Sri Lanka has improved its position on the Human Development Report published by the United Nations Development Programme and is the highest ranked in South Asia. From a ranking of 98 last year Sri Lanka has improved to 97, amongst 187 countries.
Sri Lanka’s human development index has risen from 0.691 in 2011 in comparison to 0.658 in 2010. Sri Lanka’s launch of the report titled “Sustainability and Equity; A better Future for All” was held yesterday.
Minister of Environment Anura Priyadarshana Yapa was the chief guest at the event. “Sri Lanka is above the regional average when it comes to the Human Development Index and this is not surprising because Sri Lanka has achieved this high ranking due to our commitment to improving healthcare, education, livelihoods and infrastructure in terms of sanitation and drinking water,” he said.
He further stated that programmes were being carried out by the government to ensure the environment was not compromised for development purposes. “The government of Sri Lanka believes in sustainable development and we have 10 trusted areas that have been identified as areas to be protected and this is being looked into by a committee,” Mr. Yapa said.
Source: Daily Mirror (23 November 2011)
