Steep drop in poverty level

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

“The poverty level in Sri Lanka has dropped to 14 percent while the poverty level is 45 percent in India. This is one of the greatest achievements in Sri Lanka’s development programme,” said International Monetary Cooperation Senior Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.

“There are 1.6 million Sri Lankans working around the world and this has caused a reduction in poverty in the country,” he said.

If Sri Lanka allows three million persons to work abroad, a number of problems in the country will be solved, he added.

The Senior Minister was addressing the launching ceremony of State of the World Population Report 2011 titled “People and possibilities in a world of 7 billion” and the Population Symposium on seven billion held at the Galle Face Hotel, yesterday. It had been organized by the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Population Association of Sri Lanka (PASL).

According to this report of the World Population 2011, the world’s population is to officially hit seven billion on October 31.

This report sheds light on the real life challenges we have to face in a world of seven billion. It is mainly based on a field report from nine countries namely; China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Finland, India, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the ordinary people who live there,the national experts who study demographic trends and the policy-makers who must make decisions based on local conditions talk directly about their lives and work. “We have to analyze the employment opportunities and we should strengthen the workforce through providing knowledge in International languages, modern science and technology. All parts of the country have to play a certain role and they have to make a better contribution to create a strong workforce,” the senior minister said.

The above report shows that the challenges and issues which have to face by countries. The national demographic experts and policy-makers have talked about those challenges and the ways to confront them. PASL President Dr. A. Balasooriya, UNFPA Sri Lankan Representative Lene K. Christiansen, Prof. Lakshman Dissanayake, Health Ministry’s Additional Secretary Dr. Palitha Maheepala and large number of distinguish guests also participated.