7, 6 4 3 2 3 2,0 4,7 9,6 8 1 6 6 4 6 65, 42, 35 4 3, 4, 7, 4, 8, 55 70 mil. 4 5 0 7 2 6 4 2 8 1 5 5 5 2 8 5 7 7 Social Insurance Program Implemented by Samurdhi Commissioners Department Rs. 30 deducted from the subsidy and entitled for followings: Death – Rs. 5,000 Wedding – Rs. 3,000 Child birth – Rs. 2,000 Hospitalization – Rs. 1,500 (Rs.50 x 30 days) Educational Scholarship Program for AL students. 6,000 students are getting this. Infrastructure Development Program Implemented by Samurdhi Authority Participatory Development Approach Basic Material Cost from the Government and labor contribution from the beneficiaries.