CERF funds life-saving humanitarian services in Sri Lanka

22 March 2007: CERF provides an additional 8.9 million to Sri Lanka to address the rapidly humanitarian situation in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

With the CERF grant, UNHCR will provide immediate and life-saving protection interventions for vulnerable displaced populations affected by the armed conflict, including providing emergency shelters and non-food emergency relief items. In conjunction, WFP will provide emergency food relief.

WFP ramps up food aid for thousands fleeing conflict in eastern Sri Lanka [Photo: WFP/Kudrich]

The CERF grant enables FAO to immediately commence agricultural assistance activities to the recently displaced and conflict-affected IDPs while UNICEF will provide increased and improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities for the affected population.

WHO and UNFPA will provide emergency response in the health sector to meet the immediate public health needs of internally displaced persons in the conflict affected areas of Sri Lanka. The WHO response will also seek to prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases.

In this context, a CERF grant of US$ 210,000 allocated in February 2007 has enabled the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) to maintain the improvements of its security management capability in the face of recent upheavals of violence and with the Ceasefire Agreement being under severe strain.

The boosted capacity of the UN Department of Safety and Security, funded through the CERF in 2006, has enabled various agencies to safely implement their increased number of programmes in a volatile environment. The effective continuation of this crucial common service is necessary to ensure the timely provision of life-saving humanitarian services in Sri Lanka, in line with the CERF’s objective to enhance response to time critical requirements based on assessed needs.

The security situation in Sri Lanka has deteriorated further since tensions flared in April and conflict erupted on several fronts across the North and East in August 2006. The 2002 cease-fire agreement has been de facto abandoned, peace talks between the Government and the LTTE have failed and fighting regularly takes place in 8 out of 25 districts. Political efforts to further the peace process have stalled, despite renewed talks in late October 2006. As of 27th November, 211,363 individuals (58,289 families) are registered as displaced since early April this year. 

Both the emergency response and the regular programmes to address the ongoing needs of the long-term displaced population have been hampered by increasing security constraints, additional and often secondary displacement, limited humanitarian access as well as widespread serious human rights violations, such as killings, abductions, forced recruitment (including of children), severe restrictions on freedom of movement and increased physical attacks.

The security of civilians, particularly of displaced people (new and old), has become of grave concern. The internally displaced are increasingly open to attack as the conflict encroaches on areas previously deemed safe, and the deteriorating security situation has also put aid workers in a vulnerable position.

Displaced Family in Jaffna  [Photo: UNICEF]

In the immediate term, over 200,000 people have been internally displaced, lost their livelihoods and are almost completely dependent on humanitarian food aid. In the longer-term, security concerns, embargoes and closure of transport routes have disrupted income-generating activities for many livelihood groups. It is estimated that up to 400,000 people displaced or otherwise affected will be in need of food assistance over the coming months.

The districts in the north and east are particularly affected. The Jaffna peninsula is suffering severe shortages of food and basic supplies due to the closure of the north-south A9 road. The Vanni (LTTE-controlled North) has been isolated with the closure of the forward defense lines and Batticaloa is hosting more than 65,000 IDPs and is subjected to heavy bombardments. These are areas where malnutrition levels among children under 5 are already alarmingly high; some 40% of children are underweight and over 25% are stunted (chronically malnourished). Humanitarian operations in these areas have been complicated by limited and intermittent access to populations in need and by stringent movement and transport restrictions.

This CERF grant comes in addition to almost USD 10 million allocated to Sri Lanka in 2006 under the rapid response window. The 2006 CERF grants enabled WFP to help save lives of vulnerable groups displaced and economically affected by renewed violence by providing emergency food relief to cover immediate food needs for the month of December 2006. 140,000 children and 136,000 women was particularly targeted in the conflict-affected districts in the North and East of Sri Lanka (Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara). Further, UNHCR provided protection to long-term IDPs in the North and East of Sri Lanka while FAO delivered immediate emergency agriculture support in order to improve the food security- and nutrition situation on the Jaffna Peninsula. Local vegetable production and the production of pulses and root crops in Jaffna will assist in the reduction in food insecurity of 5,000 IDP and conflict affected families and improving their nutritional status through (i) local production and increased consumption of vitamin and mineral rich fresh vegetables and pulses and (ii) vaccination of animals for immediate increased milk production. The household food security and food production capacity of IDPs and vulnerable host communities in Jaffna have been seriously weakened as a result of the renewed conflict which started in August 2006, the over-use of limited and already deteriorated natural resources and the lack of timely donor response.

[Last Update: 5 April 2007]

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