Distance Learning Center in Colombo Inaugurated by Sri Lanka President and President of the World Bank

WASHINGTON, February 14, 2003—Sri Lanka President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn today formally launched a Distance Learning Center (DLC) in Colombo.  Officially joining over fifty DLCs affiliated with the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN), Sri Lanka will access cutting-edge distance learning technology and methods for information exchange, knowledge sharing, training and dialogue on development related topics such as conflict resolution and reconstruction, sustainable development, and poverty reduction.

Deborah Bateman, World Bank Country Coordinator for Sri Lanka said, “The DLC in Sri Lanka has the potential to make a substantial impact in the development of the country by contributing to peace, growth and equity in the country -- the three themes of the Bank's new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) currently under preparation.”

Financed by a Learning and Innovation Loan from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA); the Sri Lanka DLC, operational since March 2002, has successfully tested the Global Development Learning Network’s blended approach to knowledge sharing via traditional face-to-face training, videoconferencing, Internet and other media.  In addition to serving as a platform for global and regional dialogues among different regions of the world, the Sri Lanka distance learning center will offer and deliver programs to enhance the institutional capacity of public and private sector institutions to implement reforms.

GDLN is a partnership of public and private organizations—including government agencies, universities, training institutes and multilateral organizations—that use distance learning technologies and methods for an interactive exchange of knowledge across time and geographic barriers.

For more information on GDLN, visit their website: www.gdln.org.