Sri Lanka on course to achieve MDGs by 2015

UN: Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has declared that Sri Lanka is on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Minister Bogollagama told the UN that this has been facilitated by re-structuring the country’s socio-economic fundamentals, in keeping with the aspirations of the people.

He was participating on behalf of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the interactive Round Table discussions segment of the high level meeting on the MDGs held on the fringes of the UN General Assembly sessions in New York on Saturday.

He emphasised that sustainable development should be viewed in the context of the people, as Governments represent the people, and therefore, imposition of economic sanctions ought to be avoided as it is only the citizens of that country who would suffer the adverse consequences.

The Minister, while associating himself with the sentiments expressed by the President of East Timor, who spoke earlier, urged the removal of sanctions on Cuba as a vital step for the betterment of its people.

He said it is imperative to seek people-centric development to ensure that the people are the real beneficiaries of development programmes.

Referring to the economic pursuits of the Government, Minister Bogollagama pointed out that free education had resulted in a 94 per cent literacy rate and similarly, free health services have resulted in an average life expectancy of 74 years.

He referred to the fact that there are no major diseases in Sri Lanka

and that malaria as an epidemic has been eradicated. The Foreign Minister pointed out that 70 per cent of Sri Lanka’s population is living in the rural areas and the Government is pursuing concerted action to empower the people, especially in areas affected by terrorism.

He referred to the Government’s policy to eliminate terrorism in all its forms, as had been done in the East, to empowering those people from that region, mainly through agricultural pursuits.

This he said, would contribute towards greater food production, and thereby, leading to food security. Bogollagama shared the position articulated by India of ensuring a pivotal role for the FAO on food security.

On the same day, making an intervention at the meeting of G11 Foreign Ministers in New York, Foreign Minister Bogollagama called for Lower Middle Income countries such as Sri Lanka to work closely with other countries in this grouping, to address developmental challenges and vulnerability to external turbulence in the global markets.

The Minister informed the Group that the Cabinet of Ministers in Sri Lanka had approved Sri Lanka becoming a signatory to the G11 Framework Agreement on Economic, Trade and Cultural Cooperation.

He also welcomed the decision to hold a G11 Business Forum on the sidelines of the G11 Summit in May 2009.