Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Sri Lanka

UNICEF Situation Report Sri Lanka 7 Mar 2005

Attachments


UNICEF highlights

  • MOU signed for reconstruction/rehabilitation of 34 health facilities

  • UNICEF allocated two additional schools for reconstruction bringing total to 19

  • Over 114,000 school bags dispatched to districts

  • UNICEF drafts guidelines for child sponsorship schemes

  • UNICEF staff participate in IFI led ‘Recovery and Reconstruction Plan’ development

  • Customs clearance of relief goods and supplies continues at slow pace (see WES section)

Need Assessments

Recovery and Reconstruction Plan: IFI Phase II

The second phase of the needs assessment leading to the formulation of the ‘Recovery and Reconstruction Plan’, led by international financial institutions (IFIs) is to be launched this week with visits to the field by the inter-agency teams, and with Government participation. The focus of this second phase is to establish implementation mechanisms to respond to the needs identified in the initial damage assessment. A two-day training of team members took place last week in which three UNICEF staff participated. One UNCEF staff member will act as team leader for the Killinochchi/Mullativu team; the two others are members of the Galle and Hambantota teams.

Waste disposal assessment in Ampara

UNICEF participated in a joint assessment of a waste dumpsite in Samanthurai DS Division, Ampara with partners MoH, GOAL and Solidarite. Current disposal methods of solid waste and sludge from emergency pit latrines at the site (Ocular Survey, Sennal Village 01) were assessed to be an environmental hazard. The assessment team recommended that the wastes at the site be either burned or buried immediately. It also recommended that new dumping sites be identified in the district in consultation with the Central Environmental Authority. UNICEF highlighted its concerns about the safe disposal of human waste in its water and sanitation survey report released end February.

UNICEF Response

Each of the four UNICEF Sri Lanka sections - Water and Sanitation, Education, Early Childhood Development and Child Protection - have elaborated draft three year strategy documents. These documents were the focus of a half-day planning meeting held by UNICEF on 5 March. Regional Emergency Project Officer, Anthony Raby, participated in the meeting. Final documents are being prepared over the course of the week. UNICEF expects to spend around 160 USD million on programmes in tsunami-affected districts over the next four years.

Water and Sanitation

WES facilities in transit camps

UNICEF zone offices have committed to providing water and sanitation facilities in a number of identified transit shelter locations. In Jaffna, where UNICEF will provide facilities in four of the 18 sites, the zone office is now reviewing estimates and structure drawings for latrines submitted by government counterparts. In Batticaloa, UNICEF has undertaken, in collaboration with volunteers of Oxfam CEVAW Women’s Network, consultations with IDPs of the Aarayampathy East Camp regarding water and sanitation points in the camp. Consultations with IDPs in other camps are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks. The zone office in Batticaloa is also exploring ways to better address waste disposal in the camps as district authorities do not appear to have the means to respond adequately. In Ampara, site assessments for the purposes of WES planning are scheduled.

WES equipment/supplies still not distributed

The four gully emptiers which arrived close to four weeks back remain to be cleared through customs. Chlorine testing equipment is also urgently required to ensure and monitor quality of water being delivered to the camps. UNICEF, as well as other agencies, has consignments of chlorine testing equipment still in customs. The whole issue of early clearance of tsunami relief goods is a subject on which UNICEF is continually engaging with relevant authorities. The delays are a result of the lengthy clearance process being implemented for a huge amount of goods and supplies that have come in for tsunami relief.

Health and Nutrition

Health centre renovations

On 7 March, UNICEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Health for the rehabilitation/reconstruction of health facility units in 34 locations in 10 districts (final list at end of the report). This will result in improved facilities for delivery, neo-natal and primary health care (including cold chain) services.

Vitamin A supplementation campaign

The Ministry of Health will implement a UNICEF-supported vitamin A supplementation campaign in tsunami-affected districts on 2 April. This campaign is being conducted as a follow-up action to the joint MRI/WFP/UNICEF nutrition survey that indicated that only 23 percent of children in camps had received vitamin A supplementation over the last six months. The campaign will target all children in tsunami-affected districts. Over 463,000 children aged 6 months to 5 years will benefit from vitamin A supplementation.

Education

School reconstruction

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has allocated two additional schools to UNICEF for reconstruction bringing the total number of schools to reconstruct to 19. One of the additional schools is a Type 3 school with 546 students in Hambantota; the second is a Type 1AB school with 2,104 students in Galle. Type 1AB = with advanced level science, arts, commerce; Type 1C = with advanced level arts and commerce; Type 2 = grades 1-9; Type 3 = grades 1-5. The total number of students at these 19 schools is estimated at 8,500. The estimated budget for reconstruction of the schools stands at approximately 11.6 USD million. The MoE have also released a list of 13 schools which are yet to be taken up by any donor.

Construction of temporary school shelters

Temporary classrooms continue to be constructed in many districts. In Killinochchi/Mullativu, five temporary buildings are already completed and work is on-going on an additional five. In Batticaloa, all temporary schools buildings in the Paddiruppu Education Zone are expected to be completed this week. One temporary building is already being used by students. In Jaffna, the request to construct 109 temporary classrooms in LTTE and Government controlled areas has been approved. The ZDE Vadamarachchi advertised for bids last week. The zone office in Ampara is awaiting approval for the construction of 67 semi-permanent classrooms. Meanwhile, the sites for the 40 temporary classrooms in Kalmunai have been identified; another 27 sites in Akkaraipattu are being finalized.

Distribution of supplies

Some 114,571 school bags were dispatched to the districts last week. They went to the districts in the following quantities:


School bags dispatched to districts
(week of 28 Feb – 4 March)
District
ZDE
Number of bags
Ampara
Akkaraipattu
8,428
Kalmunai
9,562
Batticaloa
Batticaloa
3,488
Kalkudah
3,270
Muthur
6,804
Paddiruppu
4,590
Galle
Ambalangoda
20,530
Galle
8,605
Gampaha
Gampaha
3,279
Hambantota
Hambantota
2,157
Tangalle
9,850
Jaffna
Jaffna
7,370
Kalutara
Kalutara
7,096
Matara
Matara
2,738
Mullativu
Mullativu
9,855
Trincomalee
Trincomalee
5,091
Samata Sarana NGO
1,858
Total:
114,571

Protection and Psycho-Social Support

Tsunami bill relating to children approved by Cabinet

A new tsunami bill which includes Part II entitled ‘Custody of Children and Young Persons’ was passed by Cabinet last week. If passed by parliament, it introduces a new structure which will establish provincial panels for processing of fostering and adoption. Processing of foster care is now being implemented at the district level through assessment of families by Probation Officers endorsed by court orders issued by Magistrates. UNICEF has emphasized to the Government the importance of strengthening existing systems which are weak but working. While UNICEF will continue to support whatever structures established for the protection of children, experience from other situations would indicate that replacing an old mechanism with a new one is not a solution to a given problem. Throughout this process, several actors have been working to introduce changes to the bill and generate a broader debate on its provisions. UNICEF has also provided technical and legal advice to the Ministry of Social Welfare as the Ministry which has responsibility for the current foster care process.

Tsunami awareness campaign

In response to requests from NGOs and civil society, UNICEF has developed tsunami awareness materials for use in children’s clubs, community groups and in schools. The materials include a number of posters designed to facilitate discussion among children and parents about natural disasters and about their questions and fears relating to the tsunami. Fifty posters will be tested in the field prior to printing the total materials, numbering 5,000. Facilitator guidelines have also been developed to assist in the use of the posters.

Child sponsorship schemes

In response to concerns that child sponsorship schemes being developed by different actors were not equitable, UNICEF has been working to streamline the various schemes. It has now drafted comprehensive guidelines on sponsorship that will be submitted to the Ministry of Social Welfare for release to all stakeholders.

Recreational activities

Children’s club activities took place in a total of 17 sites of Jaffna, including both camps and villages. Children’s clubs established in camps are now moving to new identified sites and villages as populations move out of the camps. UNICEF has also been assisting staff of the children’s mobile unit touring the district through 5 March. The mobile unit visited some 40 different villages. Activities conducted by the unit included various games for different age groups and the presentation of films.

Psychosocial activities

Significant progress has been made in mainstreaming psychosocial activities within the education sector. UNICEF sponsored a one-day teacher support workshop on 7 March to provide refresher training on psychosocial approaches to 150 ‘school advisors’ already trained by the Ministry of Education prior to the tsunami. Among other techniques, the advisors will be taught how to facilitate group discussions with teachers working in tsunami-affected districts.

Psychosocial activities in the districts were reported as follows:

  • Jaffna: National NGO, Shantiham, conducted a half-day workshop for 25 participants from UNICEF partner organizations in Jaffna on 3 March. The objective of the workshop was to share the community-based approach, including the formation of core groups, to social workers for use with affected populations. The core group strategy involves the formation of groups of 15 to 20 persons in a village trained on how to identify, assist and refer persons in need of psychosocial support. Also under the community-based approach, children’s clubs, youth and women’s groups will be established. Many of the new UNICEF partners have focused on individual support and counselling in the past.

  • UNICEF staff in Jaffna also attended a three-day protection and psychosocial training organized by Save the Children. Training participants comprised probation officers, staff from the Department of Child Protection and 13 different NGOs.

  • Trincomalee: The psychosocial network established to coordinate activities in this sector has initiated activities. A psychiatrist has been assigned to the network by DPDHS for one month. A secretary and two translators will soon be employed. The network has conducted four monitoring visits thus far. The network is receiving increasing support from other partners and has expanded its partnership base.


Distribution of supplies

The distribution of family and recreation kits in the districts is on-going. In Ampara, the zone office has procured additional items including 8,000 exercise books to complement the family and education kits it has received. In Jaffna, the zone office will be supplying wooden play blocks for pre-schools that have opened in temporary camps. Children living in the camps and in surrounding areas will have access to the pre-schools.

(pdf* format - 1.29 MB)