HDI - Sri Lanka ranks 99 - WB Country Director

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

Sri Lanka ranks 99 out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) with a score of 0.743, when looking at the development of its women measuring how long they live, how educated they are and if they have a decent standard of living, said Country Director, World Bank, Sri Lanka Naoko Ishii.

She was delivering a speech on “Women Development and Training” at the Key Persons’ Forum organized by the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday at the Galadari Hotel.

While the HDI focuses on the building of human capacity the gender empowerment measure (GEM)focuses on measuring the utilization of the skills acquired. GEM tracks the share of seats in Parliament held by women, of female legislators, senior officials and managers and of female professional and technical workers and the gender disparity in earned income, reflecting economic independence. Sri Lanka ranks 100 out of 108 countries in the GEM, with a value of 0.371 according to (2008 HDI UNDP), she said.

The Country Director said that Japan too has a GEM value of only 0.557. Therefore, according to GEM Japan and Sri Lanka have a serious gender imbalance and there is much progress to be made if women are to take part and be responsible for policy and decision making, and in the creation of a society where women can use their abilities at work and in other places in accordance with their own wishes and without being subjected to sexual discrimination.

She said that according to a recent study on Sri Lanka, addressing the “Needs of an Aging Population” highlights the need for urgent policy changes. Women live longer than men with the probability of reaching 65 years for men being 71 per cent whereas it’s 82 per cent for women.

One of the findings in this report is the growing economic strains on the family with the burden of old aged dependents and here too it’s women who bear the brunt of the burden.

Given the rapidly ageing population in Sri Lanka, it becomes a very important issue for policy makers, private sector and others to look into building the capacities of women by making opportunities available for them to actively contribute to the economic development of their families, communities and the country at large, she said.

Sharing the WB experience with Sri Lanka, she said that Sri Lankan women have done well as entrepreneurs with advice and training. By joining the Women’s Development Federation (WDF), they have accessed credit not only for businesses and agriculture but also for basics such as food, housing and children’s education. By this they have gained social recognition as well.

Elaborating on the performance of Sri Lankan women, Ishii said that during the period 2003-07, when WDF expanded its activities to two DS divisions; Walasmulla and Ambalantota they were able to set up 21 banking units in those areas.