19 May 2009: During the daily noon briefing the Secretary-General's spokesman announced Ban Ki-moon's visit to Sri Lanka later that week. The Secretary General would travel to the hardest hit areas for a first-hand assessment of conditions on the ground. 

His visit is a response to the urgent need to treat the wounds of a war that has alienated the communities in the Island for almost three decades, reported the spokesperson. The Secretary-General will seek progress in three critical areas: immediate humanitarian relief; reintegration and reconstruction and a sustainable and equitable political solution.

In a press statement  read out on 13 May by Security Council President Vitaly Churkin from the Russian Federation, the members of the Council expressed grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in north-east Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days, and called for urgent action by all parties to ensure the safety of civilians.

According to OCHA quoted during the daily noon briefing on 5 May at UN Headquarters in New York, fighting has intensified throughout the last week of April and into May with both light and heavy weapons being used. As of 4 May, more than 188,000 people had crossed out of the conflict zone, with the vast majority being accommodated in Internally Displaced Persons camps in Vavuniya.  Over 186,000 were in camps, and some 1,700 wounded and their caregivers in hospitals. Some 50,000 or more people are still trapped in the conflict zone.

Food, water and other basic supplies from United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations were en route on 30 April  to help some 175,000 civilians, while 4,500 family-sized tents had been set up in the past four days by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes during a 29 April press conference in New York. 

The Secretary-General explained before his trip to violence-stricken Sri Lanka that his goals were threefold. First and foremost to meet urgent humanitarian need.  Secondly, that he intended to urge the Government to expedite the screening and processing of refuges as quickly as possible. Thirdly, he would also urge the Government and all elements of society to take powerful and immediate steps to initiate a political process of dialogue, accommodation and reconciliation.