Making Public Policy Work for Women: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 Response

  One night during the pandemic, Nishanthi, a garment factory worker living in a boarding house in Katunayake, was suddenly told by military officers to pack her belongings and leave with the other women. There were 54 of them in …

Sri Lanka’s Struggle with Single-Use Plastics: Why Bans Alone Fall Short

  By Sulochana Silva and Nishamini Ihalagedara   The escalating crisis of plastic pollution poses a significant threat to both the health of the planet and human well-being. Among the plastic pollutants, Single-use plastics (SUPs)  have become a major driver …

Recalibrating Aswesuma: A Move Towards a Dynamic and Adaptive Social Registry in Sri Lanka

  In April this year, the Cabinet approved the expansion and extension of Aswesuma. This is timely, as strengthening social protection remains a critical priority for Sri Lanka, which continues to grapple with the aftermath of its economic crisis. However, …

Beyond the Numbers: The Real Costs and Benefits of Migration for Migrant Mothers

The female migration pattern in Sri Lanka has fluctuated notably over recent years. In 2018, considered a normal year before the economic crisis, women made up 38.6% (81,499) of total departures for foreign employment. However, in 2023, during the peak of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, their share increased to 44.7% (133,048).

Although women made up less than half of all migrant departures (44.7%) in 2023, they accounted for 80.3% of the total complaints (6,051 out of 7,535) received by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE), indicating that complaints are proportionally higher among female migrants. Among these, wage-related grievances stand out. Of particular concern is that in 2023 alone, the SLBFE documented 694 complaints about wage non-payment, over half of which were lodged by FMWs. But behind the statistics, personal struggles often go unnoticed, and these untold stories deserve to be heard.

COVID-19 and Sri Lanka’s External Sector: Challenges and Policy Choices

Unprecedented declines in merchandise trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, tourism and cross-border migration have all been hallmarks of the economic fallout of COVID-19. As a result, growth expectations for countries worldwide dimmed. Nonetheless, thanks in part to substantial expansionary monetary and fiscal policies being rolled out to achieve pre-COVID economic recovery levels and the development of vaccines, the contraction in global trade and economic output are less than what was anticipated. The Sri Lankan economy too has been impacted by these external developments, witnessing fluctuating fortunes in its external sector performance. This blog discusses the impacts of global economic developments on Sri Lanka’s external sector and suggests ways to cushion them.