Public sector management / Economic affairs management - Social protection initiatives

The knowledge and support technical assistance (TA) will help government agencies, through knowledge development and capacity building, to plan Sri Lanka's recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and make systems resilient to similar crises in the future. The TA will focus on key sectors and address gaps in the system to ensure improved service delivery in the medium and long term.

The TA is aligned with the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) policy paper, Comprehensive Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The policy paper articulates ADB's support for its developing member countries in mitigating the economic, social, and health impacts of the pandemic. It is in response to the government's request for TA to conduct assessments on sectors affected by COVID-19 for national development planning for recovery from COVID-19 and building resilience. The TA will support the government's approach of maximizing the use of existing government human resources. Where capacity is not available, the TA will be used to mobilize national experts; if national experts are not available, international experts will be mobilized. The TA is included in the ADB country operations business plan, 20212023 for Sri Lanka. The current country partnership strategy envisages the provision of knowledge support during the implementation period in line with government needs. The TA is aligned with the operational priorities of ADB's Strategy 2030.

The fundamental development problem the government faces is recovering from the pandemic and making systems resilient to face future crises of a similar scale. While this will include policy responses to stimulate the economy and support sectors that continue to struggle, the government needs to identify gaps in the system and enhance the skills and knowledge of government officials to develop and implement plans and programs. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, the government had identified key policy areas in the National Policy Framework to guide the country's development process. These priorities remain relevant and continue to guide the government's recovery efforts. The policy areas prioritized by the National Policy Framework include (i) human resources development through better health care and education, (ii) agriculture and food security, (iii) improving the business climate, (iv) increasing exports, (v) tackling the budget deficit, (vi) value addition by small and medium-sized enterprises, (vii) women's labor force participation, (viii) improving social protection and welfare, (ix) an integrated planning and spatial approach to address rural urban gaps, (x) ensuring water for all for drinking and agriculture, (xi) strengthening disaster management and disaster warning systems, (xii) ensuring data availability for informed decision-making, and (xiii) mitigating the human elephant conflict. A crucial aspect of the post-COVID-19 recovery will be the access to and deployment of vaccines through a well-crafted vaccination strategy.

The government has requested ADB assistance to support its efforts toward economic recovery and improving system resilience. ADB needs to respond with curated knowledge solutions in a time-bound manner, and provide support to the government to respond to development issues successfully. The TA will support the government's planning and policy formulation with analytical studies, policy briefs, and technical reports on sector and thematic issues in priority areas; undertaking surveys and data analysis; and capacity development of public officials.

Knowledge base and capacity of government agencies to respond to shocks and fast-track recovery enhanced (defined by TA)

Capacity of government to support the preparation of policies and programs on systems strengthening and resilience enhanced

1. Technical studies, policy briefs, and other knowledge products on key sector and thematic issues prepared

2. Government officials knowledge and skills on systems strengthening and resilience improved

3. Findings of knowledge products widely disseminated