"Dealing with Social Security Challenges and Crisis Management in Sri Lanka"
June 24, 2022Institute of National Security Studies
Threat Lens
On
"Dealing with Social Security Challenges and Crisis Management in Sri Lanka."
Press Release
Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), the premier think tank on national security established under the Ministry of Defence, organized a Threat Lens titled “Dealing with Social Security Challenges and Crisis Management in Sri Lanka” on Wednesday, 22nd June 2022, from 1400hrs to 1530hrs (IST) via Zoom. Major General, Ruwan Kulatunga (Retd.) RSP ndc psc, Chief of National Intelligence, Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka, representing General Kamal Gunarathne, (Retd.) WWV RWP RSP USP ndc psc, MPhil, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, chaired the event. The Guest Speaker of the event was Mrs. M.T.R. Shamini Attanayake, Director General (Acting), Additional Director General (Academic), National Institute of Social Development (NISD). Rear Admiral Dimuthu Gunawardena RWP** RSP VSV USP nswc psc hdmc, Acting Director-General, Director (Communications & Publications) of INSS moderated the event. The audience comprised, ministry officials, academicians, researchers, representatives from think tanks, Sri Lankan armed forces, Sri Lanka Police and Civil Security Department.
The moderator commenced the discourse by elaborating on the significance of the concept of social security in the current context of Sri Lanka along with the importance of crisis management in dealing with the uprising concerns of instability within the community. Mrs. Shamini Attanayake, commenced the presentation by bringing out the essence of social security and its unique approach within the Sri Lankan community. She brought into concern that social security is a vast topic of discussion that directly connects with social welfare as well as social development, and once it is prone to unstable handling; it becomes the root cause for any type of a crisis within a spectrum. Moreover, the current social security schemes and programs were explained in detail aligning them with the prevailing major concerns within the society. The Challenges that the country faces in general based on social security were highlighted, while giving greater importance to the two most immediate concerns, COVID- 19 and the 2022 Crisis in Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the community-level adaptations and crisis management techniques by social workers were discussed, along with the mentioning of the crisis intervention casework, from which the individual, groups and the entire community can contribute to addressing social security concerns.
Aftermath, several timely questions were posed by the audience during Q and A segment, where the speaker responded constructively. In line, the concluding remarks by the chair of the event reiterated that the on-going crisis would be temporary in nature and stated that especially the military should now think on the significance in handling post-crisis issues which may be of various dimensions, which took the spotlight during the latter part of the discussion. Finally, Dulakshi Ariyarathne, Intern (Research) at INSS, delivered the vote of thanks marking the closure of the event.