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Sri Lanka
Please note: All linked documents are in PDF format
| Objective |
SO Number |
FY 2004 |
FY 2005 |
FY 2006 |
| Supporting the Benefits of Peace |
383-006 |
5,429 |
2,750 |
3,000 |
| Humanitarian Assistance |
383-007 | 1,800 |
1,550 |
900 |
| Economic Growth |
383-008 | 5,750 |
7,670 |
7,250 |
| Democracy and Governance |
383-009 |
4,000 |
5,024 |
4,774 |
| Total (in thousands of dollars) |
16,979 |
16,994 |
15,924 |
Excludes P.L. 480. See Program Annex.
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The Development Challenge: Sri Lanka is struggling to recover from two decades of armed conflict and will now have to confront the challenge of recovering from the Tsunami calamity of December 26, which flooded coastal areas and wiped away communities along the south and east coasts of the island nation. As of January 26, 2005, official death toll estimates in Sri Lanka are 38,195 dead and 504,440 displaced. In the affected areas, economic life has ground to a halt, and businesses have collapsed. Millions of people have seen their families and communities torn apart. USAID is presently developing a strategy for long-term recovery and reconstruction to address the impact of the Tsunami in Sri Lanka.
USAID/Sri Lanka's program before the Tsunami focused on the opportunities presented by the February 2002 ceasefire agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Now, along with ongoing activities to support the peace process, foster economic growth and civil society participation, and provide physical and psychological rehabilitation for those affected by the war, the Mission will need to undertake a range of recovery and reconstruction activities.
FY 2004 was a tumultuous year. The President's decision to dissolve Parliament and call for elections in April 2004 resulted in a new government with a different political and economic focus. It brought into power the President's party with the neo-Marxist and Singhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) as a key Alliance partner. JVP support plus "crossovers" resulting from concessions made to members of opposition parties gave the Alliance a Parliamentary majority. The new Government has shifted focus from an export-led market economy to rural development in order to address regional income disparities.
The peace talks have been on hold since they were suspended in April 2003. The JVP is opposed to the LTTE's proposal for an Interim Self Governing Authority (ISGA), while the LTTE views the ISGA as the basis for resuming formal peace talks. Although the President made a commitment to restart talks with the LTTE, she has yet to find a compromise that will satisfy both her Alliance partner and the LTTE. Progress in the peace process was a condition set by the international community for the disbursement of the development assistance portion of the $4.5 billion pledged at the June 2003 Tokyo Conference on Reconstruction and Development. The failure to resume peace talks slowed development activities in the conflict-affected regions of North and East Sri Lanka.
U.S. Interests and Goals: U.S. national interests in Sri Lanka include supporting a negotiated settlement to the conflict, improving democratic institutions and processes, promoting respect for human rights, and enhancing economic growth through market-oriented policy reform and financial stability. By helping resolve Sri Lanka's internal war, the United States contributes to regional stability and the global war on terrorism. Sri Lanka is also a Millennium Challenge Account eligible country that has submitted a concept paper focusing on integrated rural development.
The USAID Program: USAID and the Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) jointly fund a program that bolsters public support for a negotiated peace settlement. The field presence, relentless pace, and effective outreach of OTI's program helped restore the Mission's high profile among Sri Lankans and other donors. USAID's contribution to peacebuilding was further maximized by the synergies created between the OTI program and the Democracy and Governance Peace Support Project. For example, USAID built on a teledrama with a peaceful coexistence theme by supporting the creation of a movie version. Grants were provided for small-scale infrastructure, livelihoods, conflict mitigation, and information.
The democracy and governance program focuses on sustaining a multistakeholder peacebuilding process that supports Sri Lanka's transition to peace. The USAID-funded teledrama, "Take this Road," chronicled the impact of the war on three families - Muslim, Singhalese, and Tamil. The program aired on national television and enjoyed wide viewership. The "One Text Initiative," funded through USAID's Sri Lanka Peace Support Project, provides a multipartisan dialogue for Singhalese, Tamil, and Muslim political stakeholders in the peace process. All the major political parties in the country are participating or have agreed to participate in this dialogue. No other donor in Sri Lanka has been able to establish a similar initiative with all stakeholders.
Three achievements in the humanitarian assistance sector stand out this year, all under the Disability Support Project (DSP): all four partner rehabilitation centers began producing prosthetics (artificial limbs) and orthotics (braces) made from materials which meet international quality standards - a first for Sri Lanka; the DSP completed the design phase for greatly improved hand and motor powered wheelchairs and tricycles; and USAID's local partners can now independently design, construct, and distribute high-quality assistance devices that meet the needs of disabled clients.
The economic growth program provided technical assistance to the government and private sector, promoted business education for youth, and strengthened Sri Lanka's participation in regional energy and environment issues, including the development of initiatives in coastal and environmental tourism. The Competitiveness Program continued to assist eight export industry clusters - tea, rubber, spices, coir, gems and jewelry, ceramics, information and communication technology, and tourism. One example of a success is in the gem and jewelry sector. During 2004, an international jewelry designer submitted designs for a new line of sapphire jewelry. Fabrications of these designs for buyers' shows are now being produced in Sri Lanka.
Gender Implications: Gender concerns are integrated into USAID's assistance strategy. USAID's humanitarian assistance programs stress participation by women in all aspects of the disability program. To address gender imbalances among the specialists who provide services to disabled beneficiaries, 50% of all trainees sent for long-term training have been women. Under the OTI program, gender impact is factored into all discussions with potential grantees. The democracy and governance program encourages participation by women and women's organizations in stakeholder dialogues on the peace process. USAID's competitiveness program includes women entrepreneurs as key beneficiaries. In FY 2004, 17% (341 of 2000) of the trainees were female professionals and managers, e.g., from the rubber and ceramics industries.
Conflict-sensitive Programming: The decision in FY 2002 to reverse a Mission closeout plan and increase USAID's presence was a response to changing dynamics in the protracted conflict and associated opportunities for U.S. Government assistance. The Conflict Vulnerability Assessment conducted in November 2002 led to the subsequent revised Country Development Strategy for 2003-2007. The revised strategy included the new OTI program, as well as redesigned programs under democracy and governance and humanitarian assistance. The aim of the new strategy is to address the underlying causes and consequences of the protracted conflict.
Other Program Elements: Full results from the Sri Lanka country program for the US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) are presented in US-AEP's Annual Report. Especially notable is the award of two Global Development Alliance grants, facilitated by US-AEP activity, leveraging existing USAID investments through the Mission's Competitiveness Program and US-AEP.
Other Donors: In a show of support for the peace process in Sri Lanka, the international financial institutions and bilateral donors pledged $4.5 billion in development assistance at the Tokyo donor conference in June 2003, for the period 2003-2006. Japan and the Asian Development Bank are the two largest contributors in Sri Lanka, pledging $1 billion each for projects related to reconstruction, transportation, and power sector reform. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are providing multi-year loans supportive of the GSL's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
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