Annual Report 2005 - Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka

IPS Research Themes__Poverty & Social WelfareIPS also undetook to prepare an “Annotated Bibliography of Microfinance in Sri Lanka - 1980-2005” bycompiling over hundred documents related to the microfinancesector in Sri Lanka. Compiling and documenting the details of allForthcoming Publicationsthe recent publications on microfinance in one place was consideredto be of immense use to various stakeholders in the sector for their Tilakaratna, G., A.Galappattige and T. Kumara,future policies and research work. A paper titled ‘Microfinance“Annotated Bibliography onSector in Sri Lanka: Current Status and Issues’ was also published Microfinance in Sri Lanka”in the IPS State of the Economy 2005 report.Poverty and Social WelfareSeries No. 8, IPS, Colombo,Further, a project on “Economic and Political Empowerment of Sri Lankathe Poor: Promoting Empowerment through Microfinance Tilakaratna, G., “Impact ofProgrammes” funded by South Asia Centre for Policy Studies Micro-credit on Selected(SACEPS) was initiated with the aim of understanding how Household Welfare Attributes:Evidence from Sri Lanka” inmicrofinance programmes could improve their role and scope inthe Mahbub ul Haq Humanproviding business development services to their clients, Development Review, Specialidentifying ways to improve the outreach and quality of services Issue on Micro-credit andprovided by MFIs, and to evaluate the interest rates charged by Poverty: The Potential forChange, Islamabad, Pakistanvarious institutions in the sector.Tilakaratna, G., “EducationalIPS has engaged in a number of policy- level activities related to Opportunities for the Poor inmicrofinance, which includes the designing of a micro-credit Sri Lanka”, Policy Brief No.11, Inter-Regional Inequalityprogramme to help the tsunami affected entrepreneurs,Facility, London, UK,implemented by the Ministry of Advanced Technology and February 2006National Enterprise Development. In addition, Ganga Tilakaratnawas a representative from Sri Lanka for theInternational Conference on ‘Empowering theGrassroots Economy: Microfinance for Growth andHappiness’ hosted by the Government Savings Bankof Thailand, the Secretariat of the Prime Ministerand the Ministry of Finance held in Bangkok during24 -25 November.Linkage between Poverty andEducation/Employment in Sri LankaThe IPS embarked on a research project onAyodya Galappattige and Ruwan Jayathilaka during a field“Upgrading Educational Opportunities for the Poor visit to Kelegama, Kurunegala on the study of “Economic andin Sri Lanka” funded by SACEPS. The main Political Empowerment of the Poor” funded by SACEPS.objective of this study is to analyse the extent ofdisparity in resources and facilities among schools in urban and rural areas in the country. Moreover, the teamis engaged in a study to look at the link between economic growth, employment and poverty reduction in SriLanka funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Further, a policy brief paper on ‘EducationalOpportunities for the Poor in Sri Lanka’ focusing on the free school text book and uniform programs and the“Navodya” School Development Programme, was prepared for the Inter-Regional Inequality Facility inLondon. This policy brief was presented at an international conference on “Addressing Inequality: Policiesfor Inclusive Development” jointly organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)26__________ Annual Report 2005