FOCUS
Creating Economic Opportunities
Disaster Response

MDGs ADDRESSED
MDG 1: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
MDG 8: Create a global partnership for development

OVERVIEW
For the past 25 years, Sri Lanka has been embroiled in a bitter civil war that has claimed more than 65,000 lives. In 2002, a cease-fire was formalized, but violence resumed in 2006. Most of the conflict is centered in the north and east of the country. The conflict-prone areas lag behind the rest of the country in development. Only 40% of the population in north and east has access to safe drinking water, as compared to 62% for the rest of the country.

In the north and east, 26% of children had low birth weights compared with 18% for the rest of the country, and 46% of children under five-years-old are underweight compared with 29% in all other regions. The literacy rate in Eastern Province is the lowest in the country.

Sri Lanka continues to recover from the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami that struck on December 26, 2004. Two-thirds of the island’s coastline took a direct hit, destroying homes, crops and fishing boats.  At least 35,000 people were killed or missing as a result of the disaster, and an estimated one million people lost their homes. Eighty percent of the fishing industry in Sri Lanka was destroyed by the tsunami, affecting 530,000 people.  The International Labour Organization estimates that at least 400,000 people lost their jobs.

Our PARTNER
Episcopal Relief and Development is partnering with the Diocese of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon. The diocese is one of two of the Church of Ceylon, extra-provincial to the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the last 60 years, the diocese has supported development programs which not only make a significant impact on individual beneficiaries but also strive for social and economic justice within communities.

Episcopal Relief and Development is also partnering with the Centre for Environmental Justice, a non-governmental organization founded in 2004 to promote environmental good governance and justice.

Our CURRENT PROGRAMS
Episcopal Relief and Development is supporting programs to improve the lives of people in violence-prone areas of Sri Lanka. The Center for Conflict Analysis, located in the northern city of Jaffna, will create awareness of peace and justice issues, while addressing issues of food security and health as part of conflict mediation.

In the community of Navatkudah in the eastern Batticaloa district, Episcopal Relief and Development is supporting an Integrated Community Center that is modeled on successful programs in other communities. The Center serves a rural population with an average monthly income of less than $15. Navatkudah is a politically unstable area and has historically been neglected by government and non-government organizations due to its remote location.

Both these programs are located in politically volatile areas. In early 2007, both Navatkudah and Jaffna were faced with bouts of severe violence leading to a refugee crisis. Due to the unstable and worsening ground situation, these programs have not yet been fully implemented as intended. However informal efforts are occurring.

Episcopal Relief and Development is also continuing to work with the diocese to implement the third and final phase of the 2004 tsunami disaster relief program in Sri Lanka. Episcopal Relief and Development’s partnership with the Centre for Environmental Justice will focuses on restoring the environment along the coastal belt of the island, and facilitating ecologically community activities. All tsunami-related activities will conclude by the end of 2008.

Creating Economic Opportunities
Episcopal Relief and Development is equipping young people and adults with the skills they need to find employment and support their families. Additionally, Episcopal Relief and Development is creating opportunities for communities bring reconciliation amidst the ongoing conflict.

• The Integrated Community Center in Navatkudah offers vocational training and micro-finance opportunities to improve skills and income.
• The community center provides basic education, day care, and a mid-day meal for children in the community.
• The Center for Conflict Analysis will offer workshops on peace education, bring conflict groups together for reconciliation, and mediate community and social confrontations.

Disaster Response
Episcopal Relief and Development is supporting on-going projects that help families and communities affected by the 2004 tsunami rebuild their lives, restore the environment, and achieve long-term economic stability.

• Eight community groups provide assistance in developing local nurseries and planting trees to restore the coastal belt.
• Professional testing of 200 wells gives residents the scientific evidence necessary to get their wells cleaned by local organizations.
• Workshops train over 500 students and 200 adults in ecologically-friendly practices.
• Legal aid workshops assist 500 individuals on issues including re-establishing property boundaries, housing reconstruction, garbage collection, and obtaining lost documents.
• Repairing or building new homes ensures safe housing for more than 600 families.
• Vocational training opportunities in home gardening and poultry farming provide 325 families with skills to earn income.
• Three cement-block making workshops and an agricultural training farm offer opportunities to learn new trades.
• Capacity building assistance for the diocese ensures that programs are managed effectively and reach those most in need.
• Community centers provide hospitality and care to people living in three transitional housing camps.
• A counseling program located in a secondary school helps children, teachers, and families work through trauma and grief.
• Partnerships with human rights organizations including the Diriya Foundation and Janawaboda Kendraya ensure that victims understand their rights.
• Collaborative interfaith programs with Buddhist and Muslim organizations address issues of religious and civil strife.

Our PAST ACHIEVEMENTS
In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, Episcopal Relief and Development provided food, shelter, medicines, materials, and other assistance to aid the diocese in their response. Episcopal Relief and Development supported the Diocese of Colombo’s long-term recovery program which included:

• Providing 1,400 temporary shelters and 200 family tents.
• Engaging professional psychologists to conduct trauma counseling training for diocesan clergy and lay leaders.
• Supplying capacity building assistance for the diocesan relief centers.
• Establishing community centers in three temporary camps.
• Building 71 new homes and repairing 289 homes in Batticaloa and Arugam Bay.
• Conducting 20 advocacy/human rights workshops to advise people affected by the tsunami on their rights for compensation and other related issues within the camps.
• Ensuring legal representation to protect orphans and other vulnerable children from abuses and fraud.
• Providing assistance to help people resume their businesses, including 1,861 cash grants, 1,755 sets of trade tools and 800 bicycles.
• Sponsoring orphans and other vulnerable children so that they could attend school; distributing 3,415 school supply packs, and providing uniforms to 225 students in affected areas.
• Installing water purification systems in 17 temporary housing clusters in northern Sri Lanka.
• Repairing two damaged Buddhist temple properties.
• Providing five fully-equipped ambulances to rural hospitals, facilitating an eye-health program, and stocking basic medicines and supplies for local clinics.
• Supplying fishing communities with 343 boats and canoes and over 679 sets of nets, engines and fishing gear.
• Establishing and equipping three boatyards to produce and or repair fiberglass boats, as well as providing employment and training to youth. More than 2,200 people received assistance.

In 2001, Episcopal Relief and Development helped the diocese start a development program to benefit families living in plantation communities in the tea estates.