"Empowering the Disabled" Sri Lanka Small Grants Program Launched

Contacts: In Colombo: Chulie De Silva
e-mail: cdesilva@worldbank.org
Tel. (94-11) 5561-323
In Washington: Erik Nora
e-mail: enora@worldbank.org

World Bank Supports Differently-abled in Sri Lanka

Colombo, 6 June 2007:  Seven community service organisations received grants of up to LKR 500,000 (US$4600 approximately) yesterday from the World Bank for their innovative approaches to increase participation of disabled people in public, civic, and community life.

In a simple ceremony to award the grants Naoko Ishii, World Bank Country Director in Sri Lanka congratulated the winners for their commitment to change public attitudes to reduce stigma and build capacity for independent living by increasing life-skills. “Disability is a significant obstacle in reducing poverty and there is a growing body of evidence on disability as an important development issue,” said Ishii, speaking about the vicious circle between poverty and disability.  She hoped “the Small Grants Program will raise awareness and improve our understanding of disability issues in Sri Lanka..

According to statistics 1.6 percent of Sri Lanka’s population is living with disabilities (2001 statistics).  This is the fourth year since the inception of the World Bank’s Small Grants Program in Sri Lanka and this year’s program aimed at building capacity, empowering and enabling differently-abled citizens to be trained and guided, to strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, and reducing stigma and discrimination associated with disabilities.