Gayani Hurulle Archives — LIRNEasia


Rohan Samarajiva, Tharaka Amarasinghe, and I attended a meeting with the Committee on Comprehensive Social Protection for Workers on 4 January 2024, following an invitation from the Ministry of Labour and Foreign Employment in Sri Lanka. Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara was present at the meeting, along with representatives from several agencies including the National Planning Department, Social Security Board, Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, and International Labour Organisation. During the session, we delivered a presentation to the Committee, accessible here. This article sheds light on three key points we raised, initiating meaningful discussions.  28% of workers are living in poverty  LIRNEasia’s 10,000 sample nationally representative survey conducted between August 2022 and March 2023 highlighted that 28% of the 8.
LIRNEasia’s Senior Research Manager, Gayani Hurulle, recently spoke at a symposium organised by the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) titled “Poverty Alleviation in an Era of Economic Crisis.” The symposium, held in November last year, aimed at revisiting poverty-related issues, focusing on addressing the escalating poverty and vulnerability in the present crisis and beyond.   Gayani, heading LIRNEasia’s work on poverty and social safety nets in Sri Lanka participated as a discussant in a panel on building a comprehensive social protection system. The panel, moderated by Karin Fernando from CEPA, included experts such as Shalika Subasinghe of the World Bank, Mira Bierbaum of the UNICEF, and Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne of Sarvodaya.
LIRNEasia’s Senior Research Manager, Gayani Hurulle, has been featured in a recent documentary by Channel News Asia, delving into the dynamics of Sri Lanka’s debt crisis. The documentary seeks to explain the debt crisis, whilst exploring the human cost associated with a country grappling with economic challenges, and looking forward as to what happens next. In the documentary, Gayani shares findings from LIRNEasia’s recent research on poverty and social safety nets in Sri Lanka. Our nationally representative research adds a crucial layer to the understanding of the complexities surrounding the country’s economic challenges. Watch the full documentary Read our research on social safety nets and poverty rates in Sri Lanka
In an era marked by the rapid growth of the digital economy, the issue of taxation on technology multinationals has taken centre stage. However, many countries in the Global South find themselves unequipped to harness tax revenue from these digital giants. Several policy options are available to countries. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN) have proposed treaty-based solutions, but questions have emerged about the revenue potential of these multilateral proposals, the feasibility of their timely implementation, as well as whose interests they serve. Meanwhile, several countries — including some in the Global South — have implemented their own domestic solutions.
LIRNEasia’s research on ICTs and gender in Myanmar was presented at the Myanmar Digital Rights Forum that took place on 18 and 19 January 2019 in Yangon.
Presented by Gayani Hurulle at Myanmar Digital Rights Forum. 18 January 2019, Yangon.
We launched the findings of our research on ICT accessibility for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Myanmar on 21 August 2018 at ParkRoyal, Yangon. This was LIRNEasia’s first foray into systematically studying the subject, but will not be the last. Research from Nepal is to be released before the end of the year. We decided to embark on this study in Myanmar following questions on disability specific research from the audience at courses we conducted for Disabled Persons’ Organisations (DPOs) and Members of Parliament when we presented the findings of our broader research on ICTs in Myanmar. As a result, we conducted qualitative research with 101 respondents with visual, hearing and physical disabilities in May 2018.
Enabling the disabled - The role of ICTs in the lives of persons with disabilities in Myanmar. Research reprot by Gayani Hurulle, Dilshan Fernando and Helani Galpaya. Published August 2018.
Slideset presented at the report launch on 21 August 2018.
Research first presented at the CPRsouth conference in Yangon in September 2017 was cited by LIRNEasia's senior policy fellow Abu Saeed Khan in a presentation made to senior government officials, environmental officers, mobile operators and academics of the Kingdom of Bhutan.