USAID Field Report Sri Lanka Dec 2003

Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) Sri Lanka program assists in generating greater support for a negotiated peace settlement that will end long-standing conflict in Sri Lanka. To accomplish this aim, OTI has three objectives:

• demonstrate tangible benefits of peace;
  
  
• iincrease the amount and exchange of information and diverse points of view on peace issues among various levels of society and within different communities and,
  
  
• reduce or prevent incidents of violence in conflict-prone communities.

Based on these objectives, OTI provides grants that will:

• support positive, community-based interaction among diverse groups of people;
  
  
• promote citizen involvement in community decision making, particularly for rehabilitating community-based infrastructure;
  
  
• improve livelihoods and provide skills training; and,
  
  
• increase dissemination of balanced information and differing points of view.

Working with local NGOs, informal community groups, media entities, and local government officials, OTI identifies and supports critical initiatives that will move the country further along the continuum from war to peace. Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) implements the $3.5 million small grants program and manages USAID/OTI offices in Colombo, Trincomalee, and Ampara. Since program start-up in March 2003, OTI has cleared 88 small grants worth approximately $2.2 million.

Country Situation

SRI LANKA'S COHABITATION CRISIS -The power struggle between the President and Prime Minister continues to overshadow meaningful debate on the LTTE's interim administration proposal, thus forestalling a resumption of formal peace negotiations. A four-member panel appointed by the two leaders to resolve political power-sharing differences met several times in December but made little progress in solving key differences between the President and Prime Minister. While observers speculated that the president might force a snap election by dissolving parliament after its mid-December vote on the national budget, parliament remained intact by the end of December. The political impasse in the South has strengthened the position of the LTTE, which has stated that the government's inability to proceed expeditiously to resolve the ethnic conflict may force the rebels to secede and form a separate state in the North and East.

RELIGIOUS TENSIONS IN SRI LANKA'S SOUTH - In the wake of several attacks on Christian churches during December in the South, the government announced plans to set up ecumenical peace committees at provincial and district levels. Meanwhile, in a move seen as unlikely to ease growing inter-religious tensions, the Minister of Parliament for Buddhist Affairs promised to introduce a bill for legislation preventing "unethical conversions." This news cut short a Buddhist monk's fast unto death, begun in late December, in protest against Christian evangelical tactics.

LTTE HERO'S WEEK CELEBRATION - As the cohabitation drama played out, the LTTE held its Hero's Week celebrations during which martyrs were honored in villages in the North and East. In a testimony to the paradoxical nature of the Sri Lankan conflict, Sri Lankan army and police forces provided security for LTTE commemorations held in areas under government control. LTTE leader Prabhakaran's "Hero's Day" speech on November 20 was notable for its relative restraint, particularly given the opportunity to revert to the vitriolic tone of years past. He emphasized that the LTTE would respect the February 2002 ceasefire agreement and not engage in hostilities unless provoked, yet also made it clear that the South's continual political wrangling could leave the LTTE no other choice but to return to its separate-state demand in lieu of autonomy within a unitary Sri Lanka.

SOME PROGRESS ON HIGH SECURITY ZONE PROBLEM - In Jaffna, the government granted permission for limited resettlement of internally displaced persons within one kilometer of some portions of the High Security Zones from which many IDPs were forced to leave during the twenty year conflict. The LTTE's demand for complete withdrawal from the High Security Zones is central to any future peace negotiations.

MUSLIM MOVE ON CONSTITUTION ISSUE -The Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, a key component of the ruling party's coalition government, has gone one step further than the interim administration proposals by calling for an interim constitution, as well. The dilemma of how to ensure security and rights for ethnic Muslims, who comprise seven percent of the country's total population but form a majority in some areas of the East and South writ large, remains a subject of controversy.

OTI Highlights

A. Narrative Summary

December was a quiet month with only two new grants signed. One grant was for conflict prevention work in Trincomalee, an area of eastern Sri Lanka that has witnessed repeated incidents of Tamil-Muslim violence in recent months. The second grant was given to Young Asia Television (YATV) to produce four episodes for its peace, reconciliation and human rights oriented Tamil-language newsmagazine. In December staff were asked to focus on the implementation and monitoring of existing grants while also liaising with potential partners on new grant ideas. During the middle of the month, the two field offices in Ampara and Trincomalee were officially opened by the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka. The office openings were well attended by local officials and other prominent invitees in Ampara and Trinco, and both events were covered extensively by the Sri Lankan media.

B. November 2003 Grants Activity Summary

C. Indicators of Success

OTI support has enabled the Muslim Rights Organization, a Colombo-based NGO, to document the extent of Eastern Province lands reportedly appropriated by force during the armed conflict. The leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had promised to return such property, if adequately documented, at an April 2002 meeting with a Muslim delegate from Parliament. The project employed more than 42 enumerators and support staff, who collated information on 14,872 separate cases involving a total of 62,670 acres in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts. The land registry process has provided impetus for community-based dispute resolution in the Ampara and Batticaloa districts by forming the basis of the initial dialogue between Muslims and Tamils on committees established at the district and sub-district levels on instructions from the national Secretariat for Coordination of the Peace Secretariat. The absence of this committee structure in the Trincomalee District has been cited as contributing to the alarming levels of communal violence there, in contrast to the rest of the Eastern Province.

In December the Vijaya Farmers Organization, a small farmers' group located in Ampara District in Sri Lanka's war-affected Eastern Province, completed a clean-up of their region's primary irrigation and drinking water reservoir with funding from OTI. The reservoir's capacity and usefulness had been substantially diminished over the past few years due to lack of funds for maintenance, and neglect brought on by the war. The farmers used a mix of new and traditional technologies as well as their own sweat equity to remove the layer of rooted weeds that had completely covered the body of water. Immediate benefits of the clean-up have been realized in the form of improved water quality. In addition, the project will now yield other short and long term rewards to the community through increased fishing yields, higher agricultural production, and improved public health. One villager commented, "I didn't think I would ever see this reservoir again in my lifetime." Through its support, OTI has brought a tangible peace dividend to this rural community in Ampara District.

As a means to reduce tension among Muslim and Tamil youth in some of the most vulnerable areas in the Eastern Province, OTI grantee GAFSO is implementing a "Peace Through Sport" project that brings together local youth, male and female, for friendly competition. The concept is new to rural Ampara communities, areas that also lack the basic equipment necessary for sports activities. GAFSO is establishing youth clubs and organizing games to enhance the interaction between youth groups of different ethnicities. A strong pro-peace message is a part of all activities. Early reports of enthusiastic youth participation for the project indicate that the message is being received. The organization had planned to form groupings with only forty youths per club but in most of the targeted villages the number of members has been increased due to the overwhelming response to the activity. USAID/OTI is supporting the project with workshop materials, sports equipment (balls, nets, jerseys), and assistance with transport costs.

Next Steps/Immediate Priorities

• Conduct a review of OTI management systems to ensure the program is being managed efficiently and effectively as it nears the end of its first year of operation.
  
  
• Discuss finalizing implementation of an effective monitoring and evaluation of the OTI country program.
  
  
• Work on a localized strategic plan for the OTI Trincomalee office which will target its programming more fully on conflict-related issues in the area.
  
  
• Take part in a USAID conflict workshop to be held in Colombo.

For further information, please contact:

In Sri Lanka: Justin Sherman, Sri Lanka Country Representative, jsherman@usaid.gov
In Washington, D.C.: Rachel Wax, Asia and Near East Program Manager, 202-712-1243, rwax@usaid.gov