title: The politics of local government and development in Sri Lanka: An analysis of the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

authors: Akurugoda, Indi Ruwangi

subjects: local government

abstract: Sri Lanka has inherited a unitary state structure and a highly centralised approach to government administration. Since independence in 1948, various proposals to restructure government, including decentralising powers to provincial and local levels, have been proposed, but none have been fully implemented. The Sinhala nationalist parties and groups which have supported successive governments have generally rejected all decentralisation proposals. Moreover, the political elite has long been oriented towards and accepting of strong leadership from the centre, which has largely ignored local government and local development, with serious implications for much of the population.
The tsunami of 2004 and the end of the war in 2009 saw NGO support and large amounts of foreign funding flow into Sri Lanka to assist in the recovery. Central government and its leadership have controlled the whole aid management and distribution process, by directing foreign funds towards conducting large scale construction projects at the local level without considering local needs. Despite restrictions imposed by central government, a number of NGOs have begun to play an important role in promoting local development through interacting with local government bodies and local communities. NGOs can, thus, be found to be at the forefront of endeavours to address social and economic needs at the local level.
This study, examines how and why local communities have been neglected in development initiatives in Sri Lanka, and assesses the significance of support from NGOs in increasing the capacity of local government and in promoting local development. Hypotheses derived from the literature related to post-colonial criticisms, government-NGO relations, and NGO interactions in the policy process are examined and assessed. Based on research in the southern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, this study analyses the views of national, provincial and local level political representatives and administrative officials, NGO officials and CBO representatives.
The research revealed that while local level respondents aspired to play an active role in decisions about the use of foreign support for local development, they tended to lack the knowledge and capacity to do so. Local level respondents highlighted the importance of NGO guidance in these processes, particularly in terms of promoting local people’s participation in local government decision making. This thesis concludes that NGOs can play a positive role in supporting local government in addressing development needs at the local level. Local government-NGO relations were found to have made an effective and significant contribution to fulfilling local level needs. NGOs can thus be seen to play a positive role in empowering local government and local communities and their involvement has potential to lead to a move away from highly centralised power structures.

text: The politics of local government and development in Sri Lanka: An analysis of the contribution of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Sri Lanka has inherited a unitary state structure and a highly centralised approach to government administration. Since independence in 1948, various proposals to restructure government, including decentralising powers to provincial and local levels, have been proposed, but none have been fully implemented. The Sinhala nationalist parties and groups which have supported successive governments have generally rejected all decentralisation proposals. Moreover, the political elite has long been oriented towards and accepting of strong leadership from the centre, which has largely ignored local government and local development, with serious implications for much of the population.
The tsunami of 2004 and the end of the war in 2009 saw NGO support and large amounts of foreign funding flow into Sri Lanka to assist in the recovery. Central government and its leadership have controlled the whole aid management and distribution process, by directing foreign funds towards conducting large scale construction projects at the local level without considering local needs. Despite restrictions imposed by central government, a number of NGOs have begun to play an important role in promoting local development through interacting with local government bodies and local communities. NGOs can, thus, be found to be at the forefront of endeavours to address social and economic needs at the local level.
This study, examines how and why local communities have been neglected in development initiatives in Sri Lanka, and assesses the significance of support from NGOs in increasing the capacity of local government and in promoting local development. Hypotheses derived from the literature related to post-colonial criticisms, government-NGO relations, and NGO interactions in the policy process are examined and assessed. Based on research in the southern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, this study analyses the views of national, provincial and local level political representatives and administrative officials, NGO officials and CBO representatives.
The research revealed that while local level respondents aspired to play an active role in decisions about the use of foreign support for local development, they tended to lack the knowledge and capacity to do so. Local level respondents highlighted the importance of NGO guidance in these processes, particularly in terms of promoting local people’s participation in local government decision making. This thesis concludes that NGOs can play a positive role in supporting local government in addressing development needs at the local level. Local government-NGO relations were found to have made an effective and significant contribution to fulfilling local level needs. NGOs can thus be seen to play a positive role in empowering local government and local communities and their involvement has potential to lead to a move away from highly centralised power structures.

year: 2014

title: Incremental system verification and synthesis of minimally restrictive behaviours

authors: Malik, Robi

abstract: An incremental approach to system verification is proposed, for system behaviours and safety properties described by means of finite-string languages and finite-state automata. Properties are verified with respect to subsystems of the overall system, nevertheless allowing assertions to be made about the entire system satisfying such properties. The proposed approach considers satisfaction of properties, controllability, and synthesis as successive verification steps. Furthermore, it allows the incremental augmentation of the system to be verified: after each verification step, either the desired property is verified, or a counter example is obtained, which, together with heuristics, provides the basis for the augmentation of a given subsystem for the next verification step.

text: Incremental system verification and synthesis of minimally restrictive behaviours An incremental approach to system verification is proposed, for system behaviours and safety properties described by means of finite-string languages and finite-state automata. Properties are verified with respect to subsystems of the overall system, nevertheless allowing assertions to be made about the entire system satisfying such properties. The proposed approach considers satisfaction of properties, controllability, and synthesis as successive verification steps. Furthermore, it allows the incremental augmentation of the system to be verified: after each verification step, either the desired property is verified, or a counter example is obtained, which, together with heuristics, provides the basis for the augmentation of a given subsystem for the next verification step.

year: 2000

title: Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai.

authors: Keegan, Te Taka Adrian Gregory

subjects: indigenous language

abstract: The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet.

By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. The results provide encouragement and optimism to people who are striving to retain, revitalise and develop the use of indigenous languages in information technologies. The Transaction Log Analysis (TLA) methods used in this research serve as an example of how web logs can be used to provide significant information about language usage in a bilingual online information system. Combining the TLA with user feedback has provided insights into how and why clients use indigenous languages in their information retrieval activities. These insights in turn, show good practice that is relevant not only to those working with indigenous languages, indigenous peoples or multilingual environments, but to all information technology designers who strive for universal usability.
This thesis begins by describing the importance of using indigenous languages in electronic environments and suggests that digital libraries can provide an environment to support and encourage the use of such languages. TLA is explained in the context of this study and is then used to analyse aspects of te reo Māori usage in the Niupepa digital library environment in 2005. TLA also indicates that te reo Māori was used by international clients and this usage differed to te reo Māori usage by national (Aotearoa) clients. Findings further reveal that the default language setting of the Niupepa digital library had a considerable impact on te reo Māori usage. When the default language was set to te reo Māori not only were there more requests in te reo Māori but there was also a higher usage of te reo Māori in the information retrieval activities. TLA of the Hawaiian Nūpepa digital library indicated that the Hawaiian language was also used in a digital library. These results confirm that indigenous languages were used in digital library environments. 
Feedback from clients suggests reasons why indigenous languages were used in this environment. These reasons include the indigenous language content of the digital library, the indigenous language default language setting of the digital library and a stated desire by the clients to use the indigenous language. The key findings raise some interface design issues and support the claim that digital libraries can provide an environment to support the use of indigenous languages.

text: Indigenous Language Usage in a Digital Library: He Hautoa Kia Ora Tonu Ai. The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet.

By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. The results provide encouragement and optimism to people who are striving to retain, revitalise and develop the use of indigenous languages in information technologies. The Transaction Log Analysis (TLA) methods used in this research serve as an example of how web logs can be used to provide significant information about language usage in a bilingual online information system. Combining the TLA with user feedback has provided insights into how and why clients use indigenous languages in their information retrieval activities. These insights in turn, show good practice that is relevant not only to those working with indigenous languages, indigenous peoples or multilingual environments, but to all information technology designers who strive for universal usability.
This thesis begins by describing the importance of using indigenous languages in electronic environments and suggests that digital libraries can provide an environment to support and encourage the use of such languages. TLA is explained in the context of this study and is then used to analyse aspects of te reo Māori usage in the Niupepa digital library environment in 2005. TLA also indicates that te reo Māori was used by international clients and this usage differed to te reo Māori usage by national (Aotearoa) clients. Findings further reveal that the default language setting of the Niupepa digital library had a considerable impact on te reo Māori usage. When the default language was set to te reo Māori not only were there more requests in te reo Māori but there was also a higher usage of te reo Māori in the information retrieval activities. TLA of the Hawaiian Nūpepa digital library indicated that the Hawaiian language was also used in a digital library. These results confirm that indigenous languages were used in digital library environments. 
Feedback from clients suggests reasons why indigenous languages were used in this environment. These reasons include the indigenous language content of the digital library, the indigenous language default language setting of the digital library and a stated desire by the clients to use the indigenous language. The key findings raise some interface design issues and support the claim that digital libraries can provide an environment to support the use of indigenous languages.

year: 2007