OCHA Situation Report
Sri Lanka
25 - 31 March 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Overall Situation

The latest government figures, from 24 March, put the total number of 
tsunami-related IDPs at 516,130 with 95,824 housed in 262 camps and 
420,306 staying with family and friends.  The highest numbers of IDPs 
are in Galle, Ampara and Trincomalee.

Clashes between the Special Task Force (STF) and LTTE on 28 March 
resulted in protests and unrest in the camps of Ampara, including the 
burning of tyres and blocking of roads. UNICEF reported that the clashes 
took place following the LTTE recruitment of a child who then ran away 
and sought protection with the STF. The STF arrested the LTTE cadre and 
clashes ensued.  The UNICEF office in Ampara was informed of the 
abduction of two other children by the LTTE on 27 March. UNICEF is 
monitoring the situation closely and meeting with various counterparts 
to ensure the protection of children in camps.

Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) has called for tightening 
the grip against possible large scale corruption in the post tsunami 
reconstruction. The NGO said the three-month anniversary of the tsunami 
is a "time to take stock of the reconstruction process and the national 
and international commitment towards the rebuilding efforts." TISL urges 
all political leaders, political parties and groups to act with 
responsibility to give highest priority to the post tsunami 
reconstruction effort, while providing the victims with the assurance 
that their voices would be considered in the process.

Coordination and common services

IOM transport assistance during the past week to the Government of Sri 
Lanka, international agencies, NGOs and other organizations included a 
total of 69 lorries of medical equipment and relief supplies -- 40 for 
the Ministry of Health; ten for CARE International; six for OXFAM; five 
for IFRC; seven for other NGOs, and one for the Prime Minister's Office. 
In addition, five vans were provided to the Commissioner General of 
Essential Services to be used for relief work for the next two months.

According to UNICEF, little progress has been made in moving its relief 
supplies from the Colombo seaport over the course of the week. Most 
items have been authorised for clearance by customs officials, but they 
wait in the port for inspection by Navy officials.

Food security

The World Food Programme reports the total number of tsunami-affected 
people receiving food assistance amounts to 950,000 with WFP providing 
assistance to 915,000 of them.

WFP has provided 25,907 metric tones of food since the tsunami struck.

WFP and World Vision launched on 22 March, a school-feeding programme 
for students between the ages of five-and-ten years of age. The 
programme provides school children with 500g oil and 500g sugar from 
World Vision. WFP provides 6kg of corn soya blend (CSB)  per child. In 
Galle district, the programme targets 30 schools reaching 10,000 
students. This is a one-time only allotment with students provided with 
a two-month take-home ration package of CSB.

WFP is transporting supplies of nutritious biscuits to all districts 
affected by the tsunami in preparation for a school feeding programme in 
those areas which is scheduled to begin at the end of April.

Health

In Ampara, the local health service is coordinating the distribution of 
insecticide-treated mosquito nets by a number of agencies including: 
UNICEF, 20,000 nets, GOAL, 20,000, Merlin, 2,450, MSF, 3,900, ICRC, 
5,000, LIONS, 15,000 and Medair 4,268. The total mosquito net 
requirement for the district is 83,802.

The Department of Health, following an IOM request, supplied Samaposha, 
a local nutritional food aid, which IOM staff distributed to children 
under three-years old and pregnant women in Soodaikudah IDP camp, 
Muthur, Trincomalee district.

The NGO Merlin has started a pilot project in Kalmunai Division for the 
treatment of medical waste. This model may be replicated in Batticaloa 
in the future as well.

Water and sanitation

UNICEF has created a form to collect information to record water and sanitation 
activities within all divisions of Galle district. CHF has distributed the 
forms in Balapitiya and Ambalangoda and is in the process of making sure the 
survey is completed in all divisions.

In Batticaloa district, a bathing area has been completed for a transitional 
IDP camp in Aarayampathy. Two other bathing facilities are currently under 
construction. Buckets were distributed to 73 families who were previously 
staying with friends and family and suddenly moved to the camp.

Shelter and non-food items

Seven recent graduates of a training programme in Colombo run by the 
Transitional Accommodation Project (TAP) have been assigned to TAP offices in 
Galle District. Two of the graduates will be placed in the Government Agent's 
office to deal with administrative issues, and the others will be placed in 
division offices. The principal duties of the TAP graduates will be to assess 
the suitability of land for resettlement and assess the status of camps.

IOM reports that it has constructed a total of 945 temporary shelters to date, 
including 364 in Ampara, 130 in Batticaloa, 180 in Trincomalee, 203 in Matara, 
and 68 in Kalutara. It has also constructed 18 temporary school structures 
including 13 in Ampara and five in Batticaloa. IOM has also constructed 148 
toilets, 58 showers and various communal areas, children's play areas, and 
health centres.

The Women's Coalition for Disaster Management (WCDM) in Batticaloa has issued 
an appeal for more thorough consultation, particularly with regard to the 
construction of shelters in Thiraimadu. WCDM urged that the tsunami- affected 
communities should be involved in decision-making about their resettlement 
sites, allocation of plots as well as the design and construction of shelters.

Education

Alliance Development Trust is distributing 2,000 school kits to the Paddiruppu 
Zonal schools. They are cooperating with the zonal department of education for 
the distribution.

To date, UNICEF plans to construct a total of 227 temporary school shelters. 
Eighty-two of them have already been built.

Adopt Sri Lanka, a Galle District NGO, is assisting the Ministry of Education 
and local school authorities by assessing the needs of schools in the district 
for additional assistance.

Over 76,000 lunch boxes, water bottles and pencil cases have been distributed 
over the past two weeks by UNICEF for use by school children in all districts. 
In Trincomalee, UNICEF has distributed 77 steel cupboards to 38 
tsunami-affected and child-friendly schools in the district for the storage of 
school material.

Livelihoods

In a ceremony on 20 March at the Fisheries Department in Batticalao, CORDAID 
handed over 250 fishing nets to those fishermen who still possess boats. 
Another distribution of both boats and nets will take place next month for 
those who lost everything.

Vocational training programmes are being conducted in such trades as carpentry, 
masonry, house wiring, welding, plumbing, aluminum fitting, motor rewinding and 
tailoring in Batticaloa, Ampara and Trincomalee districts by WUSC, YMCA, 
Technical College, WWDF, PADRO, and Sarvodaya. The training is for unemployed 
youth and women, for both pre-tsunami and tsunami-affected IDPs. The courses 
which normally runs six-to-nine months are being shortened to respond to the 
immediate demand for skilled trade laborers who are much needed in the 
reconstruction process.

Protection

Four times more women than men were killed in some areas hit by the Indian 
Ocean tsunami, according to a report recently issued by Oxfam Community Aid 
Abroad. The report says such losses amongst the female population will creating 
long-term social problems for devastated communities as they try to rebuild. 
The report suggests the imbalance in deaths occurred because many men were 
working inland or fishing offshore when the waves hit, while the women were at 
home. It also said men are more likely than women to know how to swim and to 
climb trees to reach safety. The report was based on research carried out by 
Oxfam in local communities devastated by the tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Lanka 
and India. In Sri Lanka, camp surveys suggested a "serious imbalance" in the 
number of men and women that survived, the Oxfam report said, and called for 
aid agencies to be aware of the gender imbalance when planning disaster relief 
operations.

As of 24 March, 27 unaccompanied children, 1,271 separated children, and 3,930 
children who lost one parent had been registered, according to UNICEF. 
Follow-up work on these children is progressing well. Also by 24 March, 
follow-up visits had been conducted for 26 unaccompanied children, for 1,042 
separated children and for 1,537 children who lost one parent. Some 221 
separated children and 52 children who lost one parent are now benefiting from 
Fit persons court orders.

Three trishaws have been supplied by UNICEF to the probation offices in Galle, 
Hambantota, and Matara Districts to facilitate their child protection work, 
including the follow-up of unaccompanied and separated children and of children 
with one parent. Two additional trishaws have been ordered for Tangalle and 
Balapitya and are expected for delivery shortly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -