Beyond Aswesuma: Investing in Transformative Social Protection

By Iromi Perera

MARCH 14, 2025 | Publications

Sri Lanka’s polycrisis since 2019 has demonstrated that existing social protection systems are inadequate not only because they are underfunded, but they lack information, are too fragmented, lack coordination between institutions and are not robust or dynamic enough to understand structural issues or capture the different ways in which people can be vulnerable or need support. It has demanded that we invest more meaningfully in social protection, going beyond the targeted schemes of social safety nets towards universal social protection, and seeing it has something that is not charity or a handout, but a right that every citizen is entitled to.

The impacts of COVID-19 lockdowns followed by a crushing economic crisis provided Sri Lanka the perfect opportunity to rethink what social protection means for the country, who it should be for, what it should entail and how it should be operationalised. (Bhan 2023) Unfortunately what we saw was a heavy focus on one new cash transfer programme Aswesuma, which replaced the existing Samurdhi programme. This Policy Brief presents a detailed critique of the Aswesuma programme and some pathways to the new government and policy makers to strengthen social protection in Sri Lanka.

For the new NPP government, this is an opportune time to revise the National Social Protection Policy and the strategy document that is meant to accompany it. It’s a belated opportunity to start building a transformative long term vision on social protection that is not only meaningful but one that can go beyond just being a policy document, to actually laying a strong foundation for implementation. It is also necessary to have a strong lead institution that has the vision and the oversight powers to convene not just the schemes and programmes that are by the Government, but also schemes and even pilot programmes by development actors and civil society to see how everyone engaged in social protection in Sri Lanka can consolidate, avoid duplication, share learning experiences and information and work together in a more holistic way.

Real the full Policy Brief here.

CSF

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