UNOPS supports key study on housing, land and property in Sri Lanka

Friday 8, 2010 - In 2009, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) published a report on “Recommendations for a National Policy on Housing, Land and Property Restitution in Sri Lanka”. The report is based on a survey implemented by the UNOPS Applied Research Unit (ARU) in the Eastern districts of Batticaloa and Trincomalee.

Following the conclusion of military operations in the East of Sri Lanka in July 2007, large numbers of people were displaced from their homes.The UN and other agencies, while providing emergency assistance, noted the absence of a national policy addressing the long-term rights of return, housing and restitution. 

The UNOPS-ARU was commissioned to implement a survey on housing, land and property (HLP) in the East of Sri Lanka, which forms the basis of the COHRE report. The study found that returnees were generally affected by the destruction of property, the breakdown of community structures and security, the loss of documentation, the loss of income and a general vulnerability to poverty. The declaration of High Security Zones and Special Economic Zones in the East continues to complicate the return of displaced populations to their homes. Questions were also raised with regard to whether relocation programmes were voluntary and respected the human rights of the affected populations.

The findings and recommendations of this study gain particular relevance within the current context of the ongoing return and resettlement of displaced populations in the North. The data collected will serve as a point of reference to monitor this process as well as to feed into any future policy formulation. The interviews and case studies were also designed to be used on a continuous basis to inform HLP policy in Sri Lanka.  

The implementation of a comprehensive rights-based policy on HLP Restitution is vital to ensure that a durable solution is in place for returnees. Data provided by UN Habitat shows that the shortfall of housing due to conflict is in the region of 220,000 houses in the North and East of Sri Lanka at an estimated cost of US$600 million.  

ARU undertakes applied social science research for UN agencies and other actors in the humanitarian community, and for local government authorities. It also provides research services to the private sector within the Global Compact context.  

COHRE, based in Geneva, has been instrumental in the dissemination of international standards embodied in the UN Principles on HLP Restitution of Displaced Persons (referred to as the "Pinheiro Principles"). The underlying premise of the report’s recommendations is the human right to return and property restitution.  

To access the entire study, analysis, and recommendations please visit the following web link: http://www.cohre.org/srilanka#Anchor5 and COHRE Sri Lanka at www.cohre.org/srilanka

UNOPS helping to connect people

During the Presidential inauguration of the newly reconstructed Irrakkundiya bridge which was affected by the tsunami, the local people from the north-eastern districts thanked UNOPS for its support in delivering this important transport connection for an array of small communities in the region.  

With Spanish Government funding, UNOPS is currently building three bridges north of Trincomalee on the Pulmudai Road.These bridges have been opening up the isolated communities living in the area, enabling people to have far better access to schools, markets and hospitals.  

S.A. Rusham is a 22-year-old shop owner at the Pudavakattu Bridge, Trincomalee. He mentioned that “the main problem we faced was the time it took us to cross the river and reach Trincomalee.” Rusham explains, “The ferry leaves around 5 times an hour and sometimes it takes too much time to cross.”   “We have greatly benefited from this new bridge spanning the river. We are now able to reach the hospital in around fifteen minutes, children can get to school easily and the whole community will be far less isolated and become a part of Trincomalee” Rusham concludes.  

Following the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean region, the Spanish Government funded the US$18 million Bridge Reconstruction Programme. UNOPS manages the design and construction of three major bridges on the Trincomalee to Pulmoddai Road in Irrakkakandi, Pudavakattu & Yan Oya and one major bridge on the Trincomalee - Batticaloa road in Oddamavadi. The total length of these four bridges is approximately 1,000 meters.  

The programme consists of two major components: ·Complete supply of super-structures of steel bridge parts by CENTUNION Spain. ·All engineering, procurement services and hand over of the four completed bridges to the Road Development Authority of the Ministry of Highways. UNOPS teams have broad experience and technical knowledge in civil engineering, structural design, piling, launching and erection of steel bridges, preparation of international standard bidding documents, procurement of services, project management and supervision using modern software, as well as quality assurance and quality control, effective human resource management and techniques for competitive project delivery within a variety of often challenging environments.  

Collectively, UNOPS has worked in extreme climatic conditions, in politically unstable societies and within a broad spectrum of geographically, demographically and socially varied environments. Our collective regions of experience of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Australasia and the Pacific combined with our professional backgrounds and qualifications from reputed international institutions, brings technical expertise and professionalism to UNOPS.

Climate Change and jobs – dealing with the myths  

Asia and the Pacific are very exposed to the impact of climate change. Therefore, progress towards a global climate deal is crucial for its development and its stability. But such a global journey to a low carbon and climate resilient future will necessarily involve the world of work and those who will actually do the job, says Sachiko Yamamoto, Regional Director, ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.  

Meena Thakur is aged around 36. She lives with her husband and three children in a farmers’ community in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. During the dry season she lives mainly by preparing cakes of cow dung and selling them as fuel to a nearby brick kiln.Managing and disposing of the dung produced by cows from the local dairy sector is a major issue for the surrounding communities as the dung is dumped widely and contaminates the local river. In addition it gives off methane gas.  

It may seem obvious that climate change-related programmes and financial support - facilitating access to renewable energy and a wider range of ways of earning a living - would be welcomed by the farming community in Jabalpur.  

But it may come as bad news to Meena and her friends in the dung cake business, cutting off their supply of dung. She and her family exist on about US$60 per month, and any change that threatens even a cent of that income threatens her. She does not view the issues of climate change in the same way as we do. Yet without her support and that of others like her, if the climate change challenge is not converted into opportunities for better livelihoods and jobs, we will not be able to turn negotiated agreements into concrete change.   It is understandable that questions are being asked about whether mitigating climate change is feasible, whether, in current circumstances, we should not be committing resources to supporting livelihoods and the bottom line?  

Although the financial crisis may be easing there is no doubt that the related social crisis continues for many of the most vulnerable countries in Asia and the Pacific, and beyond. In a region where one billion people are classified as working poor (living on less than US$2 per day), 100 million people were for the first time recorded as being without a job in 2009. In South East Asia in the first nine months of 2009, unemployment increased by roughly 10 per cent and labour productivity decreased by 2.5 per cent, a remarkable drop in such a short period of time. In Cambodia alone, a quarter of the garment sector factories have closed.  

This does not make an easy atmosphere for negotiations on reducing emissions, including those at the United Nations headquarters in Bangkok.  

These concerns should be aired. But at the same time some myths need to be dispelled. The first myth is that action on the environment is bad news for jobs. Rather, past experience demonstrates that well-designed, environment-related investments are beneficial for employment overall, although there are shifts in the labour market structure. The so-called green sectors of the economy can be expected to create more jobs, directly and indirectly, than will be lost in other sectors. A recent HSBC survey found that, worldwide, businesses selling low carbon goods and services now generate more revenue than the aerospace and defence industries combined, making this sector one of the new linchpins of the global economy.  

A second myth is that environmental measures only bring financial costs. Win-win options clearly exist. Examples include the introduction of energy efficient appliances and equipment, the sustainable management of resources such as water, and improvements in housekeeping practices. The widespread introduction of such measures could greatly reduce carbon emissions in developing countries and would bring ancillary benefits such as short return-on-investment periods, net productivity gains, better working conditions and little or no harm to employment.  

To these two myths I would add a third - which is that environmental issues such as climate change are the concern of specialists and can be solved by environmentalists and negotiators alone.  

 Whether we like it or not, climate change will revolutionize the way we produce, consume and earn a living. This historical transformation will affect all sectors of the economy, in all countries, and consequently all peoples.  

Any commitment by governments will require support from all layers of society; young and old, male and female, poor and rich, urban and rural, workers and employers. When deals made in high level conference rooms do not have the grassroots support of people like Meena, they are hard to deliver on. Delivering on reduction targets starts with engaging those on the ground whose jobs and livelihoods will be the first to be affected. We need to anticipate and smooth the inevitable changes and manage a ‘just transition’ towards a sustainable, low-carbon path.  

The good news is that the world of work is ready to be part of the solution. In June this year governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations from the ILO’s 183 member States adopted a Global Jobs Pact that supports a shift to a low-carbon, environmentally-friendly economy as a way to accelerate a jobs recovery. Green jobs (decent, environmentally-sound jobs that fuel the growing green economy), are important agents of change and as such can play a constructive role in the debate and ultimate agreement.  

For Meena and her colleagues this means concrete, timely, technical and financial help to explore alternatives, giving her in the option of more value-added tasks like dairy processing.   Progress towards a low carbon future will necessarily involve the world of work, and convincing those who actually do the job. A win-win deal that supports economic recovery and emission reduction is ambitious, but possible. Employment and green jobs in particular, are part of the solution. [ENDS]

True spirit of volunteerism

What does it mean to be a volunteer? Ayodhya Amarajeewa, a volunteer with the UNDP ART GOLD Sri Lanka Programme, talks about the spirit of volunteerism based on her experience ...

I am associated with the UNDP ART GOLD Sri Lanka Programme (AGSL), where I serve as a United Nations Volunteer (UNV). My work is about telling stories-stories of lives that are changed for the better, of communities that are sufficiently empowered to make their own choices and stories of the people behind the projects. It’s important to convey these stories to the outside world- not only to create awareness and interest in the work that is being done but also to learn from past experience and do things better in the future.

As a programme that supports territorial development by mobilizing resources from across the world, UNDP AGSL works in several different areas including education, environment, governance, health and social welfare. UNDP AGSL works with decentralized institutions, in other countries, to support bottom-up development through participatory methods. AGSL has recently expanded to the Uva province-a priority province due to its relatively low level of economic development. AGSL is planning a number of interventions in various priority areas in the province.

As a UNV, it is interesting to witness the UNV and UNDP AGSL partnership in different initiatives under the United Nations Development Programme. As Sarah Gleave, UNV Programme Officer, points out, “we bring partners together to maximize opportunities and resources”. Both AGSL and the UNV programme are unique because of their unusual approach to volunteerism. The UNV programme mobilizes volunteers to play a number of roles. Through programmes such as UNV and AGSL, UNDP ensures that volunteerism is not restricted to certain basic functions but instead offers individuals a chance to participate in meaningful ways.

There are times, however, when you question whether the true spirit of volunteerism is shown through communication efforts. Whether your job is to be out building houses rather than writing stories about them? But you soon realize that the concept of volunteerism is much broader than the one defined by conventional understanding. And the two programmes that I am involved in reinforce this view. There is no such thing as ‘typical volunteer work’ and what I am doing is no less challenging and deserves to be carried out with as much sensitivity and intelligence.

UNDP ART GOLD, started in Sri Lanka in 2006 is an international cooperation initiative in which the United Nations works with governments to;

• Promote participation of local communities in the development work
• Support partnerships within a global system of cooperation by linking local, national and international actors
• Encourage sharing of best practices and resources to find the right solutions to development issues

Paving a path to peace

Four villages in Mannar district comprising multi-religious communities share a common cemetery and a 500 meter road leading to the burial ground which was in desperate need of upgrading.

The communities banded together to renovate the road, but during road rehabilitation work, various disputes between communities hindered the renovation process. These differences not only affected the road construction, but shadowed the importance of burying loved ones.

The local government authority and the President of the Village Development Society brought these concerns to the Youth Coexistence Committees (YCC) in the respective villages. The causes of conflict identified appeared to be a result of lack of understanding between communities from different religions, castes and professions as well as relocated families living among the local population hosting them.

An agreement was reached to raise funds and seek local government support. With funds collected, the YCC met community members and advocated for a common work approach. The community soon realized that they needed to look beyond their differences in order to work towards a common goal and within one day the community came together to complete 300 meters of the 500 meter road, and subsequently the remaining 200 meters.

For the past three years, the Community Rehabilitation Programme funded by the Australian government (AusAID) and implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has supported development activities that promote durable peace in Sri Lanka.

In addition, the Community Rehabilitation Programme creates awareness through specific peace-building activities that promote confidence among different communities and improves their engagement with local community support structures.

Under this programme, IOM in partnership with the Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE) - a local NGO, supports the establishment of Youth Coexistence Committees (YCC) among different ethnic and religious groups at community level in the Mannar district.

Youth are also encouraged to be involved in social work that addresses needs of the most vulnerable groups in their villages. FCE is mobilizing the YCCs to identify and reach out to vulnerable groups to gather information and address social issues such as child abuse, drug addiction, child labour, sexual harassment, domestic and gender based violence, land dispute, early school drop outs and refer them to relevant authorities if necessary.

Giving peace a sporting chance    

Serenaded by the cheers of hundreds of onlookers, a gang of lean boys are sprinting on a grassless playing field in Shanthai, a small village in Jaffna peninsula.

It is a sunny day, with no wind in the air. But games held far more significance than the blazing sun for the large number of children who arrived at the field accompanied by their parents. Music pounds out from a make-shift marquee at one end of the playground. There is chatter everywhere as the players get ready to play. Every face wears a big lively smile. For them, the fact that they are playing together is all what counts.  

For a long time due to the prolonged conflict in the region, opportunities for interaction within the community were limited and community gatherings became a rarity. However, with the support of Transitional Recovery Programme of UNDP, the dynamics have begun to change. The agency helped to plant the seed of peace and cohesion in Shanthai, and its roots are now spreading.  

Through a series of grants, UNDP helped Shanthai, which now has a population of around 450 families, to identify several events that could bring the residents together, and organise a sports festival with the support of every resident.  

Shanthai, a hamlet in Sandilipay DS Division, about 15 km from Jaffna town has been a fishing community for generations. The three-decade of civil conflict that plagued the region, and its consequences like limitations and restrictions at sea compelled the villagers to switch to other livelihoods. Now in Shanthai many people are casual day labourers, while others make their living through toddy tapping or raising livestock. In most families women too go for labour work to provide extra family support to balance the needs at home. Teenage marriages, heavy drinking, and fighting are quite common here.  

“If at all anything has made us to work together, it is this `grand’ community sports meet. For the first time we could personally feel the population strength of the village when we are present here in large numbers, it seems that there’s nothing that we cannot do together,” says Inthiran Elangeswaran (29) who says he wants to open a restaurant in the village soon.

“There is great improvement,” adds Suhanthini Vasantharajah (26), a house wife. “It is more than a get together. In two decades, this is the first time we had a fun sports festival. Everyone’s interaction is nice.”  

“Sports helped pull the families together around a common cause. It was not the winning or losing but the great feeling of working as a team with good understanding. This would last long in our memory,” says S. Sivakumar, the President of the Shanthai Rural Development Society.

H. Anton mariyathas, who has been serving as the Principal over the past five years at Sittampalam Vidyalayam, the village school, is thrilled that it was the School Development Society that took the lead role in organizing the sports meet. He says that throughout the organising process he witnessed how the communities cleared various barriers prevailing among themselves and increased the total participation of everyone. “It was really astonishing to see the determination of men and women taking part actively in sporting events together with the youth.

UNDP’s Communities for Peace (C4P) project started with the concept that youth and especially school going children are the key to social transformation and peace-building. The project focuses on creating an ‘enabling environment for peace’ or in other words, working with youth and vulnerable groups by linking them through community events and fun activities as well as enabling better quality of living. The project funded by the Government of Australia, works with IDPs, returnees, host and other vulnerable communities and is active in 11districts in the North, East and South of the island.

UNICEF supports re-integration of child soldiers into civilian life

Over the past 12 months significant strides were taken in Sri Lanka to support former child soldiers.

Sri Lanka was among the first countries to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Sri Lanka is committed to take action against the recruitment of children and to provide rehabilitation support for children released from armed groups. UNICEF works with the Office of the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation, who is entrusted with ensuring legal protection for children affected by child recruitment, and care and protection for children released.

UNICEF supports the Ambepussa Rehabilitation Centre, opened in April. Prior to this, child surrendees were housed at an open remand prison with adult surrendees in Kandy. The centre is supported by UNICEF, with critical funding from the Government of the United Kingdom. There are 81 children now in the centre, and another 95 children who have returned to their families.

The Ambepussa centre provides rehabilitation, vocational training as well as cultural and sports activities for children who were in armed groups. In doing so it not only provides a ‘time out’ for former child soldiers, but gives them critical skills which will help in their civilian life. Their progress is monitored with a view to the children returning to their homes and communities. Families are able to visit the Centre and stay a few nights to spend time with their children.

An emergency regulation for surrendee children came into effect in December 2008, stating that all children from armed groups would be treated as victims rather than criminals. All would be entitled to rehabilitation support, with the Emergency Regulations describing the steps to their eventual release. This important piece of legislation will guide the rehabilitation of hundreds of children identified as having been recruited by the LTTE.

UNICEF also supports the Rehabilitation Center in Vavuniya, where there are presently 455 former child soldiers, helping to link their incarceration to a Magistrate’s Legal Order, and to their families.

In December 2008, an Action Plan was signed between the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, the TMVP (Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal) and UNICEF, seeking to bring the recruitment and use of children by the TMVP to an end, and for all children with the TMVP to be released and provided with reintegration assistance. The number of children with the TMVP has come down from around 200 to 23 and it is expected that those pending cases will be solved shortly.

In February of this year, the President of Sri Lanka launched a Government-UNICEF three language campaign to stop all recruitment of children. ‘The Bring Back the Child’ Campaign targets armed groups, vulnerable communities and the children affected. The campaign is aired on television, radio and through newspapers, billboards and posters across the country, with a focus on the north and east.

Smart women, right decisions: a recipe for decent work

The Global Employment Trends for Women 2008 report shows that in 2007, 1.2 billion women around the world worked, almost 200 million or 18.4 per cent more than ten years ago. But the report also highlights that the share of vulnerable employment, although decreasing from 56.1 to 51.7 between 1997 and 2007, continues to be higher for women than for men, especially in the world’s poorest regions.  

“Increased labour force participation of women has great potential as a contribution to economic development, but only if the jobs in which women are engaged are decent”, says the report. “The model to aim for is one in which women are able to contribute to growth and, at the same time, profit from this growth as participants in labour markets, keeping in mind that the one does not automatically follow from the other.” 

This is something Ms Rupa Manel Silva, founder of the Women’s Bank in Sri Lanka, can relate to. She was one of five siblings born to a rural family who dreamed of sending all of their children to university. But the death of her father sent the family into deep economic crisis.  

 “My mother considered giving us marriage as a means of easing her burdens. I received a proposal from Colombo. I married in 1978 and went to live in the capital. I was 19 years of age at the time”, recalls Ms Silva.  

“When a woman has no other opportunity to engage in some social activity other than contacts with the people around her, she is invariably confined to the kitchen”, adds Ms Silva, who despite these constraints started collaborating with the National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) to carry out development projects where she lived.  

Due to her leadership skills, she was soon encouraged to set up a small women’s banking team, a type of organization that already existed in Sri Lanka. “Though I did not devote serious attention at the start to the women’s banking team, I soon realised that I was undertaking a long journey with them”, recalls Ms Silva. The idea of these teams was simple: to encourage poor women to begin saving regularly, no matter how little, to establish a basis for loans. The pooled amount was given each time to a different member of the group to start a project.  

Over time, these small financial enterprises grew in size and quantity and became a bank. Its founder and leader was that same woman who years before had been given in marriage and confined to a kitchen.  

Employment can take many forms, but as Ms Silva likes to stress, “if women are treated fairly and with respect, and are given the chance to take decisions and be responsible for their actions, then decent work becomes a reality”.  

Decent work is at the core of the ILO’s agenda. In the words of its Director-General, Juan Somavia: “The primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity”. A goal which is not only right, but smart. Click here to watch the video about her work