For over three decades, CPA has monitored, researched, and advocated in various critical areas, navigating through challenges such as the war, post-war challenges, constitutional crises, economic downturns, and natural disasters like the tsunami and, most recently, the cyclone. As we continue to build upon this foundation, our focus remains on creating solutions that respond to the evolving needs of different communities. The Governance and Reconciliation Tracker serves as an accessible tool to monitor the progress of various issues in the areas of governance, human rights, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Decades of conflict, political turmoil, economic challenges, and, most recently, a devastating natural disaster have consistently highlighted the systemic issues in Sri Lanka’s governance. Successive governments have repeatedly vowed to tackle these fundamental problems; however, their actions have consistently fallen short of their promises. There is a lack of effective monitoring of promises, indicating the need not only to reflect on these commitments but also to explore next steps. The tracker is attempting to address this issue by providing a structured approach to evaluate the status of these promises and identify actionable measures moving forward. 

The people’s uprising of 2022, known as the Aragalaya, marked a watershed moment in our nation’s history. Yet this moment did not emerge in isolation — it was built on decades of civic agitation and grassroots mobilisation by citizens across the country, who kept sustained pressure on successive governments and other stakeholders, and whose long struggles helped lay the foundation for and strengthen the mass uprising of 2022. For the first time since independence, citizens came together to topple a government, ushering in a new political culture that paved the way for a political party outside the traditional two-party system to form government. Having risen to power on the wave of the Aragalaya’s demands for system change, the present government’s manifesto reflects the needs and aspirations of the people, calling for accountability, transparency, and an end to the governance failures that have long plagued our nation.

In this context, it is more crucial than ever that citizens understand the path previous governments have set the nation on, as well as the course this government is charting. This tracker provides the public with accessible information about the status of governance reforms, reconciliation efforts and related areas. By monitoring milestones, tracking commitments, and documenting action (or inaction), we aim to create a space for people to access non-partisan information about governance and human rights issues. We hope that this work increases awareness of these issues and allows Sri Lankans to be better informed about their government’s actions to hold those in power accountable. The Governance and Reconciliation Tracker is continually evolving and will be updated to reflect the changing socio-political and economic context in Sri Lanka.

How does the tracker work? 

We have organised unresolved issues into four key pillars: Accountability, Governance, Reconciliation, and Human Rights. We then tracked their progress through news reports, articles, research publications, and other publicly available sources, summarising the information to be easily accessible. The information in the tracker will be updated monthly to monitor advancements and reflect evolving ground realities and reforms.