|
The projects that Development and Peace is supporting in
Sri Lanka focus on rebuilding houses and communities by re-launching
economic activities, in particular fishing, processing and
encouraging small businesses. Although the ongoing conflict
between the LTTE - Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan Government
poses severe challenges and strongly impact the reconstruction
effort, achievements include:
• 520 fishers receiving boats, nets and other fishing
equipment thanks to the support of the Sri Lanka Centre
for Development Facilitation (SLCDF); 4,868 families (80%
of which are women) receiving small grants to re-establish
their income generating activities; and, 275 people in coastal
communities receiving training in managing coastal resources.
 |
|
A woman uses a piece of equipment acquired thanks to a micro
credit. |
• The South Asian Partnership Sri Lanka (SAP-SRI)
built 50 houses in two districts and enabled 105 small businesspeople
to re-launch their economic activities by establishing a
small loans fund.
• The People's Association for Peace and Development
(PAPD) has finished building 15 houses (of the 30 planned)
for three villages in the Batticaloa district, a conflict
area in the country's east. Peace-building and community
participation are both central components of this project's
work.
Over the last few months, an escalation in violence has resulted
in hundreds of families displaced by the tsunami to be displaced
again. To help in alleviating this situation, Development
and Peace supports a viable and sustainable rehabilitation
program for victims of the conflict in alliance with Caritas
Sri Lanka.
Over the next few months, priority will be given to the reconstruction
program and to the re-launch of economic activities.
Development and Peace is the official international
development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and
the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis, a network of
162 autonomous, Catholic, emergency relief, development and
social service organizations working in 200 countries and territories.
Last year, Development and Peace provided $40.3 million to support
294 long-term development projects and 58 emergency relief projects
in the Global South. In Canada, Development and Peace educates
the public about the root causes of poverty and mobilizes social
action for change.
- 30 -
|
