Centre for Poverty Analysis

CEPA’s Dialogue and Exchange (D&E) services aim to optimise the process of learning and sharing knowledge and experiences through regular discussions, seminars and conferences. D&E plays a key role in enabling the discussion of poverty related issues within the activities of all programmes. It also takes place at a more informal level, with CEPA professional staff sharing experiences through ad hoc meetings with a variety of people who approach CEPA. The two main pillars of CEPA’s D&E activities are the Open Forum on Poverty and the Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka.

The primary objective of hosting Open Forums is to provide a platform for professional debate on poverty related issues, and to encourage knowledge sharing and discussion, rather than a public lecture. A presentation made by an invited speaker is followed by a short comment from a discussant and a floor discussion. Documentation is distributed among participants and available to a wider audience through CEPA’s resource centre.

Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka

The Annual Symposium is a forum for scholars and practitioners from different disciplines to discuss new concepts and recent empirical findings on poverty. It seeks to provide directions for further research and analysis with a view to contributing to an increased understanding of poverty and the formulation of effective policy reduction strategies. The Symposium is conducted with simultaneous translations in Sinhala and Tamil, allowing for the participation of a wide audience from government, civil society, research organisations and universities.

The South Asia Evidence-Based Policy in Development Network

This is an exciting initiative which will give a much needed regional focus to the existing global network aiming to bring together think tanks, research institutes and similar organisations working in international development across South Asia to promote more evidence-based, pro-poor development policy making in the region. We welcome both existing and new ebpdn members and invite you to join this regional dialogue which will further strengthen the regional and in turn, the global networks. The regional network is coordinated by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) and funded by the Global Development Network (GDN). 

Trend Lines and Tearful Eyes – Sri Lankan Poverty in Media

CEPA was invited to make the Sri Lanka country presentation at the 6th South Asian Free Media Conference held in Colombo in August, 2007. The conference organized by the SAARC South Asian Free Media Association, focused on ‘Media, Peace and Poverty Alleviation’ this year. The presentation by CEPA discussed the representation of Sri Lankan poverty issues in the media and the potential links between researchers and media in creating change. Surveys of Sri Lankan media shows that politics, conflict and the economy rather than poverty-related issues are the main focus of the media. The presentation suggested that media can develop a poverty angle to mainstream stories even though a word of “poverty” does not appear in the article. In relation to what is currently reported in the media under the ‘poverty’ theme, the tendency was to swing between human interest ‘tearful’ stories to sterile economic ‘trend line’ analysis. The presentation also flagged the unsatisfactory tendency of the media to use of pictures which were an invasion of privacy, degrading and some times irrelevant in ‘poverty’ stories. In closing, the synergistic potential for change if media and researchers worked together was suggested.

Completed Projects 

• Regional Conference on Poverty Monitoring in Asia
• SAARC Regional Poverty Profile - 2004
• Preparation of SAARC Regional Poverty Profiles
• Forum on Innovative Vocational Training for Rural Women and Youth
• Consultations with Stakeholders on the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement
• SAARC Regional Poverty Profile - 2003
• Publication on Economic Reforms in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lanka National Consultations on Civil Society Organisations, Evidence and Policy Influence
• Future of Aid
• Impact Assessment of the Micro Finance and Business Development Services Approach to Poverty Alleviation
• Meeting the Challenge: National Poverty Conference 2001
• International Youth Conference
• Poverty and Conflict Conference
• Hosting discussions I
• Hosting discussions II - Bureau of Statistics, China
• Seminar on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka
• 2nd Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka
• 3rd Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka
• 4th Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka
• 5th Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka
• 6th Annual Symposium on Poverty Research in Sri Lanka