Urban Poverty in Sri Lanka – 2013

Urban Poverty in Sri Lanka – 2013 provides an overview of the urban poverty with a special focus on the Colombo Metropolitan Area where urban poverty is most prevalent. It looks at the reactions to addressing urban poverty; challenges faced and highlight critical institutional and policy issues which affect attempts at addressing the problem. The brief also looks to identify priority areas for immediate intervention. Although the existence of rural and estate sector poverty has been acknowledged and discussed extensively since Independence, poverty in the urban sector has been relatively neglected due to lack of awareness. Correspondingly, the knowledge base as well as policy formulation and interventions were heavily biased towards the rural and estate sectors. However, over the last three decades, urban poverty has gained a certain degree of prominence with the gradual acknowledgement of its specific nature and the establishment of institutions with an urban focus. Hence the address of urban poverty issues has increasingly come to the forefront of policy and program interventions.