This paper discusses and comments on the legal and policy dimension and the obstacles it poses to a sustainable and effective response to HIV/AIDS as many do not come forward to obtain medical services for fear of violence, stigma and discrimination. The paper highlights that low prevalence...

This report on the state of displaced persons in the North and East of Sri Lanka analyses the security conditon and concerns of those who live in makeshifts and camps in conflict affected areas. It provides an overview of the current ground situation, i.e. the altered displacement landscape and...

It is often assumed that poverty reduction would lead to gender equality. Research however, points to the opposite, namely, that increasing prosperity can have perverse gender effects . It is therefore important to make a conceptual distinction between projects that seek to reduce poverty and...

2008 Budget presented by His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa

The production and marketing scenario of coconut in the country has witnessed a phenomenal development, particularly in the field of production such as development of improved high yielding dwarf varieties of crossbred coconut palm, traditional, non-traditional, commercial and industrial coconut...

Militarizing Sri Lanka: Popular Culture, Memory and Narrative in the Armed Conflict by Neloufer de Mel; Sage, New Delhi, 2007; pp. 329, Rs. 475.

Review of Susantha Goonatilake's 'Recolonisation: Foreign Funded NGOs in Sri Lanka' . Takes up case studies of some leading development and human rights NGOs in Sri Lanka, arguing that NGOs are neither more efficient than the government agencies they replace nor more transparent; indeed that...

This paper examines the competitiveness of the Indian garments industry vis-à-vis the other South Asian countries Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Under the SAFTA agreement, many of the garment items were on India’s sensitive lists and did not face concessional treatment. Though many of...

This paper provides estimates of the costs of organic agriculture (OA) programs, and sets them in the context of the costs of attaining the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It analyzes the costs of OA programs in four case studies: Wanzai, PRC; Wuyuan, PRC; Kandy, Sri...

This report investigates how more and better jobs can be created in South Asia. It does so for two reasons. First, this region will contribute nearly 40 percent of the growth in the world’s working-age (15–64) population over the next several decades. It is important to determine...