Common Humanitarian Action Plan for Sri Lanka 2008 Mid-Year Review 16 July 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) country team in Sri Lanka in consultation with the Government of Sri Lanka, donors and agencies involved in humanitarian relief and early recovery activities agreed that the scenarios described in the Common Humanitarian Action Plan 2008 remain largely valid - they had been revised early in 2008, following the Government’s announcement of its withdrawal from the Ceasefire Agreement.  The 2008 Mid-Year Review process enabled stakeholders, under the direction of the Sector Leads to look critically at progress made to date, to note changes in context and needs, and to update response plans appropriately.    The fighting in the North has intensified, but has not led to large numbers of new internally displaced persons (IDPs).  The maximum number of new displacements has therefore, been revised downward from 300,000 to 230,000.  Although the potential new IDP caseload has been reduced, many of the communities exposed to insecurity and fighting in the North facing multiple displacements, need to be factored into humanitarian planning and response.    The priority area for humanitarian relief is now centred on the conflict affected zones of the North where access remains difficult and the number of IDPs has slowly increased during the first 5 months of 2008, and could rapidly increase at any time.  Security concerns, access restrictions and limits on the importation of food, fuel, medicines, equipment and other materials have made the implementation of relief operations increasingly complex and added to the cost of operations.    In the East, focus is on the returnee population, with an urgent need to support activities that will build confidence and support stabilisation of communities.  Without a timely injection of funding for basic infrastructure and early recovery activities, particularly to support resumption of sustainable livelihoods and improve medium term food security, the already fragile coping mechanisms of vulnerable displaced and returnee families will further deteriorate.   Based on the evolving situation and resulting changes in the humanitarian context, the Mid Year Review introduces new projects and revisions to existing projects and brings the total revised funding requirements to US$[1] 195.7 million.  The $20.3 million (10%) increase is due to significantly higher food, fuel and operational costs.  As of 25 June, the Sri Lanka appeal had received $64 million, leaving an outstanding funding requirement for 2008 of $131.4 million.      Some basic facts about Sri Lanka   Ø   Population 21,100,000 people (UNFPA SWP 2007) Ø   Under 5 mortality 13 p/1,000 (UNICEF 2006) Ø   Life expectancy 71.6 years (UNDP HDR 2007/2008) Ø   Prevalence of under-nourishment in total population 22% (FAO Statistical Division 2007 estimate) Ø   Gross national income per capita USD 1,310 (World Bank Key Development Data & Statistics 2006) Ø   Percentage of population living on less than $1 per day 5.6% (UNDP HDR 2007/2008) Ø   Proportion of population without sustainable access to an improved drinking water source 79% (UNDP HDR 2007/2008) Ø   IDPs (number and percent of population) 481,587 (2.2%)* (UNHCR May 2008) Ø   Refugees Ø   In-country 452**   Ø   Abroad 21,677 Ø   ECHO Vulnerability and Crisis Index score (V/C) 2/3 medium rank Ø   2007 UNDP Human Development Index score 0.743 (99th of 177) medium rank Also Ø   As of 30 April 2008, UNICEF has recorded 6,755 children abducted (6,259 by LTTE and 496 by the Karuna Faction) with 1,554 still being held (1,410 by LTTE and 144 by Karuna Faction).  While all were recruited as children, many are now over 18 years.  Out of 1,410 held by LTTE, 2,146 are under 18 years.  Out of 2,144 held by Karuna, 76 are under 18   *       This figure includes 182,802 persons displaced after April 2006; 312,712 ‘Old’ IDPs (minus an overlap of 40,000 IDPs) as at March 2008, and 26,073 “Tsunami” IDPs as at June 2007 **     This figure includes 237 Asylum Seekers and 215 Refugees  [1] All dollar signs in this document denote United States dollars.  Funding for this appeal should be reported to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS, fts@reliefweb.int), which will display its requirements and funding on the CAP 2008 page. Sector Revised Requirements (US$) Agriculture 8,379,129 Coordination and Support Services 8,720,505 Economic Recovery and Infrastructure 6,297,549 Education 6,221,118 Food 96,121,514 Health 10,883,138 Protection/Human Rights/Rule of Law 15,301,895 Safety and Security of Staff and Operations 889,735 Shelter and Non-Food Items 34,971,564 Water and Sanitation 7,886,805 Grand Total 195,672,952 * NOTE: evolving practice is to show funding per 'sector' (or sometimes 'cluster') following the sector groupings used in country, to be in accordance with the coordination structures on the ground and in the appeal text. Funding per standard IASC sector is also tracked, because the fixed standard allows comparison across appeals. FTS on-line tables will offer both groupings. The figures for funding requirements in this document are valid as of 16 July 2008. Project budgets and requirements normally change during the course of the year. For the latest funding requirements, contributions, and list of projects, see the Financial Tracking Service (FTS) on http://www.reliefweb.int/fts

Document History 16 Jul 08 : Mid-Year Review    Download the Document Document Word, PDF, Zip FTS links FTS Homepage FTS Appeal Page Lien ReliefWeb Country Page