Human rights must be at heart of solution to Sri Lanka crisis : A UN Resident Coordinator blog |
“Since the crisis began, the UN has monitored more than 1,000 protests. Initially these activities were peaceful, motivated by popular participation and characterized by calls for government change: they were joined by political parties, trade unions, unions. students, clergy and other interest groups.
But as gasoline and fuel shortages became more and more common, we started seeing violent clashes. About 60 houses were burned, about eight people were killed and several others were injured.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to the authorities independent, thorough and transparent investigation of all attacks that have occurred, especially on peaceful protesters.
A meaningful and inclusive dialogue with all sectors of society is needed to address the socio-economic challenges facing people. Political stability is crucial to creating an environment for negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).IMF), can then set the path to economic recovery ahead.
We hope that Sri Lanka will soon find a peaceful solution to the current crisisto alleviate people’s suffering, strengthen democracy and human rights, and prevent further violence.
United Nations consistent support
The United Nations has been working continuously, for many months, to help Sri Lanka cope. We have worked to support and reduce the impact on the most vulnerable groups and we are working very closely with international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMFto help ensure their support is coordinated.
It is imperative that we prevent a humanitarian crisis, so we need to take steps to intervene now.
The UN has focused its intervention on four important areas: health, food security, social protection and economic policy advice.
In terms of health, we are assisting the Ministry of Health to closely monitor the availability of medical supplies and coordinate the procurement of necessary drugs and medical supplies from development partners, including grants to narrow the immediate gap: because of lack of foreign currency, the country cannot buy medicine.
In terms of food security, we are helping farmers to adopt good agricultural practices and providing cash transfers, while as far as social protection is concerned, we are advising the government to prioritize measures certain and how to make the best use of the system already in place.
The fourth topic is macroeconomic policy advice. The UN has provided a policy memorandum with key measures to support macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, to assist the government in discussions with the IMF and international financial institutions. other economy.
The government engineering department is still active, and my colleagues from all UN agencies continue to work with their counterparts in ministries. We are discussing innovative financing sources, which will help Sri Lanka recover.
I hope that soon there will be a government cabinet and our work will continue, but on a technical level, I think we are all still working pretty closely.
© ADB / MA Pushpa Kumara
Store shelves are empty due to lack of supplies at supermarkets in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (File)
Ensuring a sustainable, inclusive future
Our job is not only to address people’s immediate needs, but also to prevent deep crises. So we must help avoid Sri Lanka going backwards in areas like access to health and education.
Regardless of what’s going on right now, this country is a role model in Southeast Asia, so we need to protect whatever gains we make: this crisis doesn’t just affect vulnerable groups traditional vulnerabilities, but also the middle and lower middle classes, which are sliding. into the vulnerable category.
We all know the history of Sri Lanka, so we must maintain a vision of how to ensure social cohesion and resilience at the community level, while at the same time we are supporting policy and dedicated research in the Ministry of Finance, focusing on medium-term policy measures.
Finally, we also recognize that a number of broader political and systemic root causes have caused discrimination, and undermine human rights, and that these causes need to be addressed in relation to human rights. customary. To that end, we are finalizing the next United Nations Sustainable Development Framework for Sri Lanka, covering the years from 2023 to 2027, and including a number of strategies and programs to help the country. building a more sustainable and inclusive economy that benefits people and the planet. “
