Transition Initiatives: Sri Lanka Field Report
May 2003
Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) Sri Lanka program seeks to stabilize and enhance the political space needed to further a peace process that has been underway since the signing of the February 2002 ceasefire agreement. OTI has two main objectives - mitigating conflict and building constituencies for peace.
Based on these objectives OTI will deliver visible, high impact peace dividends, promote efforts to lessen the influence of potential spoilers of the peace process, and support conflict mitigation and resolution activities in flash point areas such as Trincomalee and Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka. OTI envisions grants that support positive, community-based interaction among diverse groups of people; promotes citizen involvement in community decision making, particularly for rehabilitating community-based infrastructure; improves livelihoods and provides skills training; and, increases dissemination of balanced information and diverse points of view.
Working with local non-governmental organizations, informal community-based groups, media entities, and local government authorities, OTI seeks to identify and support critical initiatives that will move the country further along the continuum from war to peace. Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) implements the $3.5 million small grants program in FY 2003 and manages USAID/OTI offices in Colombo, Trincomalee and Ampara. With program start-up in March 2003, OTI has provided $370,221 in small grants to the end of May.
Country Situation
LTTE STEADFAST IN WITHDRAWAL FROM PEACE TALKS: Despite the high level of international attention and a number of attempts by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to address specific issues raised by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), throughout May the LTTE maintained its refusal to resume negotiations. Citing among other issues lack of progress in rebuilding war-affected Tamil areas and continuing disagreements about GoSL High Security Zones in Jaffna, the LTTE increased pressure on the GoSL to focus on an interim administration for Sri Lanka's Northeast that would give the Tigers greater control over development funds due to flow into the area. The GoSL appears willing to negotiate interim political arrangements but repeatedly has stressed constitutional constraints that limit its ability to compromise to an extent being demanded by the LTTE.
TOKYO DONOR'S CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR JUNE: Due to the ongoing wrangling between the GoSL and the LTTE over resuming the peace talks, it appears likely that the LTTE will not attend the June donor's conference in Tokyo. Both Norway and Japan sent a number of high level officials to Kilinochchi to meet with high ranking LTTE officials about participation in the crucial June conference but the Tigers have refused to budge on the issue. While it has become clear that the conference will be held with or without LTTE representation, there is some concern that its absence may discourage donors from pledging greater amounts of financial assistance to Sri Lanka.
OPPOSITION ALLIANCE TALKS CONTINUE: The People's Alliance (PA) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) are continuing to discuss a loose coalition that will consolidate the opposition and possibly set the stage for a new round of parliamentary elections. While the media has reported that the negotiations are nearly over, by the end of May no agreement had been reached and there were persistent rumors that the two parties remained deadlocked over who would control the alliance's secretary general position. Also, it is thought that the PA is having difficulty in aligning itself with the JVP given its more overt hardline stance vis-à-vis the on-going peace process.
FLOODS INUNDATE SOUTHERN SRI LANKA: In mid-May Sri Lanka's south was hit by the worst floods in more than fifty years. Hundreds of people were killed in landslides and thousands were displaced as floodwaters wiped-out entire towns and villages. While emergency response measures were relatively effective and the international community responded generously to GoSL calls for assistance, the damage to infrastructure and farm land was extensive. Over the coming months the GoSL will be under intense pressure to support people as they attempt to rebuild shattered lives. There is some concern that opposition politicians may seek to exploit the situation by criticizing the government over its handling of reconstruction efforts in the flood-affected areas.
OTI Highlights
Based on a November 2002 assessment, USAID decided to open an OTI program in Sri Lanka and an OTI Country Representative arrived in Colombo in February. The program's task order was announced late that month and DAI won the bid to immediately begin operations. A DAI team arrived in Sri Lanka in March and began setting up the infrastructure needed to oversee the $3.5 million grants fund. By late May Colombo-based local staff had been recruited, critical financial and administrative structures were in place, an OTI/DAI Colombo office was open, two key field staff had been hired to head offices in Trincomalee and Ampara, and negotiations were underway for office space in both those cities.
As part of the on-going start up process, during May an OTI Washington short-term staff person worked with the program to continue initial outreach efforts and make specific recommendations on OTI/Sri Lanka's media and information dissemination strategy. With this added programming person working alongside new local program staff, OTI was able to process 14 new grants that obligated a total of $230,829. The grants were geographically and sectorally mixed in an attempt to demonstrate OTI's commitment to targeting a number of key issues at the same time in different parts of the country. The largest number of grants (a total of 8) were programmed into the Jaffna peninsula and focused on the need to rebuild communities as well as address livelihood issues.
B. May 2003 Grants Activity Summary
| Community Impact Projects |
6 |
$45,366 |
| Livelihoods |
4 |
$217,976 |
| Media and Information |
4 |
$87,429 |
| Conflict Mitigation |
3 |
$19,450 |
| Total |
17 |
$370,221 |
C. Indicators of Success
A grant to the Muslim Rights Organization (MRO) to address land issues in the Eastern Province is moving forward successfully. The group's efforts to collect land registry information are proceeding as planned and it is expected that a more definitive land registry will feed into a system for returning expropriated lands to original owners as a way to support community stabilization along Sri Lanka's east coast. As an added benefit of the project, Muslims and Tamils are coming together at a community level to discuss land issues that concern both communities. The MRO cited a positive exchange between local level Muslim and Tamils representatives when discussing a Hindu temple that is built on land once housing a mosque. As a further indication of success in the leveraging of OTI funds, the MRO reported that AusAID is considering providing funds to help mediate disputes that may arise once the land registry is completed.
With funding from OTI, 20 journalists participated in a Conflict Sensitive Reporting workshop in Muttur. In mid-April Tamils and Muslims clashed in the area and several people were killed. Although the violence ended after a curfew was imposed and LTTE and Muslim leaders met to calm the situation, the clashes pointed to the ongoing fragility of the situation in some mixed community areas and the potential for sparks to lead to indiscriminate violence. Reports from the workshop suggest that the journalists were able to use the time in Muttur to analyze the actual reporting about the April violence and explore ways that the reporting might have been more accurate, more objective, and less inflammatory. Also, this project is considered a milestone because OTI's comparative advantage to provide short-term, flexible funding to these journalists builds on a longer-term initiative with them that is being funded by USAID Sri Lanka's Democracy and Governance program.
D. Program Appraisal
The start up phase continues to go well. The Colombo office is fully staffed and is able to support a diverse program and implementation portfolio. Steps have been taken to open field offices in Ampara and Trincomalee, including hiring key staff, making initial contacts and looking for office space. Once these offices are open, the program start-up will be complete and the stage will be set for increased grant making. With 17 new grants programmed in May, the month was productive but OTI still fell short of a nominal spending target of roughly $450,000 per month. In terms of constraints, one major sticking point remains the Value Added Tax issue and the fact that an USAID contractor can not pay this levy using United States aid money. Although there has been progress on this problem, in May the GoSL was still not able to produce a critical VAT exemption letter for use by all USAID contractors.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
The OTI Sri Lanka start-up phase will continue into June as the program continues to try to meet grant making targets as well as open the two field offices. Given the limited field-based presence at the moment, Colombo-based staff will continue to travel frequently to different parts of the country to look for grant making opportunities. In response to the floods in the south and the recognition that there is a major need to help people rebuild their communities, in early June OTI will field a team of six project development officers and grant managers to assess post-flood needs and develop grants for those communities.
An OTI team Team Building Session will be held June 2-4 and will include participants from USAID Sri Lanka and the entire OTI/DAI team. Among other outputs, the meeting will articulate a more defined OTI strategy and work plan for the rest of 2003.
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