Country

By Lakmini Dissanayake
Program Support Manager-Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB)-Sri Lanka

By Sivatheepan Kajanika

Ten-year-old Sivatheepan Kajanika reports on her child-friendly school in Sri Lanka. UNICEF supports child-friendly schools, which provide trained teachers and quality learning materials in a safe, inclusive environment. These schools improve learning and attendance while promoting the fullest realization of a child’s rights and potential.

Mr. Arunraj, a 40 year old father of three, was displaced four times with his family since the 90’s and therefore, was forced into subsistence livelihoods and low income generating activities. With fishing being his main source of obtaining income, Mr. Arunraj struggled to restart his fishing activities soon after resettlement in 2010. He says, “I faced many challenges in marketing the fish. Due to lack of proper storage, more than 20% of the fish I caught were graded poorly and received low prices. As a result, the income from fishing was not adequate to take care of my family.

05/17/2012 20:49 GMT

by Shaun Tandon

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2012 (AFP) - Sri Lanka is looking to ease growing friction with the United States, but it faces exasperation from policymakers who see little progress on concerns three years after a bloody civil war ended.

Foreign Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris meets Friday with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after a week of talks in Washington that come after the United States spearheaded a UN resolution pushing Sri Lanka over alleged war crimes.

15-05-2012 Feature “Disappearance is far worse than death, because when a person dies, when I know that so-and-so is dead, the story ends and somehow or other we close the chapter. But when a person has disappeared, it is an eternal suffering.” A representation made before the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation, 12 November 2010.

The Ministry of Defence informed that information relating to persons detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division will be released to their close relatives, such as the spouse, parents and siblings.

It said that a round the clock mechanism has been established by the Terrorist Investigation Division to provide details of the detainees and those who are already released.

Livelihood support for returnee families

One hundred and five families including thirty women headed households have been supported to revive their lost livelihoods and strengthen their income avenues, in what was once a former war zone. SDC funded catamarans and nets for 75 fishermen to engage in fishing activities while 30 woman headed households received shallow water nets to engage in fishing activities. Special training was also provided for the women to engage in hygienic dry fish methods.