Sri Lanka was well positioned to meet the Goals before 2015 in the areas of universal primary school enrolment, gender equality in primary and secondary school enrolment, reducing maternal and child
mortality and several other health and social indicators, said Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United Nations Prasad Kariyawasam addressing the UN General Assembly on April 2.

He said that Millennium Goals had been integrated into his country's national development strategies, including the 10-year development framework for 2007-2016. Despite achievements and the country's
recent transition from a low- to a middle-income country, Sri Lanka still faced significant challenges in several areas, including poverty eradication, achieving environmentally sustainable development,
reducing unemployment and mitigating the social costs of migration and brain drain, he added.

Achieving the Millennium Goals in a sustainable manner was linked to overcoming regional disparities, including uneven distribution of wealth.

The destruction caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami had been a serious setback, he said. The campaign of terror by a separatist terrorist group was also a major challenge to national well-being. As a result of terrorism, several conflict-affected regions had lagged behind, and service sectors like tourism had been affected throughout the country.

"In that context, the Government was making every effort, working with development partners, to build national capacities to address those challenges. Action was being taken to promote equity and inclusion, to implement pro-poor policies favouring local aspirations and indigenous methods, as well as local entrepreneurship. While combating terrorism, the Government had taken steps to ensure just and
lasting peace in the north and east of the country through socio-political means", he further said.