Govt. and five RPCS sign first PPP to strengthen...
„The partnership is aimed at addressing unique challenges faced by highly vulnerable children „Coordination gaps between the two accountable stakeholders have been most challenging
On August 8th 2019, the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development, and five pioneering plantation companies signed the first ever Public-private Partnership (PPP) to improve children’s protection and wellbeing in Sri Lanka’s tea plantation sector.
This was a process facilitated and initiated by Save the Children, with the experience of working with both entities for thepast few years.
The Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development has the overall mandate for the protection and wellbeing of children in Sri Lanka. Since 2016, Save the Children has been working in partnership with the Ministry to improve policies and systems which support children’s rights.
In 2017, Save the Children introduced ‘Child Protections Standards’ to the Sri Lanka’s tea plantation sector, which was adopted by the five companies. This partnership builds on that commitment made by the companies, and government commitment to support vulnerable child populations. This agreement will enhance the shared responsibility and commitment of both the government and private sector for child rights in Sri Lanka.
The gaps in coordination between the two accountable stakeholders have been one of the most challenging issues, and have impacted the quality and adequacy of key services for women and children in the plantation sector. This partnership will further enhance the positive initiatives taken by both the government and plantation companies to address the unique challenges faced by highly vulnerable children in the plantation sector. Therefore this agreement will lay a strong foundation to address these issues in future.
At the signing ceremony, the Secretary to the Ministry Of Women and Child Affairs and Dry Zone Development, Darshana Senanayake stated, “This partnership coincides with global trends of both the government and the private sector to work together for the betterment of a community. The secretary is pleased that she could initiate this through the Ministry, and is very hopeful that this model will be successful. She especially hopes that this initiative will ensure that the ground level officers will be strengthened.”
Following the secretary’s speech, Dilantha Seneviratne, CEO of the Thalawakele Tea Estates PLC addressed the audience representing all companies said, “This is a significant milestone in the process of the key steps taken by Tea Plantation Companies to ensure wellbeing of estate communities. This partnership would strengthened us to effectively operationalize the child protection policy of our companies as it requires to ensure the accessibility of child protection services provided by the government.”
As a facilitator of this process Save the Children consider this progressive move of public and private sector stakeholders as an important achievement towards ensuring a more child friendly environment, to reduce child abuse, to establish and successfully carry out Government initiatives on the estates. This opportunity will promote a positive and safe platform for children and their families who live on Sri Lanka’s tea plantations.
Julian Chellappah, National Director for Save the Children in Sri Lanka commemorates this ingenuity said, “Save the Children welcomes the decision by the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the five leading Tea Companies in Sri Lanka. Save the Children will continue to provide our technical support, collaboration and coordination to expand this to other private sector actors who commit for wellbeing and protection of children in Sri Lanka and ensure effective implementation of this agreement.