RESEARCH AND ADVISORY PROJECTS / ASSIGNMENTS

• Social welfare programmes in the plantation sector are carried out with the intention of improving the lives and living conditions of estate workers. There is also an implicit expectation that these investments result in increased willingness to work on the estates and worker productivity. The overall objective of the Study on social welfare and labour productivity in the plantation sector undertaken for WUSC was to examine the relationship between social welfare programmes and their contribution to productivity. It identifies pivotal factors that contribute to labour satisfaction and productivity and if social programmes lead to behavioural and attitudinal changes that then have an impact on productivity.
(Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme)

• There is a substantial knowledge gap about how research evidence influences policy and practice. In this connection, the Policy Influence Monitoring (PIM) of 3ie funded Impact Evaluations funded by 3ie (International Initiative for Impact Evaluations) is a unique opportunity to unpack and test some of the emerging thinking about what the necessary and effective inputs are that would maximise the likelihood of 3ie (and others') evaluations having a high likelihood of influencing policy. CEPA is in partnership with ODI (UK), CIPPEC (Argentina) and Commsconsult (UK and Zimbabwe) to carry out this global assignment on behalf of 3ie.
(Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme)

• Indigenous forms of charity and philanthropy are increasingly recognised as playing central roles in social, economic, and health development. CEPA together with the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex is Exploring the role of philanthropy and charity on development in Sri Lanka. The study is being conducted in Colombo and will investigate Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim and secular forms of giving - including CSR - in the form of cash, kind or time and assess their contribution towards achieving development goals.

The overall aims of the project will be to produce policy briefs and good practice guides to support development-orientated charity and philanthropy activities in Sri Lanka, as well as encourage further dialogue and exchange between stakeholder groups. As such, the project will be of interest to Sri Lankan charitable and philanthropic organisations, corporate sector CSR initiatives, religious leaders and groups, governmental and non-governmental development (local and international) organisations, donor agencies and academics with research interests in these fields.
(Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme)

• CEPA partnered with ACTED's (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) European Commission-funded project titled Community Driven Development and Pro-Poor Economic Growth for Conflict-Affected Populations in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka. The project aims to improve the living conditions of conflict-affected communities in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka through improved access to collective assets and infrastructure, better public service provision and increased opportunities for sustainable livelihoods.

CEPA's role was to conduct detailed Value Chain Analysis of 40 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which were previously supported by the ACTED in 2 Divisional Secretariat Divisions in Trincomalee (Kuchaveli and Padavi Sri Pura) and 2 in Batticaloa (Vellavely and Paddipalai). CEPA carried out a sample study of 40 SMEs depending on the geographical location, types and scale of production.
(Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme)

• Research on Land Acquisition, Livelihoods and Food Security in Sri Lanka funded by OXFAM's GROW aims at ensuring food security in Sri Lanka by promoting an improved food production system which prioritises the rights of small-scale food producers. The increasing large scale land acquisitions in Sri Lanka for infrastructure, recreational facilities and economic development and security reasons are seen to impact on the rights of these small scale agricultural and fisheries food producers. OXFAM commissioned CEPA to prepare an analysis of laws and policies under which land acquisitions are carried out by different actors and the rights and remedies these laws provide for. Secondly, CEPA also carried out 4 case studies at locations chosen by OXFAM where displacement had occurred due to large scale land acquisitions or is likely to occur. OXFAM will use these case studies to mobilise civil society to lobby for rights of the poor and marginalised and influence policy makers on the impact of acquisition on food security and livelihoods of small-scale food producers.
(Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme/Vulnerability Thematic)

• CEPA in partnership with Sewalanka conducted a Mid-Term Review of USAID Public Private Alliances on Dairy Enhancement in the Eastern Province (DEEP) and Sustainable Agriculture through Commercialisation (SAC) funded by USAID-VEGA Facilitating Economic Growth Sri Lanka Programme. The rapid assessment of two projects within the USAID Public Private Alliances on Diary Enhancement in the Eastern Province by Land O' Lakes and Sustainable Agriculture through Commercialisation by Hayleys aimed to understand the impacts of the projects in terms of benefit to the farmers and the potential for sustainability beyond the project cycle. A representative quantitative survey tool was used to assess the impacts, and the synthesis provided recommendations for the improvement of the current projects and highlighted learning points for the next phase of the project cycle.
(Post war/post conflict development)

• CEPA is looking at Diaspora engagement in crisis settings: a Sri Lanka case study in partnership with the Centre for Migration Policy and Society (COMPAS), Oxford University as part of a global study being implemented in Haiti and Liberia. The project explores ways in which different elements of the Sri Lankan Diaspora influence recovery within the country, engages in the country's social, economic and political spheres, and reconfigures social relations. It also looks at ways in which Diaspora influence is mediated or constrained by homeland counterparts.
(Migration Thematic)

• The Third Party Continuous Benefit Monitoring of Road Sector Assistance Project, Kanthale - Trincomalee Section of Highway aims to design and facilitate a benefit monitoring process where the users/stakeholders of the road are involved in monitoring the road planning, implementation and operational aspects of the road. This is a pilot testing of a monitoring activity that involves beneficiaries and aims to work in collaboration with the RDA to fine tune and help replicate the activity with other road implementation projects.
(Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme, Infrastructure Thematic)

• CEPA has worked on Testing and Promoting the Selection Manual for Planning Development Interventions for the World Bank, Social Development Civil Society Fund since 2009. Over a period of two years CEPA was engaged in designing a site selection model followed by a monitoring and evaluation component of the implementation of "Rural Access pilot Interventions" in three communities in Ratnapura, where access was identified as the key constraint to their economic and social wellbeing.

CEPA has consolidated the learning from the pilot site selection model into a manual that can be used by Local Authorities and other development entities to prioritize and select development project interventions. This assignment funded by the World Bank, is planned to test the manual for acceptance with local authorities, make it available it in the two local languages and promote the manual and its selection process among local government and other development agencies to encourage wider use of evidence based transparent decision making.
(Poverty Impact Monitoring Programme)

Applied Research Projects/Assignments
• CEPA is a core member of the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC): researching livelihoods and services affected by conflict and funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) UK, through the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). The SLRC aims to provide a stronger evidence base on how people make a living, educate their children, deal with illness and access basic services in fragile and conflict affected situations. 2011 was the inception year of the Livelihoods, social protection and basic services in fragile and conflict affected situations: research programme consortium and CEPA has been contributing to the development of research questions and the consortium's theory of change by developing an evidence paper on the work that already exists on livelihoods, basic service provision and social protection in Sri Lanka, carrying out stakeholder consultations and experimenting with media mapping. Following the inception year, the programme is expected to continue for another 5 years.
(Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme)

• Making the City of Colombo slum free is one of the priorities identified in Sri Lanka's Development Policy Framework, which states that by 2020 the City of Colombo will have no more shanty dwellers. Hence, the Government of Sri Lanka has started a new initiative of physical and economic regeneration for Metro Colombo to transform the metropolitan area into a modern, slum-free area. The Metro Colombo Urban Development Project (MCUDP), with financing from World Bank will focus on flood and drainage management, and is likely to have a positive impact on low-income households living in low-lying flood prone areas. UNHABITAT, CEPA and Sevanatha were contracted under the Colombo City - Livelihood Assessment of Flood-Prone Low-Income Settlements project to carry out an assessment on the livelihoods of the shanties located in flood prone areas with the objective of understanding geography and typologies of flood-prone low-income settlements, the livelihood conditions of these communities and their specific vulnerabilities.
(Poverty Assessment and Measurement Programme)

• Funded by the World Bank Civil Society Fund, a photo documentary on Elders as a burden or resource (working title) aims to engage with identified stakeholders using the photo documentation method to highlight that the contribution elderly men and women make to society and the economy needs to be recognised rather than be considered a burden. Older people do have agency and engage productively in the economy. The project will engage with the elderly, particularly document and visualise through photography and life histories the use of agency and the contribution that elderly men and women continue to make in society; identify gendered similarities and differences and the support they require at various levels to continue this contribution, if they desire to. It will also communicate and stimulate dialogue at the community level; amongst elderly groups and youth and at the community and decentralised level; with community leaders and state actors, using the documentation as visual material, a structured dialogue and engagement tool.
(Communications and Policy Programme)

Individual Consultancies

• National Impact Evaluation Specialist improving gender-inclusive access to clean and renewable energy in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. - Grant- 9158
The overall objective of this project is to help mainstream impact evaluation in South Asia over a short period of time. The consultant will support impact evaluation (IE) of selected projects, including improving Gender-Inclusive Access to Clean and Renewable Energy in Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The consultancy was undertaken by K.I.H. Sanjeewanie from April 2012-November 2012 for the Asian Development Bank.

• Evaluation of FAO's Work in Sri Lanka
The evaluation of FAO's Cooperation in Sri Lanka is part of a series of country evaluations that started in 2006. Country-focused evaluation examines the totality of FAO's work, including national projects, country participation in regional and global projects, use made of normative products and performance of the FAO country representation. The key considerations in these evaluations are the utility of the Organisation's work to the Member Country and the extent to which this draws on FAO's comparative advantages. The consultancy was undertaken by Mohammed Munas from April-June 2012 for the Food and Agriculture Organisation.