Countries and Regions

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p. 4 of 20 BACK | NEXT I. Country Performance Assessment A. Economic Performance Assessment B. Poverty Assessment C. Assessment of Socio-Environmental Performance D. Governance: Sound Development Management E. Implementation Assessment II. Country Operational Strategy III. Sector Strategies IV. Regional Cooperation V. Donor Activities and Aid Coordination VI. Cofinancing and Catalyzing External Resources VII. ADB’s Operational Program VIII. Economic and Sector Work Program IX. Local Cost Financing

Country Assistance Plans - Sri Lanka : I. Country Performance Assessment

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C. Assessment of Socio-Environmental Performance

1. Gender Issues

26. Sri Lanka has relatively favorable indicators on the status of women. Literacy (88 percent) and life expectancy (75 years) are high and the participation rate of women in the labor force has increased from 26 percent in 1971 to 35 percent in 1998. The introduction of free education and health services over 40 years ago made a significant contribution to the improvement in the overall status and well being of women in Sri Lanka. Female participation rates are satisfactory across education levels and compare favorably to that of males, including at the tertiary level, where women account for about 50 percent of university enrollments. However, women’s unemployment in 1998 (15 percent) is higher than for men (7 percent). Underemployment for women also remains a serious problem. Health indicators are generally good, although the incidence of preventable diseases usually associated with poverty such as diarrhea; dysentery, respiratory diseases and malaria remain relatively high. An emerging concern for women is the general aging of the population and the related health and socioeconomic implications. This issue is particularly significant for women since they constitute a growing proportion of the aging population. Sri Lanka ranks 68th out of 143 countries (1998) on the UNDP gender development index. Despite this sound level of achievement, scope exists for the ADB to direct more attention to addressing key gender issues at the project design stage. Both the Secondary Education Modernization Project (2001) and the Postsecondary Education Development Project (2002) will include components that address the specific education and training needs of women. The Eastern Province Coastal Community Development Project (in 2002) will also have an impact on women through the development of income-generating activities especially for female-headed households.

2. Human Development

27. Human development achievements in Sri Lanka have been impressive, considering the country’s relatively low per capita income. Life expectancy (73 years) is higher than in most developing countries and infant mortality (17 per 1,000 live births) is relatively low. The population growth rate is about 1.2 percent per annum. According to the 2000 UNDP Human Development Report, Sri Lanka is ranked 84th among 174 countries in the world on the Human Development Index. Sri Lanka’s social indicators have generally shown steady improvement during the 1990s. (See Appendix 1 for details). Noteworthy among these indicators is the improvement in the maternal mortality rate, which declined from 80 to 30 per 100,000 live births. Another significant achievement in this period was the increased access by the rural population to safe water (from 29 percent to 65 percent) and sanitation (from 39 percent to 60 percent). Throughout the 1990s annual public health expenditure has remained fairly constant at about 1.7 percent of GDP. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that the quality and efficiency of health care delivery may have declined. Under RETA 5671⁵, a study on child nutrition in Sri Lanka was completed in 1998. Available data indicate that the incidence of malaria has increased and there has also been a slight worsening (from 37 to 38 percent) in the malnutrition rate in children under the age of five years. The Government’s Samurdhi Program is assisting particularly the vulnerable groups to reduce mother and child malnutrition. Given the role of other external funding agencies including the World Bank in this area, there is no planned assistance by ADB in the health sector in the medium term.

28. Sri Lanka also has an enviable record in the equitable provision of basic education and this is in part reflected in the country’s high literacy rate (91 percent) and high gross enrolment rates for primary and secondary education (109 percent and 75 percent, respectively). In contrast, however, the gross enrolment rate for higher education is only 3 percent, compared with an average in Asia of 7-8 percent. Despite annual public education expenditure remaining fairly constant at about 3 percent of GDP throughout the 1990s, concerns have recently been expressed about the quality and efficiency of the education system and its relevance to the future labor requirements of the country. For instance, at the senior secondary level the student dropout rate is 33 percent while the student repetition rates are about 40 percent at O level and 67 percent at A level. The issue will be addressed specifically in ADB’s proposed Secondary Education Modernization Project (2001) and Postsecondary Education Development Project (2002).

3. Environment

29. Degradation of land, depletion of water resources, deterioration of coastal habitat and pollution associated with industrial and urban activities are significant environmental problems that have important implications for economic and social conditions as well as on the biological diversity of the country. Land degradation due to soil erosion remains a critical issue, as is the adverse impact of forestry and other human activities on the hydrological cycle through disturbances in the catchment areas. Deterioration of coastal resources due to erosion and population pressures is also a serious environmental concern, particularly in the western and southern regions. The policy and legal framework for dealing with these environmental issues have been improved in recent years along with the formulation of a number of actions and master plans. However, further efforts are required in these areas as well as the strengthening of the relevant sector institutions to effectively address the emerging challenges and to achieve sustainable development.

30. Many of the environmental problems have a significant and disproportionate bearing on the poor. Low-income urban settlements are particularly vulnerable to diseases caused by water pollution due to the lack of water supply and sanitation facilities and poor drainage conditions. Environmental health has a relatively greater impact on the poor. First, proper healthcare facilities are less accessible to the poor; hence they need to spend more time obtaining health care. Second, since they are usually employed on a daily wage, occasional absence from work has a more significant bearing on their income. The poor are also more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, many low-income settlements being located on road and railways. Due to the lack of sanitary landfill or other solid waste disposal facilities, many local authorities simply dump solid waste on vacant lands. Such open dumps are often found close to low-income settlements since they are the least insistent on their civic rights. Low-income settlements account for one third of the urban population in the Western Province, the most densely populated region of the country.

31. In rural areas the poor are partially the cause, but also the victims, of environmental problems. Many encroach on state lands to eke out a subsistence livelihood. The lack of ownership and access to credit or training schemes cause them to adopt unsustainable land use practices which eventually degrade the land to non-productive levels and force them to further encroachment. The poor have least access to electricity in rural areas. They rely on biomass, which is increasingly scarce due to increased population pressure. Hence they spend a significant part of the day collecting firewood. Communities adjacent to protected areas rely heavily on the protected area for biomass as well as game. Increasing pressure on protected areas due to such extractive uses tends to threaten the integrity of these ecosystems. Collection of firewood and water are usually the responsibility of women and children. Hence they are particularly affected by the increasing shortage of these resources.

32. The Government’s National Environmental Action Plan (1998) recommends that the role of the Government should be to move away from activities related to extraction/exploitation of resources, to a role of establishing and enforcing a framework for sustainable resource use within which the private sector could operate. Such a shift is reflected in newly revised Acts of several sectors including forestry, fisheries and minerals. The Government has also encouraged private sector involvement in provision of environmental services such as solid waste collection, wastewater and sewerage treatment and management of industrial estates. In addition private sector collaboration is sought on providing laboratory testing and monitoring services; consultancy services on waste management, clean technology and ISO standards, and environment related financing. However, involvement of the private sector in all these areas has been weak mainly due to uncertainty with the policy and institutional climate that is typically associated with government collaboration.

33. The Government has suggested several additional areas in which the private sector could take a lead role with regard to environmental management. In the area of land use management some suggestions include: concessional financing to small holder cultivators adopting conservation practices, incentives to plantation management companies to undertake forestry on unproductive or marginally productive plantation lands, and engaging companies to undertake restoration of excavated lands to a useful state. Other suggestions include encouraging private sector involvement in: (i) issuing of licenses (e.g., the Environmental Pollution License); (ii) research and development financed with funds generated from pollution control charges; (iii) providing insurance and financial guarantee schemes against natural disasters (e.g., damage caused by wild animals).

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