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- Swiss Medium Term Plan for Human Security SMTP in Sri Lanka 2007–2009
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and Directorate of Political Affairs DP
Download (PDF, 1139 KB) : [en] - Swiss Medium Term Plan for Human Security in
Sri Lanka 2007-2009
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FD...
A tsunami devastated the shores of the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004. Now, most of the Swiss-funded reconstruction programmes implemented by the SDC have been wound up.
Dossier
Sri Lanka
Website of the SDC in Sri Lanka: www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/srilanka
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Following the successful
completion of the SDC’s comprehensive post-tsunami reconstruction programme during 2008 and the dramatic escalation of the armed conflict in northern Sri Lanka in that same year, the SDC’s programme
is now focusing primarily on the immediate humanitarian needs of civilians displaced by the fighting. According to UN estimates, there are 150,000 displaced persons in the Vanni Region requiring
urgent humanitarian assistance. Given the extremely difficult conditions, financial and human-resources support for emergency programmes run by the ICRC and the UN, in particular UNHCR and WFP, is
central to SDC activities.
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Development Cooperation: Priorities
To improve the living conditions of inhabitants of the war-torn areas, the SDC is directing most of its bilateral development cooperation in Sri Lanka at promoting peace, though at the same time it
also supports specific income-boosting and agricultural programmes.
SDC involvement centres specifically on the following projects:
- Promoting peace: Through violence prevention work, the SDC is contributing to reducing the potential for conflict and is also championing human security. Since the beginning of 2003, it has been backing a television programme aimed at tabling controversial issues in connection with the peace process and emphasizing the positive aspects of peace.
- Boosting income: Since 2000, Helvetas and Swisscontact have been implementing the "Development and Peace Sri Lanka" (DPSL) project in strife-ridden eastern Sri Lanka, under an SDC mandate. In the current phase (2008-2010), the special emphasis is on addressing youth unemployment and the lack of income opportunities in the farming sector.
- Governance and human rights: Support for Swiss Embassy responses to requests for assistance in these fields
In development matters, the SDC cooperates mainly with the following partners:
- Various local NGOs, Young Asia Television (" No War Zone" programme)
- Swiss relief agencies Helvetas and Swisscontact
Since the peace agreement was terminated by the Sri Lankan Government in January 2008, the number of civilian victims of the ongoing hostilities has further increased and, with the stepping up of the military offensive as of January 2009, has now taken on dramatic proportions. Against this backdrop, SDC’s Humanitarian Aid is giving priority to emergency supplies for displaced persons in and around the present war zone in Vanni Region. Providing emergency assistance, in particular medical care, food, clean water, sanitary facilities and emergency shelters, have the utmost urgency. The SDC attaches maximum importance to the protection of displaced civilians who are totally at the mercy of the current fighting, Its support for traditional multilateral partners, especially the ICRC, constitutes a vital activity priority, while funding for one local and one international NGO in this area supplements the SDC’s own emergency programme. In addition, the SDC is also providing assistance to people on the Jaffna Peninsula north of the inaccessible war zone, who are cut off from the rest of Sri Lanka, by working with local partners to help the poorest and most vulnerable population groups (mainly women with children and no source of income) to make a living. Another priority project entirely under SDC auspices is the construction of a mixed primary school on the Jaffna Peninsula to relieve the hopelessly overcrowded Chava Hindu School in Chavakachcheri and create adequate facilities for the schoolchildren and teachers.
The Swiss Government’s Humanitarian Aid is geared to the following activity fields:
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Support for the emergency humanitarian aid efforts of multilateral and international organizations, in particular food aid, emergency medical assistance, emergency accommodation, protection of displaced persons.
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Boosting income for underprivileged population groups
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Building and support for reconstruction of schools damaged in the fighting and by the tsunami
Partners of SDC HA programmes and projects:
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Cooperation with multilateral partners such as the ICRC, UNHCR, WFP, UNICEF
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Cooperation with NGOs (Swiss, international, national)
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Sri Lankan Government (Ministry of Health – Procurement of vital medicines)
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Other FDFA bodies such as Political Affairs Division IV and other SDC units (Regional and Global Cooperation)
The "Swiss Cooperation Office" is in charge of monitoring and supervising all Switzerland’s humanitarian activities in Sri Lanka.
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Source: World Bank's World Development Indicators 2008 |
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Local SDC contact address:
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Sri Lanka (Colombo) |
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Swiss Cooperation Office Sri Lanka |
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| Phone | +941 126 88347 |
| Fax | +941 126 88348 |
| colombo@sdc.net | |
| Website | www.swiss-cooperation.admin.ch/srilanka |
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Additional Information and Documents Here, you will find more publications, links, documents and articles about Swiss development cooperation and humanitarian aid in this country. |