Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Alert - Sri Lanka 1/2002
Geneva, 31 October 2002


The second round of peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and
the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) is presently taking place in Thailand. The first
round of peace talks has given some assurance that normalcy will be
restored and the people of Sri Lanka, in particular the Tamil community in
the north and east, see a glimmer of hope. This is already leading to a
cautious return by displaced persons to their places of origin.

The ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka has blown out of all proportion since
1983 - years in which the entire Tamil community in the north and east of
the country were severely affected.  Several military operations and
intense fighting displaced many people and, while the more affluent were
able to migrate to other countries, the financially and socially deprived
had no option but to become internally displaced and live under very
difficult conditions. Since the escalation of the civil war in 1995,
people living in the so-called "unliberated areas" have had to live under
an embargo enforced by the Government. Medicine, food, clothing and other
essential items have been denied to these people.  The estimated number of
displaced people in the southern part of the northern province of Sri
Lanka alone is 354,000. This figure does not include the refugees living
in camps in Tamil Nadu, India, neither those living in many other
countries all over the world.

Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Sri Lankan
Government and the LTTE in February 2002, the situation in Sri Lanka has
been rapidly improving. Those people returning to their old homes find
that their houses, school buildings, churches and temples, hospitals and
shops etc. have been reduced to rubble.  An estimated 31,400 homes have
been completely destroyed in the southern part of the northern province of
Sri Lanka.

Many of the returnees have been languishing for many years in refugee
camps and temporary shelters. Now they face added trauma when they return
to find their homes razed to the ground. These people are poor peasants
without any support systems who depend solely on the government supplies
of dry rations and help from NGOs and churches. Consequently, assistance
towards reconstruction and rehabilitation is urgently needed to enable the
more vulnerable restart their lives.

ACT member, Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI) plans to
assist 1,000 of the more vulnerable, rural peasant families (4,238
persons) who have no regular income or means to restart their lives. Plans
were being made to construct 50 houses, 5 wells and a community hall in
each of the selected 20 villages in the Vanni region.  Furthermore they
wish to provide training on health and nutrition as well as training
related to income generation.

It is expected that with the end of the embargo pre fabricated and raw
materials can now be brought to the sites without delay. The locally
available manpower and the participation of the beneficiaries will help in
a speedy completion of the project.

The initial budget is estimated as follows:                  US$
Construction of 1,000 houses, including land, labour   1,040,804
Construction of 1,000 toilets                             66,326
Construction of 100 wells                                 76,530
Construction of 20 Community Halls                        27,550
Health & Nutrition training                                4,285
Income Generation, training                               24,489
Transport and related costs                               30,612
Stipends                                                   4,897
Audit/evaluation                                           1,428
Total                                                  1,276,921
Expected donations land and labour costs                 316,324
Estimated Balance request from ACT                       960,597



The ACT Co-ordinating Office is in communication with the JDCSI about this
appeal. The ACT CO requests funding members to indicate possible support
to the proposed rehabilitation and reconstruction programme.

Thank you for your attention.

For further information please contact:

ACT Director, Thor-Arne Prois (phone +41 22 791 6032 or mobile phone
+ 41 79 203 6055)
or
ACT Appeals Officer, Mieke Weeda (phone +41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone
+41 79 285 2916)


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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