Last Month in Impact - July 2025

Dear Reader,

It was an honour to welcome Dr. Chris Elias, President of Global Development for the Gates Foundation, to Sri Lanka last month.

Dr. Elias has decades of experience partnering with governments, NGOs, and communities to adapt proven models to local needs and ensure lasting impact. He leads the Foundation’s work to reduce poverty, improve health outcomes, and expand opportunity in developing countries by investing in scalable solutions. His focus spans health, nutrition, agriculture, digital, infrastructure, and innovation.

As part of his visit, he met with H.E. the President at the Presidential Secretariat and the R.H. Prime Minister at parliament for high-level discussions regarding Sri Lanka’s development. A roundtable of the key development partners was also convened to align efforts and strengthen collaboration. As we wrote in last month’s newsletter, better partner coordination is critical to Sri Lanka’s development.

Details about all three meetings can be found below.

Sincerely,

Emaali Gunasekara
CEO

Meeting at the Presidential Secretariat

The high-level discussions explored collaborative efforts in agricultural modernisation, nutrition, digital public infrastructure, and rural technological integration. Here are some of the highlights:

• H.E. the President welcomed the continuation of the Gates Foundation partnership and noted that the government seeks the Foundation’s support for its broader program aimed at integrating rural communities with modern global technology

• Dr. Elias acknowledged Sri Lanka’s ongoing transformation and welcomed the opportunity for deeper engagement in areas such as agriculture, health, and digital infrastructure.

• The Gates Foundation confirmed their support for Sri Lanka’s digital economy strategy, emphasizing a particular focus on the digital transformation of the agriculture sector to boost productivity and revitalise the economy.

• Both parties pledged full support for the broader socio-economic development agenda, including initiatives within the livestock and dairy industries.

Aside from Dr. Chris Elias, the Gates Foundation delegation included Ms. Archna Vyas, Director of Policy Advocacy and Communications; Dr. Jamal Khan, Regional Representative for Policy & Government Relations, South and Southeast Asia; Thushan Wijesinghe, Director Enterprise Data Solutions; and Chandita Samaranayake, Chairman of Connect to Care.

The Sri Lankan delegation included Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, Mr. Eranga Weeraratne, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the President; Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Chief Advisor to the President on Digital Economy; and Mr. Roshan Gamage, Senior Additional Secretary to the President.

Read the official press release for more details.

Meeting at the Parliament

The following day, Dr. Elias and his delegation visited the parliament for a high-level meeting with the Prime Minister. Here are some of the key points discussed:

• Dr. Elias stated the Foundation’s willingness to collaborate in areas such as the nutritional needs of children and women in the country, and the use of new digital tools to uplift the agricultural sector.

• The Prime Minister expressed the need for the Foundation’s maximum support in meeting the nutritional needs of the children of the nation.

• The Prime Minister briefed the Gates Foundation delegation on the operations of the Digital Education Task Force, an initiative to integrate digital technology into teaching, learning, assessment, and education administration as part of the country’s new digital transformation in education.

Attendees included the Secretary to the Prime Minister, Mr. Pradeep Saputhanthri, and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ms. Sagarika Bogahawatte, along with Ms. Archana Vyas, Dr. Jamal Khan, and other members of the Gates Foundation.

Get more details here.

Development Partner Roundtable

After the meetings with the President and Prime Minister, the key development partners in Sri Lanka gathered for a roundtable discussion. It was a great opportunity to build collaborative momentum and get on the same page.

The following topics were discussed:

• On the health front, the partners covered the creation of national electronic health records, digital health infrastructure, debt-for-health swaps, and national-level health insurance.

• For agriculture, they talked about empowering women, promoting circular economies in the food sector, the World Bank agricultural program insights, and the IDAT program.

• On the topic of digital public infrastructure, they discussed collaboration with the ministry of digital economy, opportunities for digital IDs, bridging the digital divide, Sri Lanka’s past successes in digital product adoption, and the need for strengthening digital infrastructure and capacity building.

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