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To support parliament in its efforts to address Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis and ensure sustainable and inclusive economic transformation, WFD Sri Lanka convened the Coalition for Inclusive Impact, which included MPs, political party members, media, civil society, and underrepresented groups. The group made recommendations for the recovery, including conducting an assessment of health sector policies that revealed that public-private partnerships could reduce the burden on Sri Lanka’s health sector.
With WFD’s support, in 2024, the Election Commission of Sri Lanka formed a collaborative, multi-stakeholder taskforce to enforce the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act (REEA), Sri Lanka’s first ever campaign finance law. WFD also supported country's first online monitoring tool to track campaign expenditure.
From 21–24 January 2025, representatives from all 16 regional political parties in the Bangsamoro travelled to Sri Lanka for a learning visit. This immersion provided valuable insights into how a whole-of-society approach contributed to peaceful elections in Sri Lanka.
Following Sri Lanka’s 2024 parliamentary election on 14 November, Naushalya Rajapaksha, author of WFD’s 2023 report on the cost of politics in Sri Lanka explores shifting spending patterns by both candidates and voters, and the impact of this on the election outcomes.
WFD is supporting the Parliament of Sri Lanka as it adopts a more inclusive approach to policymaking. Through this work, WFD is helping to create accountable and inclusive policies and laws that benefit all Sri Lankans.
Recently, activities took place in Sri Lanka to explore crucial matters of public debt oversight and the role of parliament in monitoring and ensuring transparency in debt management practices.
In 2021-22, our Global Equality Project (GEP) built on the success of our previous project on equality in the Commonwealth.
To help build awareness of the realities of LGBT+ peoples’ lives in Sri Lanka, WFD provided funding for a series of fictional short films, which premiered in the country in late 2021 and will go on tour around the country in 2022.
Under the Commonwealth Equality Project (CEP), WFD engaged and worked with different stakeholders on an evidence-based approach to LGBT+ issues in Sri Lanka.
The Social Scientists Association undertook a survey of the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of Sri Lankans about Sri Lankan LGBT persons.
Between October 2016 and March 2017, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), in partnership with the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Association (FSLGA) organised five workshops targeted at potential cross-party women candidates.
