Sri Lanka: Conflict-Affected Region Emergency Project

Abstract

1. Sri Lanka had been severely affected by about 3 decades of internal armed conflict, with the Northern Province bearing the brunt of hostilities. This had a destructive effect on the northern region and its population, with much of the infrastructure damaged or destroyed, access to basic social services disrupted, and the livelihood of the population severely affected. The conflict caused significant human suffering and displacement, resulting in an estimated 277,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at appraisal. With progress on the work of demining affected areas, the IDPs were slowly returning to their former residences, while 85,000–90,000 IDPs were still to be resettled. The immediate need at the time was to resettle the IDPs in their original areas of residence, provide them with relief goods, re-establish basic services, revive the people’s livelihood, and restore the critically damaged infrastructure. 2. A needs assessment undertaken by the government informed the development of a medium-term strategy that focused on (i) resettling IDPs and protecting their fundamental rights; (ii) revitalizing basic livelihoods through revival and expansion of productive sectors; (iii) accelerating the development of infrastructure in roads, electricity, ports, transport, water supply and sanitation, and housing; (iv) improving the rural economy with technological transformation; (v) sustainably extracting marine resources; (vi) improving knowledge, skills, and youth talent; (vii) upgrading the quality and performance of public services though institutional reform; and (viii) encouraging private investments by establishing industrial estates. To this end, the government launched the 180-day plan for IDP resettlement to enable them to restart their livelihood, which included restoring public administration, social services, and community and social infrastructure to meet their most critical basic needs (footnote 1).