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Agriculture
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IFI
interventions in the paddy and rice sector in Sri Lanka
(The purpose of this note is to present in summary
form the documented evidence of interventions by the
World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development
Bank in the paddy and rice sector in Sri Lanka.)
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Struggle
for the Peasants’ Rights in
Sri Lanka
(Six farmer leaders, two women farmers and three
Buddhist monks in Hingurakgoda, in Polonnaruwa District,
Sri Lanka, “fasted” for six days from August
13 to 18, 2000, with thousands of farmers and supporters
rallying round them in public demonstrations, in support
of a set of 19 farmer demands for immediate solutions.)
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A
View on Sustainable Development in Agriculture: The
experience of the peasant movements in Sri Lanka
(Issues of sustainable agriculture, survival of
small scale peasant farmers, eradication of hunger and
poverty, threats to global environment and ecological
survival, facing challenges of Globalization and new
trends in global trade have become closely inter linked
in today’s world. What
is attempted in this presentation is to express the
views that have emerged through the experiences of
the peasant movements in Sri Lanka regarding the role
and contribution that small scale peasant agriculture
could make towards facing most of these interrelated
challenges.)
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Economic
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PROPOSALS
OF PEOPLE'S ORGANISATIONS FOR ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT: Observations
and alternatives on the Sri Lanka Budget 2005
(Budget proposals of the Government are based on its Economic
Development Strategies. Both the Government and the lending
agencies funding its activities agree that Poverty Reduction
(poverty eradication as we would like to call it) should
take priority in the economic development strategy.
Since
1999, the World Bank, IMF and the other lending agencies
have required that the Government of Sri Lanka should
produce a strategy for Poverty Reduction (PRSP) in consultation
with the people, and that it should be the basis for
foreign assistance. It is further expected that such
a strategy should be “Country Owned”. Our
proposals towards the preparation of the Budget for
2005 are based on our views for a more effective strategy
for poverty reduction in Sri Lanka.)
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Regaining
Sri Lanka and PRSP:
Compelling the poor to subsidize the rich
(Analysis of “Regaining Sri Lanka” and “Connecting
to Growth: Sri Lanka’s Poverty Reduction Strategy”,
the Economic Strategy Document presented by the Government
of Sri Lanka at the Tokyo Donor Meeting in June 2003 for
which a loan commitment of US $ 4.5 Billion was obtained)
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Sri
Lanka Development Forum 2005
Civil Society Statement
(The Government has convened the Sri Lanka Development
Forum on 16th and 17th May 2005 in Kandy to discuss the
‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka: Post-Tsunami Action Plan’
that is supposed to be published on 15th May 2005. The
World Bank, IMF, Asian Development Bank and all UN Agencies,
as well as the Japanese, American, British and many other
Bilateral Donors , will be present.
From the non-governmental sector, it
is understood that the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies,
World Vision, Oxfam GB, Sewalanka and Sarvodaya have
been invited to attend.
The organisations endorsing this statement
represent fish worker collectives, farmer groups, women’s
organisations, trade unions, plantation worker organisations,
NGOs, human rights organisations, lawyers’ groups,
academics, scientists, clergy and others from across
the country. While we have not been invited to provide
input to the Development Forum, we take this opportunity
to present our collective position in the hope that
this may open avenues for further dialogue. However,
the current climate of repression of dissenting voices
does not bode well.)
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Sri
Lanka: Destined to the same fate as Argentina?
(Discussion paper on the impact of the IMF/World Bank
policies on Argentina and Sri Lanka.)
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Sri
Lanka faces a serious Danger…..
36
Bills that affect lives of the people to be introduced,
without public knowledge
(The Government is preparing to pass 36 Bills in Parliament
just within one month. The Parliament would meet continuously
during the month of August and if necessary part of
September to get these through. Minister G.L. Peiris
stated that these are not just temporary measures, but
would be a comprehensive and long term approach. These
laws according to the Government would have implications
on the economy and on the lives of the people.)
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SRI
LANKA POVERTY REPORT
2003
(The
objective of this paper is to provide necessary information
and background to understand the situation of poverty
in Sri Lanka, analyse the reasons for poverty increase
in order to develop a Civil Society Perspective on the
strategies for poverty eradication.
This is a contribution towards the initiative
of South Asian Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)
in developing such strategies in the region. Therefore,
an attempt is made to look at the impact of the strategies
adopted in Sri Lanka over the last few decades by the
governments of Sri Lanka under the recommendations of
the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such
as the World Bank (WB), International Monitory Fund
(IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other Aid giving
agencies such as EU.)
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Sri
Lanka Trade Consultation
13th – 14th December 2004
Background paper
(This paper provides readers with an overview of how recent
governments of Sri Lanka have been increasingly turning
towards liberalisation and privatisation and how international
institutions are still pushing them to go further.)
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Health
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Towards
a relevant health Policy in Sri Lanka
Some
thoughts towards a relevant health policy for Sri Lanka
(Health policies in any country should obviously aim
at keeping people healthy. In a country such as Sri
Lanka, where a big majority of the people cannot access
the existing health services, since they are so poor
and the health services have become unbearably costly
such a health system is totally irrelevant. There is
a need to have an approach to health that is radically
different from what we have today, if we accept that
the poor people should also be healthy.)
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Water
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The
Authors of Water Policy in Sri Lanka
(In October 2006, the national newspapers carried a one-page
advertisement inviting public views on a draft water policy
for Sri Lanka.
It is a sensitive topic. There have
reportedly been almost twenty versions of the draft
policy and at least eight draft bills since the first
version emerged in March 2000 .
It is not supposed to be about privatisation.
Public opinion is clear: there should be no marketing
of water in Sri Lanka. Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed when
he said in his manifesto for the presidential elections
only a year ago: ‘Water is one of the prime resources
of our country. The owner of these valuable resources
should be the people of this country. I will firmly
assure this position.’
However, the first version of this water
policy was written by foreign consultants working for
the Asian Development Bank. They are regular recruits
of the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
Any
cursory glance at the documents would show that the
process of revision has been confined to cutting a few
controversial words and adding some charming prose by
way of introduction, with no fundamental change in the
meaning or purpose. The resulting contradictions in
the text would have been spotted if somebody had subsequently
read it all the way through. Certainly no new thinking
has been done by the Government.)
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Campaign
to Protect Common Water Rights in Sri Lanka
(People’s Responses to the proposed “National
Water Resources Policy and Institutional Arrangements
in Sri Lanka” November 1999)
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Can
Water Marketing Prevent a Crisis?
(An
Analysis of the Proposed National Water Resources Policy
In Sri Lanka)
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Proposed
Water Resources Policy:
Impact of Water Entitlements and Transfers:
Problems of the Small Farmers
( Proposed Water Resources Policy and Institutional Arrangements
clearly aims at achieving a different objective from what
it claims to achieve. The intention is clearly to provide
the necessary legal and institutional framework to convert
water into a “commodity” for profits of big
private companies. It is not a policy that emerged out
of the needs of the people here in Sri Lanka, but a policy
forming a part of a global process of converting even
the most essential services for profits of big TNCs.)
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The
Roles of the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO in Liberalization
and Privatization of the Water Services Sector
By
Nancy Alexander
October 21, 2005
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Other
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A
Complete Change in the Legal System to Support the Private
Sector led Economy in Sri Lanka, in Collaboration with
World Bank, But, with no Consultation with the People
(On June 22, 2000 Professor G.L. Peiris, Minister of Justice,
Constitutional Affairs, and Ethnic Affairs announced that
a major Legal and Judicial reform would be carried out
to upgrade the entire Legal System to be fully equipped
to support private sector led economy.)
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“A
Dream That Will Come True”
(Synopsis of the presentation “As I see it”
by Sarath Fernando)
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Plant
Breeders Rights Law in Sri Lanka
(On July 24, 2001 the national intellectual Property Office
of Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka foundation institute organized
a seminar with the objective of reviewing the proposed
Plant Breeders Law of Sri Lanka.
The Intellectual Property Office of
Sri Lanka has drafted a working paper for the proposed
law on Protection of New Plant Varieties (Plant Breeders
Rights). The aspects discussed included legal and institutional
aspects, rights of plant breeders of Government and
private sector, farmers who produced their own planting
material, seed user farmers, UPOV Convention and national
development.) |
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