Colombo, 10 December 2019: The global launch of the Human Development Report 2019 released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was held in Bogota, Colombia on 9 December 2019, with the presence of H.E. Iván Duque Márquez, President of Colombia, Mr. Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator and Mr. Pedro Conceição, Director of the Human Development Report Office. 

Further to the global launch, the first official copy of the report titled, ‘Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: inequalities in human development in the 21st Century’ – was presented to Honourable Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa - who is also the Minister of Finance, Economy and Policy Development - by Mr. Robert Juhkam, Resident Representative of UNDP Sri Lanka, with the presence of Ms. Hanaa Singer, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Sri Lanka.

During the meeting, discussions were held on UNDP’s important role as the SDG integrator in supporting the development agenda and the focus on human development to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Ms. Hanaa Singer further reiterated the UN’s continued support to the Government of Sri Lanka in taking this agenda forward.

Sri Lanka’s Human Development Index value for 2018 is 0.780— which puts the country in the high human development category—positioning it at 71 out of 189 countries and territories, according to the latest report.

The report is being launched in Colombo later this evening at an event attended by State Minister for Economic and Policy Development, Honourable John Seneviratne.

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