CEPA is an independent, Sri Lankan think-tank promoting a better understanding of poverty-related development issues. CEPA believes that poverty is an injustice that should be overcome and that overcoming poverty involves changing policies and practices nationally and internationally, as well as working with people in poverty. CEPA strives to contribute to influencing poverty-related development policy, at national, regional, sectoral, programme and project levels.
The Centre for Poverty Analysis was established in May of 2001 by nine Sri Lankan professionals working on poverty related issues. CEPA is registered as a company limited by guarantee under Sri Lanka's Companies Act 17 of 1982, on 24th April 2001 and re-registered under the Companies Act No.7 of 2007 on 28th July 2008. CEPA carries out a range of client services that includes; research, consultancy, evaluation and training.
CEPA brochure
Monetary poverty in Sri Lanka, as measured through the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), of the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS), has shown a declining trend over the years. In the latest HIES of 2019, the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (NMDPI) and Child Multidimensional Poverty Index (CMDPI) has also been measured for the first time in Sri Lanka. However, this survey results may not reflect the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic and political crises on the country's poverty levels.
The updated poverty line is based on 2012/13 data using National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), and the old poverty line is based on 2002 data using Colombo Consumer Price Index. The updated poverty line is a better measure of understanding poverty in Sri Lanka as it reflects the most recent living standard and consumption patterns of households.
ආචාර්ය එච්.එම්.ගුණතිලක හැඳින්වීම දූෂණය යනු පසුගිය දශක දෙක තුනක කාලය තුළ පුළුල් ලෙස කතාබහට ලක් වූ ගැටලුවකි. චෝදනාවට ලක් වූ පාර්ශ්වයන් විසින් ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ ද, ජාත්යන්තර මූල්ය අරමුදලේ (IMF) ආණ්ඩුකරණ ඇගයීම් වාර්තාව මගින් ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පුලුල්ව පැතිර ඇති දූෂණය පිලිබඳ පැහැදිලි සාක්ෂි සපයා ඇත. එම වාර්තාවේ “ආණ්ඩුකරණය සහ දූෂණය පිළිබඳ ගැටළු ජාතික සහ සමාජ යහපැවැත්ම
