UNDP: The Governance for Local Economic
Development Programme (GLED) is UNDP Sri Lanka’s new flagship programme for strengthening governance
capacities at District, Divisional and Provincial levels and improving socio-economic opportunities in vulnerable
regions in the country.
GLED will focus on increasing the capacity of sub-national level governance institutions, civil society, the private
sector and communities in order to foster access to enhanced public sector service delivery, socio-economic
development, and social cohesion across the identified lagging regions, while securing the transition from
recovery to development in the North and East. The Programme will help communities increase their production
and “value-added” capacities and make use of productive infrastructure, new technologies and knowledge.
Strengthened engagement with the private sector will increase the sustainability of livelihoods initiatives. Given
the sub-national variations in Sri Lanka’s human development index, GLED offers a comprehensive and targeted
