IPS Research Themes__Poverty & Social WelfareIPS also undetook to prepare an “Annotated Bibliography <strong>of</strong> Micr<strong>of</strong>inance in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> - 1980-<strong>2005</strong>” bycompiling over hundred documents related to the micr<strong>of</strong>inancesector in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>. Compiling and documenting the details <strong>of</strong> allForthcoming Publicationsthe recent publications on micr<strong>of</strong>inance in one place was consideredto be <strong>of</strong> 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 ‘Micr<strong>of</strong>inance“Annotated Bibliography onSector in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>: Current Status and Issues’ was also published Micr<strong>of</strong>inance in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>”in the IPS State <strong>of</strong> the Economy <strong>2005</strong> report.Poverty and Social WelfareSeries No. 8, IPS, Colombo,Further, a project on “Economic and Political Empowerment <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>the Poor: Promoting Empowerment through Micr<strong>of</strong>inance Tilakaratna, G., “Impact <strong>of</strong>Programmes” funded by South Asia Centre for <strong>Policy</strong> <strong>Studies</strong> Micro-credit on Selected(SACEPS) was initiated with the aim <strong>of</strong> understanding how Household Welfare Attributes:Evidence from <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>” inmicr<strong>of</strong>inance 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 <strong>of</strong> 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 <strong>of</strong> policy- level activities related to Opportunities for the Poor inmicr<strong>of</strong>inance, which includes the designing <strong>of</strong> a micro-credit <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>”, <strong>Policy</strong> Brief No.11, Inter-Regional Inequalityprogramme to help the tsunami affected entrepreneurs,Facility, London, UK,implemented by the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Advanced Technology and February 2006National Enterprise Development. In addition, Ganga Tilakaratnawas a representative from <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> for theInternational Conference on ‘Empowering theGrassroots Economy: Micr<strong>of</strong>inance for Growth andHappiness’ hosted by the Government Savings Bank<strong>of</strong> Thailand, the Secretariat <strong>of</strong> the Prime Ministerand the Ministry <strong>of</strong> Finance held in Bangkok during24 -25 November.Linkage between Poverty andEducation/Employment in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>The 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 <strong>of</strong> “Economic andin <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>” funded by SACEPS. The main Political Empowerment <strong>of</strong> the Poor” funded by SACEPS.objective <strong>of</strong> this study is to analyse the extent <strong>of</strong>disparity 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 <strong>Sri</strong><strong>Lanka</strong> funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Further, a policy brief paper on ‘EducationalOpportunities for the Poor in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>’ 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__________ <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2005</strong>
IPS Research Themes__Poverty & Social Welfareand the Inter-Regional Inequality Facility, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in July <strong>2005</strong>. This paper can beaccessed at: http://www.odi.org.uk/inter-regional_inequalityCommunity Based Poverty MonitoringThe IPS in collaboration with the Social <strong>Policy</strong> Analysis and Research Centre (SPARC) <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong>Colombo was involved in setting up Community Based Poverty Monitoring Systems (CBMS) in four selectedlocations covering rural (Hambantota), urban (Badowita area in Colombo), estate (Nuwara Eliya), and conflictaffected (Batticaloa) areas. This was carried out under the ‘Micro Impact <strong>of</strong> Macroeconomic and AdjustmentPolicies’ (MIMAP) - <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong> project funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC),Canada. The study aimed at developing a low-cost and easy-to-sustain information system on poverty inselected locations, capacity-building <strong>of</strong> local government units and community members in monitoring povertyand help them identifying community specific poverty related problems. In addition, a special one day sessionwas organized at the PEP workshop in June, to share the CBMS experience with a wider audience includingresearchers from a number <strong>of</strong> developing countries.Trade Liberalization and Poverty in <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>This study, funded by the North-South <strong>Institute</strong> (NSI), Canada looked at the impact <strong>of</strong> trade liberalization onpoverty and household welfare, with a special focus on the rice and potato sectors <strong>of</strong> <strong>Sri</strong> <strong>Lanka</strong>. The studyanalyses various trade policy reforms in rice and potato sectors during last decade and their implications. Thefindings showed an overall welfare improvement to the country (in the short run) from a tariff reduction onrice. The study stresses the need to eliminate ad hoc trade policies and move towards a low uniform advaloremtariff rate for rice and potato. It also highlights the importance <strong>of</strong> having both the compensatory andthe complementary policies to minimize the adverse effects <strong>of</strong> trade liberalization on households, particularlythe effects on the poor.Research PersonnelGanga Tilakaratna, Ruwan Jayathilaka, Thusitha Kumara andAyodya Galappattige27__________ <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2005</strong>