More than 10,000 social enterprises operate in Sri Lanka

As a part of a global effort, the British Council in Sri Lanka launched the report "State of Social Enterprises in Sri Lanka" at an event last week in Colombo.

This is a British Council effort to build a global baseline of social enterprise research and is another report that would sit alongside similar reports released in Bangladesh, Kenya and the Philippines.

Launching the report, Ms. Gill Caldicott, Country Director, British Council in Sri Lanka said that in the past decade an upsurge of social entrepreneurship is visible in Sri Lanka and new entrepreneurships have emerged to tackle a number of social and environmental problems and foster social inclusion, economic integration and sustainable development.

She said that the research was carried out by Lanka Ventures and Social Enterprise UK with support from UN ESCAP and a number of other partners. The research enlightens that social enterprises are active in all districts and provinces of Sri Lanka with many operations in multiple locations, addressing issues at the village level, nationally and in some cases, internationally.

Lack of awareness and understanding among the public, she said has been identified as some of the biggest barriers facing social enterprises in the country and the lack of targeted support for the sector from government and other influential organisations. Alongside this, the survey pinpoints business constrains for social enterprises such as access to finance and it examines their future needs in terms of technical, managerial and financial support.

The report indicated that although the term ‘Social Enterprise’ is new to Sri Lanka the concept is not. Many organisations surveyed did not necessarily consider themselves to be social enterprises, even though they met the study’s defining criteria.

Some 30 per cent of the surveyed social enterprises have been in operation for more than 15 years and especially cooperatives have been in operation for well over 50 years. Another 38 per cent have been operating for less than 10 years indicating a rapidly growing sector, the report indicates.

It said that social enterprises work with diverse groups across the community, including vulnerable children and adults, young people, women and girls and people with disabilities. Many of them support multiple groups of beneficiaries and serve diverse communities and a majority of them work to create employment or income opportunities for vulnerable or marginalised populations within their communities, the report revealed.

The report embodied that the research indicated the existing breadth, depth and potential of social enterprises in Sri Lanka. The findings also revealed that the current resources provided to this sector by the government and other organisations do not adequately support the needs, aspirations and growth of the sector in Sri Lanka and even so, it is still a rich, diverse and distinct vibrant sector that benefits both the social and economic life of the country and its people.

It indicated that there are around 6,000 to 15,000 social enterprises in Sri Lanka operating across the sectors in manufacturing, agriculture, cultural, creative and environmental protection sectors. The most common social objective is creating employment opportunities, followed by improving a particular community, while providing access to quality products or services and protecting the environment as common objectives.

The report noted that around 41 per cent of these enterprises direct their surpluses towards achieving collective social or environmental aims. It indicated that there is a striking gender gap in social enterprises with 31 per cent women in leadership roles in these enterprises compared to men – 69 per cent.

Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Industries and Commerce was the Chief Guest at the event and a lively discussion ensued with a panel discussion examining the pros and cons on the operation of social enterprise in Sri Lanka.

The panellists included M. A. Thajudeen, Additional Secretary, Textile Industry Development and SME, Ministry of Industry and Commerce; Chandula Abeywickrama, Chairman, Lanka Impact Investing Network; Dr. ( Ms.) Yasantha Mapatuna, Project Director, IFAD, SAPP, Presidential Secretariat and Ms. Selyna Peiris, Director, Selyn Handlooms.

The success of two social entrepreneurs - Tyrell Fernando, Director, PODIE SPICE ( People’s Organisation for Development Import and Export), Negombo and Ms. A. Yogarani, Manager/ Leader, Taste of Vanni Restaurant, Mankulam were accommodated to elaborate their success.