Sri Lanka’s Minister of Women and Child Affairs has called for greater global investment in children, telling a roundtable at the Paris Peace Forum that such spending is an obligation that cannot be postponed despite tightening budgets.
Saroja Savithri Paulraj was addressing a special roundtable titled “Making the Case for Investing in Children” at the 9th Paris Peace Forum, held in Paris on 10 and 11 November, the Daily Mirror reported.
She said children’s well-being should remain a global priority despite growing financial constraints, and that investment in children was an essential responsibility rather than a deferrable one.
Sri Lanka’s three stated priorities
The Minister set out three areas in which she said Sri Lanka is investing:
- Equitable and quality early childhood care and development
- Strengthening child protection and psychosocial well-being
- Ensuring the inclusion of all children while maximising their human potential
She framed the national position around the vision of “A Safer World for Children – A Creative Future Generation”, which she attributed to the country’s National Policy Statement, and said every child deserved equal opportunity to survive, grow up healthy, receive an education and realise their potential regardless of where they were born.
The economic argument
Paulraj did not rest the case on moral obligation alone. Investing in children, she said, also builds a stronger economy, reduces the burden of unpaid care work on women, and strengthens social cohesion.
She stressed the importance of partnership — among international organisations, development partners, the private sector, civil society and communities — noting that governments could not meet these responsibilities alone, and said Sri Lanka was ready to share its experience and learn from international practice.
The Forum’s wider discussions covered child protection and care, safe digital environments, child health and nutrition, and quality early childhood development.
Against the domestic record
The commitments described in Paris sit against a domestic record this desk has reported throughout the year, and the comparison is worth making plainly.
On early childhood development, the government designated child welfare officers across divisional secretariat divisions and ran a national early childhood care and development week. On safe digital environments — one of the Forum’s four themes — Sri Lanka has moved relatively quickly, with a children’s online protection framework, a national programme on children’s online safety and guidelines on kidfluencing.
On child protection, the picture is harder. The National Child Protection Authority recorded 7,647 child abuse complaints and has separately reported a staff shortage constraining its casework. On nutrition, officials have reported around 20 per cent malnutrition among schoolchildren, with Uva the worst-affected province.
The Minister’s speech does not address these figures, and the filing does not report any funding commitment, domestic or international, arising from the roundtable.
Sourcing
A single-source report. Checks of the Hiru News rail, the NewsFirst homepage payload and the EconomyNext rail found no other verified newsroom carrying the Minister’s Paris remarks. The Daily Mirror filing carries a reporter byline.
This article is dated to its source. The Daily Mirror filed at 2.17 p.m. Colombo time on 12 November, the day after the Forum ended; publishedAt reflects that date rather than the date of writing.
Not reported
The filing gives no funding figure, no commitment entered into by Sri Lanka or by any partner, and no list of the other participants in the roundtable. It does not say who else travelled in the delegation, what the visit cost, or whether any bilateral meetings took place alongside the Forum. The Minister is paraphrased rather than quoted at length, and no outcome document is cited.
