OCHA Situation Report
Sri Lanka
11 - 17 March 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Overall situation

The Mid-term Review of the Flash Appeal was approved by the Country Team 
and the final draft was submitted to Geneva on 16 March.

Several further killings have recently occurred among the LTTE and rival 
Tamil factions, as well as attacks on Muslims in the east. The LTTE 
political office in Batticaloa was attacked with a hand grenade on 14 
March. Disturbances have occurred in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa 
amidst various protests and strikes.

Coordination and common services

The UN Interagency Working Group on Communications is currently 
undertaking a survey of a sample population of 2,500 people in nine Sri 
Lankan provinces to determine their sources of news and information. The 
mission of the Interagency Working Group on Communications is to 
coordinate and share information, to strengthen inter agency 
collaboration and to facilitate the promotion of the UN system, its aims 
and objectives in Sri Lanka.

Food security

In the light of an expected bumper rice harvest in Sri Lanka, the 
Ministry of Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation, with WFP, has 
endorsed a pilot project for food aid beneficiaries to receive 
cash-in-lieu-of-rice. The project will commence in mid April. The 
cash-in-lieu of rice project will initially target general food aid 
recipients and later include vulnerable group feeding (VGF). The project 
is expected to last through mid-August.

FAO has started a joint-working group with the relevant ministries of 
government that will concentrate on the rehabilitation of forestry and 
of the coastal environment damaged by the tsunami. Two other 
joint-working groups with the government are already operational, one on 
agriculture and livestock and the other on fisheries.

Health

UNICEF has recently assisted in the renovation of the children's ward of 
the Mutthur District Hospital in Trincomalee and in repairs to the 
primary health care centre in Vadamarachchi East. The UN agency has also 
provided funding for the renovation of the antenatal care and well baby 
clinics at Peripheral Unit Pallai -- a health facility that provides 
critical care for people housed in the transit camps of the area - and 
funding to increase staff capacity for accommodating an increased 
caseload at the female ward at the District Hospital in Killinochchi.

Water and Sanitation

The Divisional Secretariat in Point Pedro is serving as implementing 
partner with the support of UNICEF in the construction of water and 
sanitation facilities in four of the 18 transit camps. The actual 
construction is being undertaken by the local cooperative societies of 
fishermen.

Non-food items and shelter

Tens of thousands of t-shirts, dresses and underwear provided by UNICEF 
are being dispatched to districts this week for distribution to children 
aged 1 to 16. In addition to the clothing, cooking sets, lanterns, 
mosquito nets and household water purification tablets are being 
supplied.

Additional relief supplies are gradually clearing customs. UNICEF 
reported that four gully bowsers, 500 tents and 10 Landcruisers were 
among items it had released from customs at the end of last week. A 
quantity of other goods, including adult hygiene kits, clothing, and 
household items have also been cleared. Among UNICEF items still in the 
seaport are 124 motorbikes, five vans, an ambulance ,11other vehicles 
and 1,500 tents.

IOM's Colombo procurement unit is in the process of procuring and 
delivering a range of materials needed to construct transitional 
accommodation units, including timber, roofing, cement, welded mesh, 
hard board for partitioning and door and window hard wares.

The first shipments of cement and timber was just received by IOMs 
Trincomalee and Batticaloa field offices.

Fourteen locally designed transitional accommodations, a community 
centre and a recreational area have been completed by IOM on a site in 
Vatavan, Batticaloa district. Construction on an additional 116 such 
transitional accommodations has just begun. IOM has also constructed 
another 80 locally designed transitional accommodations in Ullae, Ampara 
district with 19 more currently under construction.

Four locations in Galle District -- Walauwatta, Sibalagahawatta, 
Katugoda and Magalle -which were heavily damaged by the tsunami have 
been selected for repair and reconstruction activities supported by 
UNHABITAT and UNDP. Some 250 tsunami-affected houses are being 
reconstructed and livelihood schemes developed with financial support 
from the Japanese Government. A local NGO, the Arthachrya Foundation, is 
ensuring the participation of the local community and facilitating 
communication between them and local authorities.  UNDP's "Urban 
Governance Support Project" is assisting in the community empowerment 
aspects, information gathering and processing and capacity building.

Education

UNICEF reports from Thirukkovil IDP camp in Ampara show classroom 
attendance is hindered by lack of transport for children to their school 
which is more than 5 kilometers away from the camp. The District 
Secretariat and the Government Agent is working with UNICEF to make 
available a bus service for the students.

At a "Tsunami-Affected Children's Get Together" event in Colombo on 11 
March, the Sri Lankan NGO Samata Sarana presented 1,800 children UNICEF 
school kits. The children were from 34 schools in the Colombo North 
Education Zone.

IOM has recently constructed 15 temporary buildings to be used as 
schools -- 13 of them in Ampara and two in Batticaloa districts.

Livelihoods

Most masons, carpenters, laborers and small businesses have returned to 
their jobs in the division of Town and Gravets. It was discovered 
through a WFP household questionnaire on food utilization undertaken in 
Trincomalee. The local authorities have requested that WFP discontinue 
food assistance to this division; WFP had been providing food to 34,000 
people.

In Matara district, IOM is assisting 100 families, including single 
headed households, develop their sewing industry. The families are being 
provided sewing machines and raw materials for initial production and 
advanced training in sewing techniques.

In the past four weeks IOM has provided 258 lorries to transport relief 
items for the Government of Sri Lanka, international organizations, NGOs 
and donors. Just in the previous week, IOM transports throughout the 
country included: 32 lorries of medical equipment and other relief items 
for the Ministry of Health; 11 lorries of food, clothes and other relief 
items for the Department for Social Services; and eight lorries of food, 
clothes and hygienic relief items for the Prime Minister's Office.


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