Background
Noteworthy efforts have been made by the national and international community to assist the tsunami victims in rebuilding their homes. Despite these efforts, many people are still unable to rebuild their homes and live in transitional shelters, camps and tents. In Sri Lanka, UN-HABITAT has been effectively addressing the seamless transition from relief to reconstruction by adopting institutionalizing and mainstreaming a people centred approach to recovery and reconstruction.
Objectives
The primary objective of the Partnership was to assist identified communities and families rebuild their settlements and housing with the assistance of the grant from the Government and the additional financial and other support from the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in an integrated community based approach. Additional objectives were to assist families whose needs have not been addressed due to land tenure or other issues, resolve these issues at the local level and facilitate access to the Government grant.
Activities
* To enable people to rebuild their social capital through the organisation of representative bodies and establish their community level governance structures; (social capital)
* To enable the target communities to plan and rebuild essential damaged and destroyed basic facilities according to their priorities; (physical infrastructure)
* To facilitate access to reconstruction grants for families who have not yet received the Government grant by addressing these issues at the local level; (land tenure)
* To assist families who have not yet received the Government grant to complete applications and open bank accounts; (access to banking)
* To assist the families build their housing so that they can restart functioning as a normal stable family freeing them from the instability of life in temporary housing and camps; (family housing)
* To build the capacity of Sri Lanka Red Cross Branches to support disaster affected communities in the rebuilding process; (building a critical mass of support at national level)
* To assist the families establish their own banking system through a savings and credit cooperative to ensure economic stability and opportunities for entrepreneurship; (family economic stability)
* To help create employment from the investment of the rebuilding process as a way of contributing to the recovery of the local economy; (work opportunities)
* To make the community responsible for the reconstruction process as a way of rebuilding shattered communities and imparting self-reliance; (self reliance)
* To establish a self managed sustainable community with social facilities and livelihood opportunities; (community governance)
* To address emerging and unresolved issues that stand in the way of people's recovery process. (policy advocacy)
Results
The project assisted the reconstruction of 6,431 houses in 6 districts around the coast of Sri Lanka.
Development Partners / Partners
Development Partners: IFRC
Partners: Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, Reconstruction and Development Authority (RADA), Ministry of Urban Development and Water Supply, Ministry of Housing, provincial governments, local authorities, beneficiary communities.
- Catalytic Support to Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka
- Preparation of the Resettlement Plan (RP) for Households Affected by the Rehabilitation of the Kelani Valley (KV) Railway Line in Sri Lanka (Phase I)
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood and Landslide Affected Households in Kalutara and Galle Districts of Sri Lanka
- The State of Sri Lankan Cities Report
- Human Development Initiative through Empowerment and Settlement Improvement in the Plantation Settlements in Sri Lanka
- Indian Housing Project in Central and Uva Provinces
- Emergency Shelter Relief for Flood Affected Families in Colombo and Gampaha Districts in Western Province, Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Sustainable Resettlement through Community-Driven Improvement of the Learning Environment in Mannar District, Sri Lanka
- Support My School: Supporting Schools in Northern Sri Lanka with Access to Water and Sanitation Facilities (Completed)
- Project for Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure, Improvement of Livelihoods and Empowerment of Women in the Northern and Eastern Provinces (RCI) (Completed)
- Rainwater Harvesting in a Water Scarce Small Village in Northern Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Climate Resilient Action Plans for Coastal Urban Areas (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Sri Lankan Cities (Completed)
- Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for Four Cities in the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka (Phase II) (Completed)
- Rehabilitation of Community Infrastructure and Facilities in the Conflict Affected Areas in Northern Province of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Improving Living Conditions in Returnee Areas of Sri Lanka through Housing (Completed)
- Indian Housing Project (Completed)
- Support to Conflict Affected People through Housing (Completed)
- Shelter Support to Conflict-affected IDPs in the North of Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Jaffna Tsunami Recovery and Reconstruction Project (Completed)
- Community Recovery and Reconstruction Partnership to Support the People's Process of Rebuilding (Completed)
- Reconstruction of Fish Market in Galle (Completed)
- Rebuilding Community Infrastructure and Shelter in Tsunami-Affected Areas (Completed)
- Lunawa Lake Environment Improvement and Community Development Project (Completed)
- Pro-Poor Partnerships for Participatory Settlement Upgrading (Completed)
- Early Recovery Shelter for IDPs in Batticaloa (Completed)
- Support to the Urbanization Framework
- Post Disaster Housing Coordination Project (Completed)
- Sustainable Cities Programme (Completed)
- Urban Governance Support Project (UGSP) (Completed)
- Rebuilding Communities in North East Sri Lanka (Completed)
- Urban Poverty Reduction Strategy - Colombo (Completed)