CERF allocates nearly $1.6 million for emergency humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka
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| A mother and her child in Sri Lanka [Photo: UNICEF] |
25 November 2008: A recent escalation of violence between government forces and rebel groups following a breakdown of peace talks has forced tens of thousands of innocent civilians to flee to host communities and makeshift camps.
Ensuring adequate shelter and accompanying water supply and sanitation facilities will be area priorities in the weeks and months ahead.
As part of the international community’s overall relief effort in the country, CERF has allocated $1.6 million in emergency financing to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The funds will be used for essential water and sanitation needs of current and projected new displaced populations. As many schools are being used as displacement camps, the emergency education needs of children are also being addressed by the CERF allocation.
[Last Update: 31 December 2008]
CERF makes available $6.9 million to address IDP situation in Sri Lanka
16 April 2008: The majority of those displaced from the Eastern province of Sri Lanka returned after the Government took control of the former rebel-held areas during the spring of 2007. Attention then shifted to the rebel-held north of Sri Lanka where protracted armed conflict and recent intensification of military operations have led to an overall deterioration of the security environment in the country.
An estimated 5,000 IDPs are dependant on food aid, at least, for the next 3 months. Fishing restrictions have affected the livelihoods of residents in the northeastern districts and local agriculture has decreased due to a lack of inputs. With few existing job opportunities, fishing, farming and labourer households have been unable to earn a regular income to cover the costs of their basic needs.
CERF funding, channeled through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is providing emergency shelter for 1,200 IDPs. Additional CERF funds are being used by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to protect displaced people living in camps and with host families. Protection is provided by assuring an international presence and observers that thereby secure freedom of movement for civilians and access to basic services. UNHCR aims to prevent sexual and gender-based violence and to respond to abuses. It is also assisting IDPs to obtain civil documentation.
A CERF grant is enabling the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute daily basic food baskets, containing cereal, oil, pulses and sugar, to 817,000 people. WFP is providing additional fortified foods, including corn soya blend and rice, to pregnant or lactating women and to children under 5. WFP is also setting up a humanitarian air service with an aircraft dedicated to transporting UN and NGO staff and cargo to vulnerable displaced populations located in remote areas.
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| Displaced families at Our Lady of Refuge welfare camp in Nanthurai near Jaffna town [Photo: IRIN] |
With funding from the CERF, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing mine risk education and awareness sessions to 15,000 newly resettled individuals. UNICEF is also advocating for armed groups to release child soldiers within a three month deadline, while supporting the reintegration of those who have been released. The CERF is also supporting a UNICEF project that is supplying safe drinking water to 50,000 beneficiaries, in IDP camps and living with host families, who desperately need access to drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and additional or basic sanitation facilities. 4,000 malnourished children are being treated through community-based nutrition rehabilitation programmes, 50,000 children under 5 are receiving micro-nutrient supplements, while pregnant women and children are being taken care of in parasite control programmes. Finally, UNICEF is also distributing high-energy biscuits at maternal and child health clinics to approximately 20,000 children under 5 and to 11,000 pregnant women.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is supporting farmers with a CERF grant so that they can resume their activities and re-plenish the necessary food levels needed to feed IDPs and host families. Paddy seeds and fertilizer is being delivered to 350 households, while cowpea, green gram, groundnut and finger millet seeds are being delivered to 5,200 families and 2,400 families are being provided with vegetable seeds. In addition, FAO is delivering 20,000 poultry to 2,000 farmers in multiple districts.
With a CERF allocation, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is able to provide health services including immunization, reproductive health, emergency mental health care and treatment of chronic disease to IDPs and host families in remote locations. It is deploying auxiliary health workers and dispatching basic emergency medicine, supplies and reproductive health equipment.
[Last Update: 13 May 2008]