Sanasa International successfully concluded the “Building an Inclusive Economy” symposium on March 10^th at the Thinnai Hotel, Jaffna. The symposium was organized as part of the feeder conferences for the Peoples economic Forum, which is an annual event organized by SANASA International to surface issues pertaining to the economy, identified as important by local communities, and also to recognize solutions that have been and can be designed `by the cooperative sector.

The annual discourse People’s Economic Forum is held to improve the awareness of the cooperative enterprise model that gives rise to people-driven economies instead of the economies driven by the state or the largest corporations. The Forum also demonstrates the richness of the cooperative model and how they are applied throughout the world. The symposium held in Jaffna contributes to begin a regional dialogue in the hope of integrating it to the national discourse in August. The symposium was well embraced by participants comprised of cooperative leaders, policymakers, service providers, researchers, and national authorities.

In the past, the northern region had claimed to be one of the strongest drivers of the cooperative sector in Sri Lanka.  The first cooperative hospital and the first cooperative bank were established in Jaffna. Unfortunately, due to the prolonged war, the cooperative model that is based on self-reliance, civil leadership, and collective and democratic efforts disappeared from the northern region. Ms. Samadanie Kiriwandeniya, the Managing Director of Sanasa International explains, “Thirty years is almost an adult lifetime and the leadership of the communities that were active in leading the cooperatives in this region which required voluntary and liberal leadership, passed on or left the country during the war and the emergence of the next generation of community leadership was obstructed by the war—it was the LTTE or the government that led the communities afterwards. The cooperatives shrunk to delivery mechanisms for the LTTE and the government and people were conditioned to depend on external parties for their wellbeing. Even today, many people in this region tend to depend on the government, the diaspora, NGOs, and other donors for assistance”.

The symposium is conducted by Sanasa International with the expectation of opening the discussion on how the cooperative enterprise model can be used to address the many issues of the region and to create an inclusive economy.

Addressing the symposium, the Chief guest, the Governor of Northern Province Mr. Jeevan Thiygarajah said that while the cooperatives can be a solution for the many different problems of the province, the current model needs to be changed to suit the modern realities.  Cooperatives need to organize themselves with more enterprise-oriented manner and their management competencies need to be changed”.

“The communities in the northern region have substantial economic opportunities,” said Ms. Kiriwandeniya. She continued, “We at Sanasa International facilitate an environment where different parties within communities can pool their own resources and strengths to make use of such opportunities by themselves. We are in this together, as partners, grooming a resilient and sustainable economy”.

In order to facilitate an environment where the communities will prosper on their own, several challenges are identified. Among them, the need for attitude change among community members towards long-term planning, lack of entrepreneurship, limited functional skills (such as financial literacy and technology skills), language barriers, and limited access to technology and market knowledge some of the most significant bottlenecks. In addition, the lack of organized local groups (such as youth groups, women’s groups, etc.) poses challenges for long-term sustainable development.

In such a setting, in order to facilitate sustainable development through communities’ own strengths (in contrast to changing them or handing out donations), Sanasa International encourages the communities to group together through their own volition following the cooperative model, utilizing Sanasa’s experience of 40 years in successfully transforming more than 8,000 communities throughout Sri Lanka.

Sharing his lifetime experience on building cooperative networks, a cooperative enterprise that caters to more than 1 million people, the leader of SANASA movement, Dr. P.A. Kiriwandeniya stated that the Northern community, like all other regions, must stop waiting until solution is delivered to them.

“Cooperatives are not institutions that provide some commodity or product.  It is a philosophy for an alternative way of being.  It is an enterprise model that does not leave people behind. Its high time that Sri Lankans stop going behind politicians and look among each other for strength”

Dr.Ahilan Kadirgamar(Senior lecturer – Department of Sociology, University of Jaffna) delivering the Keynote address for the symposium stressed on the need for the cooperatives to take a leading role in the time of crisis both due to pandemic and flawed policies. The cooperatives must be more proactively engaged in agriculture adding value using appropriate technology and market knowledge and seriously look into establishing direct links between producers and consumers within a framework of self-sufficiency. The outcome of the discussion at the symposium, salient ideas shared by the northern region communities, and their preferences in engaging with the rest of the country will be utilized in developing the framework for facilitating a conducive environment for re-adopting the cooperative model in the region. Sanasa International plans to establish smart partnerships with these communities through continuous dialogue and believes that sustainable development in the region can benefit the entire country.