Govt. lags behind in its overall development targets – Civil Society Organizations

Jun 05, 2017

The Sri Lankan Government, after it came in to power in January 08, 2015, has so far been able to complete only 17 milestones as promised, civil society organizations state based on their latest monitoring.

The fact was pointed out in the latest update of the Open Government Partnership, a tracker on the National action plan which is an initiative undertaken by the Transparency International jointly with several other civil society organizations.

The Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) issuing a statement today pointed out that they are “concerned over the state's lack of progress in implementing the Open Government Partnership (OGP) National Action Plan, which consists of 116 milestones.”

Accordingly deadlines for achieving 32 milestones have lapsed, 25 are stalled and 15 are in progress while only 17 milestones have been completed as of May 31, 2017.

Among the 17 commitments the Government has been able fulfill, the implementation of the Right To Information Act is highlighted. Yet the Government has not yet met its targets in developing health, education, Information and communication technology, environment, local government, women’s affairs and controlling corruption.

The OGP was formally launched on September 20, 2011 on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting during which Heads of State from 8 founding governments endorsed the Open Government Declaration and announced their country action plans along with an equal number of civil society leaders.
Sri Lanka became a signatory to the Open Government Declaration and joined the OGP in October 2015 becoming the only OGP member nation from the South Asian region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the main agency overseeing the implementation of the OGP National Action Plan in Sri Lanka.