Sri Lanka
 |
Over 120,000 people displaced by conflict in the northeast have received emergency relief from UMCOR since 2005. |
Background
UMCOR established its office in Sri Lanka following the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Country operations are based in Colombo with program offices in Batticaloa and Trincomalee. UMCOR’s work in Sri Lanka include: emergency relief, housing repair and construction, supporting the restoration of basic public services through repairs to community infrastructure, providing vocational and business skills training along with tools, and equipment to (re)establish livelihoods and building the capacity of local institutions to independently address the needs of tsunami and conflict affected communities. All of UMCOR’s programs in Sri Lanka are carried out in close cooperation with the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka (MCSL).
Against the backdrop of tsunami recovery efforts, the collapse of the peace process and resulting upsurge in armed conflict between the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since August 2006 in the northeast has resulted in the mass displacement of Muslim, Tamil, and Sinhalese inhabitants. The lives of hundreds of thousands of residents have been disrupted as a result of damaged and looted houses, destroyed paddy fields, inadequate health and education facilities, damaged infrastructure, and limited employment opportunities. Within this challenging and dangerous environment UMCOR is working to alleviate the suffering caused by the tsunami and conflict.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND INTERVENTION
Since late 2007, UMCOR has managed an umbrella grant program that enables other humanitarian agencies to provide quick responses to the emergency needs of conflict-affected people in the North and East of Sri Lanka. The program, funded by the US Agency for International Development Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), supports interventions in areas such as livelihoods, water and sanitation, protection, and emergency relief. In the first year of the program UMCOR awarded grants totaling more than $2.5m to 16 partner organizations for assistance programs throughout conflict-affected areas of Sri Lanka.
Following the resurgence of conflict in the northeast in August 2006, UMCOR personnel assisted those fleeing the fighting. During 2006 approximately 100,000 people who left their homes to stay in welfare centers or with host families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee directly benefited from emergency relief provided by UMCOR in collaboration with the MCSL. This assistance included providing non-perishable and fresh food, hygiene supplies, and clothing; transportation for sick and disabled persons in urgent need of medical care; and supporting a field hospital with medical equipment and supplies. When security conditions improved these displaced families voluntarily returned home, UMCOR assisted them again by providing food, hygiene items, household cleaning supplies, and materials to repair over 400 conflict damaged homes.
RECONSTRUCTION
In collaboration with the MCSL and the Government of Sri Lanka, UMCOR has built or repaired over 300 houses in Batticaloa and Trincomalee that will enable more than 1,300 vulnerable tsunami and conflict affected people to have appropriate shelter. Priority is given to assisting the most socio-economically vulnerable persons, such as single headed households; families with large numbers of children; households with sick, elderly, or disabled persons; and families that have remained displaced since the tsunami and are living in welfare centers, temporary shelters, or with friends and relatives.
UMCOR is repairing community infrastructure so that families can access clean water, sanitation, electricity, and improved roads. UMCOR Sri Lanka has carried out a variety of small scale projects that have helped substantially improve thousands of lives, such as constructing semi-permanent classrooms and water and sanitation facilities for an elementary school in Batticaloa; development of a playground in Batticaloa for children attending the same elementary school; rehabilitation of the water supply network in Trincomalee so that families have access to potable water; and construction of access roads so that fishermen can more easily get to the sea and farmers can reach their paddy fields.
INCOME GENERATION
The tsunami virtually wiped out the fishing industry in eastern Sri Lanka and destroyed much of the coastal agricultural industry. UMCOR Sri Lanka is working to revive the livelihoods of both agricultural and fishing communities. By working with local fishing societies, UMCOR and MCSL were able to identify the communities’ priorities and implement appropriate projects such as clearing potential net destroying debris on the beach and underwater through paid work programs, providing materials for creating new fishing nets, constructing vadis (beach houses) so that fishermen have a temporary place to stay, and providing new boats for sea and lagoon fishing.
UMCOR is supporting the recovery of the local agricultural industry by repairing small to medium sized reservoirs that were destroyed during the tsunami. These tanks, now drainage and irrigation channels, now usable, were once clogged with silt. UMCOR is also providing seeds, tools, and fertilizer to small landholding farmers so that they can provide sufficient food for their families and sell surpluses for increased income. Other agricultural projects include establishing a nursery so that farmers can access good quality seedlings with which to plant their harvest and organizing training programs so that farmers can learn the latest techniques in agriculture.
CIVIL SOCIETY AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
UMCOR supports the organizational and technical development of the Methodist Church of Sri Lanka to address the needs of tsunami and conflict affected populations in Sri Lanka. UMCOR Sri Lanka is working closely with the MCSL and Methodist Relief and Development Service, MCSL’s relief agency, to enhance the professional knowledge and skills of church staff to provide emergency relief and support the recovery of disaster affected communities. Specific activities include; trainings on program planning, monitoring, and evaluation; skills building through joint implementation of programs with UMCOR Sri Lanka; facilitating the development of a strategic plan; providing networking opportunities with other humanitarian aid and ecumenical organizations to promote inter-organizational learning on issues related to relief an development; and supporting the establishment of a core facilitating team within the church that can implement people centered relief and development activities.
PARTNERS IN OUR WORK
UMCOR Sri Lanka works with a variety of partners to make our work possible. In addition to the private funds we receive through the United Methodist Church we also receive support from the following:
United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees
US Agency for International Development,Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance
American Red Cross
