IPE invites Sri Lanka to support launch of International Panel for Inequality at UN General Assembly

This invitation arrives at an opportune moment. Sri Lanka’s inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, continues to trend upward. Yet, the NPP Government’s own manifesto, Thriving Nation, Beautiful Life, explicitly commits to tackling inequality to facilitate national renewal 

The Institute of Political Economy (IPE) has issued the following open letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya and Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando, urging Sri Lanka’s high-level participation at the launch of the International Panel on Inequality (IPI):

“Dear President, Prime Minister, and Deputy Minister of Finance,

On behalf of the Institute of Political Economy (IPE), we respectfully urge you to attend and support the launch of the International Panel on Inequality (IPI) at the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September, 2026. An invitation to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) was sent via its Permanent Mission at the UN, New York, with a save the date, from the Governments of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Kingdom of Norway, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Republic of South Africa, together with the Nobel Laureate Joseph E Stiglitz. They are jointly committed to establishing the IPI as a body modelled on the independent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

This invitation arrives at an opportune moment. Sri Lanka’s inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, continues to trend upward. Yet, the NPP Government’s own manifesto, Thriving Nation, Beautiful Life, explicitly commits to tackling inequality to facilitate national renewal. A high-level presence by the President, Prime Minister or the Deputy Minister of Finance, at the UN General Assembly event, support and launch of the IPI (International Panel on Inequality) would send an unmistakable signal to our citizens and institutions: this Government is serious about tackling inequality to address the well-being of all Sri Lankans.

On the global stage, the Sri Lanka Government has the opportunity to stand alongside nations that are beacons of hope, recognising that unchecked inequality: undermines political stability, threatens the democratic polity, weakens social and ethnic cohesion, and depletes climate and eco-systems further. By participating at the highest level, Sri Lanka would not only affirm its international credibility and commitment to internationalism and multilateralism but also demonstrate that the fight against inequality is central to the Government’s vision for a socially, politically, and economically just future.

At IPE, we remain steadfast in our mission to advance policies that reward work over wealth. We therefore urge your presence at this august UN Assembly and offer it the priority it merits.

Thank you. Yours sincerely, IPE Co-Founder University of Gothenburg, Sweden Professor of Development Geography Kanchana N. Ruwanpura, PhD, Director and Co-Founder Charith A. Gunawardena, and Director University of Oxford, UK Modern South Asian Studies Lecturer Thiruni Kelegama, PhD”. 

The letter follows a save-the-date notice sent to the Government of Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission at the UN in New York, inviting participation in a Leaders’ Event on the International Panel on Inequality, to be held in the ECOSOC Chamber at UN Headquarters on the morning of 23 September, 2026, during the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week. Further details and a formal invitation are expected to follow in due course.

The IPI is a joint initiative of the Governments of Brazil, Norway, Spain and South Africa, together with Nobel Laureate economist Joseph E. Stiglitz. It is proposed as an independent, science-based body modelled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), tasked with producing periodic, authoritative assessments of global inequality trends, their drivers and the effectiveness of policy responses.

According to the founding committee’s concept note, persistent disparities in income, wealth and opportunity undermine trust in institutions, weaken perceptions of fairness and fuel social frustration, with consequences that extend to the foundations of the multilateral order itself. The founding governments argue that inequality trends differ even among countries at similar stages of development, demonstrating that policy choices, not inevitability, determine outcomes.

The proposed panel would comprise 40 independent experts serving in their personal capacities, with the founding group committed to gender parity and balanced representation between the Global North and Global South. It would produce a full assessment every three years, at an estimated cost of up to $ 15 million per cycle, or roughly $ 5 million a year, funded through voluntary Government and philanthropic contributions. The United Nations University has been proposed as the IPI’s initial institutional host, with a bespoke governance board comprising a supermajority of member states, and discussions continuing with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs on its reporting lines.

For the IPE, the appeal carries weight beyond diplomatic symbolism. The institute states its own mission is to advance policies that reward work over wealth, positioning its push for Sri Lankan participation in the IPI launch as consistent with its broader advocacy on equitable economic policy. Whether the Government elevates its response beyond the Permanent Mission’s initial invitation will indicate how far inequality features in its stated national renewal agenda, as the country navigates its post-crisis recovery under continued fiscal constraints.