This is the fifth issue from a series of papers on poverty. The paper very concisely presents the issue of poverty in relation to the youth in Sri Lanka which looks at the history of Sri Lanka and how and why the youth have been affected. It defines terms such as ‘youth’ and ‘poor’ to effectively contextualise the problem. It looks at the relationship between youth and poverty geographically, by discussing the different situations that exist across the country. It also specifically looks at the nature of youth unemployment with regard to poverty, policy dimensions and critically analyses the policy environment and highlights the areas for potential advocacy work.