Colombo: The European Union said “green recovery” will be a way forward to exit the ongoing multi-faceted crisis in Sri Lanka.
The Heads of EU member countries in Sri Lanka said this in a joint statement issued in view of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the Daily Mirror reported on Monday.
“Poverty and inequality are not inevitable, they can be overcome with peaceful and inclusive societies taking deliberate decisions to empower citizens and to ensure that their fundamental rights are safeguarded,” they said in a joint statement.
“The exclusion of disadvantaged groups can be costly both for the individual and for society as a whole as it does not mobilise the full resources, and worse, it hampers social cohesion, which is the precondition for any nation to lift all its people.”
The Team Europe focus on “green recovery”, as a way forward to exit the ongoing multi-faceted crisis, was one of the most recent iterations of the EU’s long-standing humanitarian and development partnership with Sri Lanka, it said.
“The EU’s grants-based development cooperation has been adjusted to help people cope with economic hardship, to fight against gender inequalities, and to avoid social exclusion and resulting tensions.
“Hence, the EU has made an inclusive and peaceful society one of its priorities for its cooperation with Sri Lanka from 2021-27, and as Team Europe, the EU and its Members States will work together with government, civil society and the private sector to address needs in this field…
“The people of Sri Lanka can count on the EU as a friend and partner on this difficult but rewarding journey.”
