Chair of Southern Voice, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, and members of the Southern Voice network, Dr Ganga Tilakaratna (IPS–Sri Lanka) and Dr Bilesha Weeraratne (IPS–Sri Lanka), joined the international conference, “South Asian Economic Development: The Way Forward” hosted by the Faculty of Economics, South Asian University in New Delhi on April 9-10, 2015.

Dr Ganga Tilakaratna

Dr Ganga Tilakaratna

Dr Bilesha Weeraratne

Dr Bilesha Weeraratne

Dr Bhattacharya spoke on the Quest for Inclusive Growth in South Asia at a panel discussion, which was chaired by Abhijit Sen, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Member, 14th Finance Commission, India.

Dr Ganga Tilakaratna presented a paper titled ‘Social Protection and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Sri Lanka’ while Dr Bilesha Weeraratne presented a paper titled ‘Female Domestic Workers in the Middle East: Does Recruitment Through an Agent Minimize Vulnerability?’.

The chief guest at the event was Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India, while the keynote address was made by Professor Jean Drèze, Visiting Professor, University of Ranchi, and Honorary Professor, Delhi School of Economic.