USAID/OTI Sri Lanka Annual Summary Report
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October 2010 - September 2011 |
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Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) program in Sri Lanka is part of an integrated strategy to stabilize, transform, and develop the country's Eastern and Northern Provinces and assist communities by supporting socioeconomic reintegration activities. In February 2010, OTI assumed management responsibility for the USAID/Sri Lanka Eastern Province program, which was launched in 2009, and renamed it the Reintegration and Stabilization in the East and North (RISEN) program when activities were expanded to Northern Province in May 2010.
The RISEN program's objectives are to assist community reintegration for increased participation, social cohesion, and economic viability and increase the civic engagement of conflict-affected communities with the rest of Sri Lankan society, including government institutions.
Program activities focus on four sectors: (1) Improved protection of citizens' rights; (2) Increased and more equitable economic growth in conflict-affected areas; (3) Increased stabilization of conflict-affected communities; and (4) Strengthened participatory governance in conflict-affected areas. Specific activities include, but are not limited to, working with youth, facilitating livelihood improvements and vocational training, enhancing access to information and education, and supporting small-scale infrastructure rehabilitation projects, community support services, and a range of community improvement efforts.
The RISEN program collaborates closely with the Government of Sri Lanka's Ministry of Economic Development, as well as with other programs at the USAID Mission in Sri Lanka, to address a wide range of development and transitional needs.
Activities
Facilitating Community-Focused Reintegration – RISEN identifies communities with historically high rates of militant recruitment and areas to where significant numbers internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning. The program collaborates and consults with the Government of Sri Lanka and other donors to develop prioritized activities. Community needs are identified by collaborating with local authorities and the public, and projects are developed to proactively address security issues, both human and economic.
Building Capacity to Address Rehabilitation Needs of At-Risk Youth – Young people who have been affected by conflict require support and assistance to successfully reintegrate into civilian life and train for market-driven jobs. In some cases, individuals may need specialized support to cope with war-induced trauma. RISEN helps improve the quality of vocational training services, provides job-related guidance, delivers psychosocial counseling, and increases access to services for conflict-affected people. RISEN has also created programs to provide conflict-affected school-age youths with supplementary education and services that support their return to the formal education system.
Rebuilding Community Infrastructure – Three decades of civil conflict have taken a heavy toll on much of Sri Lanka's public infrastructure, particularly in the eastern and northern areas that were formerly under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). RISEN is working with local communities to refurbish critical infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, roads, irrigation tanks, wells, a lighthouse, streetlights, and markets. RISEN is also assisting efforts to clear mines from agricultural lands to allow production to resume.
Restoring Livelihoods – Economic self-sufficiency is essential to post-conflict reintegration, stabilization, and the transition to peace. Accordingly, RISEN is providing conflict-affected communities with training and tools to restart income-generating activities. In addition to providing vocational training to at-risk youths, RISEN assists farmers, fishermen, herders, and craftspeople to improve production and marketing of their goods.
Country Situation
Heavy Rains and Flooding – The torrential rains that started in December 2010 worsened in January and February 2011, causing severe flooding in Eastern and Northern Provinces. The flooding was the worst the country had experienced in a century, affecting more than 1.25 million people and displacing over 180,000, including nearly 60,000 in the North and more than 80,000 in the East. RISEN program areas in Batticaloa were among the most severely affected areas in the country, as the flooding laid waste to crops and damaged or destroyed roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.
Return of IDPs – More than 380,000 Sri Lankans were displaced in 2009 during the final phases of the civil war. Most of these IDPs sought refuge at the Menik Farm camp in Vavuniya District. As of September, all but approximately 7,500 camp residents had returned to their districts of origin or had been placed with host families. The districts of Kilinochchi, Jaffna, and Mullaitivu in Northern Province have seen the largest number of returns. The Government of Sri Lanka plans to complete the IDP return process and close the Menik Farm camp by the end of the year. Three of the camp's zones remain open, primarily housing people whose lands have been mined or remain under military control in Mullaitivu District.
Access to the North – In July, the Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs notified diplomatic missions that Ministry of Defense permission is no longer required for foreign passport holders to visit the North, except for visits to military High Security Zones and military bases. Since the expiration of OTI's access permit to the North in early September, OTI has enjoyed relatively free access to all project sites; however, the military continues to operate check points at major ports of entry to the North, and OTI vehicles have been stopped and temporarily denied access on two occasions.
Upcoming Events
| October 4–5 |
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OTI will conduct a Rolling Assessment with implementing partner staff to review program strategy and implementation. |
| October |
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The program will participate in a number of opening ceremonies during the month, as the effort to construct and equip three new wards of the Karadiyanaru Hospital in Batticaloa District is nearing completion, as is work on seven schools in Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts. |
| December |
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The Sri Lankan Government plans to close the Menik Farm IDP camp by the end of the year and move the remaining IDPs to a relocation site in Mullaitivu District. |
Grants Summary
As of September 2011, OTI has funded 105 small-grant and technical assistance activities totaling $6,565,894 through its implementing partner, DAI. As illustrated in the chart below, funding breaks down by sector as follows: Improved protection of citizens' rights, 4%; Increased and more equitable economic growth in conflict-affected areas, 18%; Increased stabilization of conflict-affected communities, 39%; and Strengthened participatory governance in conflict-affected areas, 39%.
Highlights
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| Tamil and Muslim youths worked together after the flood.
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Tamil and Muslim Youths Work Together to Assist Flood Victims – Tamil and Muslim communities in the North and East, torn apart by decades of violence and mistrust, were equally affected by 40 days of heavy rain and flooding that stretched from December to February. Young men and women from Tamil and Muslim backgrounds, many of whom are from areas formerly under the control of the LTTE and grew up under the threat of forcible recruitment, coercion, or abduction by the militants, came together and volunteered to distribute critical non-food relief items to communities affected by floods. The youths also worked together to clean houses and public spaces in flooded communities.
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| Thousands of conflict-affected young people waited patiently at the Vavuniya Jobs Fair to meet potential employers.
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Connecting Conflict-Affected Youths to Employers – In the North, 75 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. With limited access to jobs, young people in the region are especially vulnerable to poverty. Responding to the need to find gainful work for conflict-affected youths, OTI and JobsNet, a national employment referral system, organized a job training and placement program. The program registered unemployed youths in a national database, screened applicants, and provided career guidance and training sessions on résumé preparation and interview skills. Following the training, the northern city of Vavuniya hosted its first-ever Jobs Fair. More than 15,000 youths participated, and by the end of the day, after nearly 8,000 interviews, employers had made over 3,200 job offers.
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| A Mullaitivu folk dancer at the Jaffna Music Festival.
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Promoting Reconciliation – For three days and nights in March, the Jaffna Music Festival showcased Sri Lanka's rich cultural heritage and united a nation. The festival was the first of its kind in the North since the end of the conflict that divided the country's diverse populace. The celebration in Jaffna brought people from across the country to see and hear multiethnic, multicultural acts from Sri Lanka and around the world. OTI and the Norwegian Embassy supported the festival to provide a platform for reconciliation and foster interest in and respect for diversity through the common language of music and shared experience. More than 13,000 people attended the festival, and artists from 23 Sri Lankan groups representing different ethnic and religious backgrounds performed. For many of the performers, the gathering provided a first opportunity to meet peers from across Sri Lanka.
Supporting Participation and Transparency in Local Government Elections – OTI and its grantee, the Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE), provided information, tools, and resources necessary to ensure that citizens of the North and East were empowered to vote for the first time after three decades of conflict. Local government elections were held for 234 local authorities on March 17. CaFFE carried out an island-wide media campaign for voter education and worked with local authorities to provide temporary IDs to eligible voters who had lost their identification documents because of natural disaster, conflict, or displacement. CaFFE monitored and observed all aspects of the elections across the North and East, using staff and volunteers trained under this grant. The outreach activities reached more than 100,000 people in eight districts. Additional activities were initiated in July to support postponed local government elections in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu in the North.
Program Appraisal
RISEN program activities increased significantly during the year. OTI initiated its first grant in the North at the end of September 2010, following the opening of the Vavuniya office. The new office has provided a springboard for project implementation in the region. During the year, the program approved and implemented 36 grants in the North. These activities, worth $2,389,334, were conducted in all five northern districts and have focused on areas vulnerable to conflict and to where large numbers of IDPs have returned. OTI also expanded programming in the East, approving 46 new projects worth $3,265,096.
OTI conducted a number of reviews during the year to evaluate program operations and performance. The program's first Rolling Assessment was initiated in December 2010 to review program implementation, strategy, and monitoring and evaluation procedures, and a Management Review was performed in March 2011 to examine the systems, processes, and management practices of OTI and its implementing partner. In May, the program underwent a Program Performance Review, where it received feedback from independent evaluators and recommendations and guidance on program strategy and implementation. Finally, OTI held its second annual Strategic Review Session June 21-23. RISEN staff and facilitators from OTI's regional office in Bangkok and OTI headquarters in Washington participated in the review. In addition, the USAID/Sri Lanka Mission acting director and representatives from USAID technical offices attended the session to provide ideas for collaboration and maximizing impact.
Over the past year, RISEN has prioritized known resettlement areas—in particular, isolated areas where citizens have been subject to forcible recruitment and displacement and areas known for paramilitary activity, past and present. The program has sought to mitigate existing tensions, seeking to build stronger interethnic relationships by promoting self-awareness and common interest activities. During the year, RISEN developed many grants aimed at improving the capacity of local authorities to provide basic services. Other grants have focused on improving the capacities of local community-based and civil society organizations so they can better advocate on behalf of their communities.
At times during the year, travel restrictions and lack of access affected project implementation schedules. Nevertheless, RISEN has been able to respond flexibly to constraints and opportunities. In addition, the program has leveraged culturally and politically significant events to promote community reintegration and successfully increase civic engagement.
For further information, please contact:
K. Santi Duewel, Asia & Middle East Program Manager, 202-712-1605, kduewel@usaid.gov.
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