Description:
Three
decades of constant and pervasive internal
conflicts in the north and east of Sri Lanka
have resulted in further entrenching misery
within a country that has for many years
striven to emerge from the shackles of poverty.
Progress made in the 1970s was disrupted
by the upheavals of the 1980s. The lack
of stability, both economic and political,
makes the task of rehabilitating the most
deprived sectors one that may well is beyond
the capabilities of the State, acting as
an isolated entity. The need for the coordination
and cooperation of the private sector as
well as of NGOs has perhaps never been more
urgent. The cessation of active warfare
that has prevailed in the recent past created
a resurgence of hope in normalcy and progress.
It was in this context that BPWSL initiated
a program to set up a Peace Village with
a two-fold purpose. The first was to provide
a way of life for a group of poverty stricken
villagers stranded by the exigencies of
warfare. The second was to provide a role
model that would inspire individual, groups
and State authorities to set up viable projects
that would be invaluable in entrenching
the invaluable concept of communal integration.
A village
situated within an area identified as highly
volatile and vulnerable was located after
several visits to the area. These are the
“border areas” that for nearly
three decades had been no-man’s land
during devastatingly violent clashes between
the State and terrorist forces. The Medawachchiya
District, in the North Central Province
of the country, had long been identified
as a difficult region – an area of
constant water scarcities, inadequate infrastructure,
and dearth of essential facilities. To intensify
the problems of the inhabitants, national
developments transformed the area into a
center of disruption. The multiplicity of
problems that confronted the totally disadvantaged
group living in such villages determined
the selection of this location for the progamme.
The village of Illukpitiya in the Medirigiriya
area of Polonnaruwa was selected as the
area for development. The Medirigiriya area
of the country is particularly vulnerable
for two reasons, firstly because it is in
the dry zone, semi arid and suffers from
occasional draught. Therefore it is difficult
to sustain agro-based industries, where
there is agriculture, productivity and yield
is low. Water in this region is therefore
a major determinate in the success of agriculture-based
activity. Secondly within its rural sector
there is a high population of people in
extreme poverty further aggravated by the
migration of people as a consequence of
the ethnic conflict. Illukpitiya village
is a severe example in the area; it has
650 people or 150 families from northern
border villages all displaced as a consequence
of war. Another consequence of war is that
women head many of these families. Currently
the 150 families have no permanent housing,
no infrastructure and no method of earning
a sustainable income, the resultant effect
is extreme poverty.
Problem:
Out
of the 7 provinces of Sri Lanka, the North
Central Province has the largest land mass
and consists of 2 districts, Polonnaruwa
and Anuradhapura. Within the north central
region 47 percent of the population is below
the lower poverty level. The reason for
the high level of poverty is partly because
the population is dependent on agriculture
as the main source of income; however the
area is highly susceptible to draught. It
is the combination of draught and displacement
due to the armed conflict that has led these
people into poverty.
In the Medirigiriya region alone there are
853 displaced families within a population
of 57483 poverty stricken people all of
whom could benefit from this development
program; the majority have no land or proper
houses or effective method of income generation.
Even though government and non-government
organizations have been working in the region,
development activities have been slow to
progress resulting in further social and
economic insecurities.
The focus of BPW’s peace village is
based on the identification of requirements
in the region. The most immediate requirement
is shelter and access to clean water; the
second immediate need is a method of sustainable
income generation through farming.
Currently farming in this area has shown
to be low in yield. However, if productivity
could be increased, it will result in improved
farm income, generate employment and improve
grower food prices. This in turn reduces
poverty, especially given that amongst low
income groups typically spend 60% to 70%
of their income on food.
In order to increase yield and develop agriculture
in this region, water is and will be a critical
factor. The North Central district is dry
and arid with severe draught at times; therefore
rainwater is not dependable as a reliable
supply of water to maintain crops, a major
factor contributing to the low productivity
within this region. As a result agro based
industries have not flourished and are a
major reason for increased poverty in this
region’s rural sector.
The increased financial constraints by successive
governments have also adversely affected
management of existing schemes and the pace
of irrigation development. The result has
been an overall low economic performance
in this sector due to poor agricultural
yield and inadequate inputs. BPW’s
Global Peace Village of Illukpitiya is one
of the villages in Medirigiriya that suffer
under these conditions. The village as it
is today has a mixed ethnic population of
634 people composing 150 families who live
in a village with no permanent homes, no
infrastructure, no schools, no medical facilities,
and no water or drainage system. What there
is of the village is currently haphazardly
structured and needs to be planned and redesigned
to facilitate the location of basic amenities
to be within convenient reach of the entire
village.
In addition to facilitate irrigation for
farming there are 6 dams within the immediate
vicinity which if developed with proper
irrigation systems will be able to sustain
the whole village and the surrounding area
for agricultural and livestock farming.
Another issue faced by many of the households
is that women are the sole income earners.
In such harsh conditions these women and
their children are the first to feel the
impact of poverty. In a recent report by
the government of Sri Lanka, (1) two new
vulnerable groups of women have immerged
in recent years, elderly women in low-income
families and women coping with displacement
and lack of services and livelihood in conflict
areas.
Given such circumstances it is important
that the needs of these women are addressed.
The aim is to bring them forward in this
development proposal so they feel they are
supported in terms of training and access
to assets and thereby form an important
part of the community.
Statistics
of Polonnaruwa District,
Medirigiriya & Illukpitiya Village
| Statistics
of Polonnaruwa District |
| |
Total
Population |
359226
|
| |
Internally displaced
persons in District |
8258 |
| |
Internally displaced
families in District |
2247 |
| AGA
Divisions in Polonnaruwa |
| |
•
Dimbulagala |
| |
•
Elahera |
| |
•
Hingurakgoda |
| |
•
Lankapura |
| |
•
Medirigiriya |
| |
•
Thamankaduwa |
| |
•
Welikanda |
| The
village Illukpitiya belongs to Medirigiriya
AGA Division |
| Statistics
of Medirigiriya AGA Division |
| |
Population |
57483 |
| |
Extent of Medirigiriya
AGA Division |
836 sq. km |
| |
Gramasevaka Divisions
|
112 |
| |
Number of internally
displaced families |
853 |
| Statistics
of Illukpitiya Village |
| |
Number of families
in Illukpitiya Village |
150 |
| |
Number of persons
in Illukpitiya Village |
634 |
| |
(Statistics
provided by Polonnaruwa District Council) |
The
project targets the establishment of a settlement
– comprising of families of Sinhalese,
Muslim and Tamil communities. Up until the
1980s villagers of all three communities
had lived without acrimony. They had learned,
too, to live in harmony with the environment,
which they respected as a source of livelihood
and security. Cultural and social networking
had developed a sense of comradeship, which
now has been wiped away by forces beyond
their control.
The study recognizes
housing as a priority requirement of the
settlers.
Conceptual basis –
cooperative housing
- Planning with communal
decision making/ prioritizing
- Implementation with
utilization of community’s skills/labour
- Material –
utilization of local material
- Administration-BPW
SL / Local government authorities/ beneficiaries
- Financial reporting
& accountability –BPW SL Local
Government Authorities
- Selection of beneficiary/participants
– lottery basis
Given the problem
faced by these villagers the following objectives
were formulated:
1. |
Attempt
to break a long established cycle of
poverty and bring about socio economic
lift in the rural sector by: |
|
- |
Providing
basic, permanent housing & infrastructure
|
|
- |
Provide the opportunity
for sustainable income generation through
small holding farming |
|
- |
Addressing the
supply of water which is the critical
factor limiting productivity and growth
in the agro based industry by the provision
of agricultural wells for the village
|
|
- |
Develop the potential
and create opportunities for women,
so they become active participants in
alleviation of poverty and the socio-economic
uplift of their community. |
|
- |
Capacity building
in the community by providing training
in improved agricultural practices,
water management and cottage garden
industries. |
2. |
Ethnic
integration |
|
- |
Supporting the
current peace process, reconstruction
and rehabilitation efforts that have
been implemented in the conflict affected
areas by developing an ethically integrated
Village. |
|
- |
Promote peace
and bring together all ethnic groups
within the village through education,
conflict resolution and by creating
a community based support system, promoting
ethic integration, thereby ensuring
trust and security within the Community. |
3. |
Create
a replicable model; one of the objectives
is to have the capacity to replicate
this model, so it can be adapted in
other areas of the country and the region. |
Progress:
In
the long term reduction of poverty, the
need is not for donation of food and a bucket
of water, but a sound plan of sustainable
development and motivational guidance to
put their own hands and skills to best use
in carving a sound future for themselves.
Initially each of the families will be provided
a basic house and security in community
based infrastructure. Secondly, the opportunity
of joining together in economically sustainable
ventures planned to give each family a source
of income that will help them climb out
of poverty and eventually improve their
quality of life, permanently. Thirdly, by
establishment of a permanent Technical Training
and Support Centre within the Village to
train, motivate and develop the potential
and create opportunities for women and the
younger generation as active participants
in alleviating poverty and the socio-economic
uplift of the community.
(a) |
The
Centre will provide continuity of the
programme by attracting highly skilled
volunteer advisors from other countries
as well as from within the country to
come in with their expertise. It will
be a meeting place for the exchange
of ideas, best practices and generate
new methods in the development of agriculture,
livestock husbandry and other non traditional
SMEs. |
(b) |
The target group(s):
Communities in post conflict situations
and rural poor towards engaging in gainful
occupations. |
(c) |
The main activities:
Conducting Conferences, Seminars, and
workshops and training programs for
new practices in Agriculture, agro based
industries, livestock development and
non traditional SMEs |
We have achieved and
been pledged Rs.50 million worth of assistance
to date in the form of:
- 40 perches land
for each family to build a house
- 150 acres for a
livestock farm
- 250 acres for a
collective Agricultural farm
- Electricity
- 5 kilometres of
paved roads
- a community centre
completed
- medical centre
- 30 houses completed
and handed over to the beneficiaries
- drinking water wells
- one (tank work in
progress)
- foundations for
the next 25 houses will start no sooner
the long awaited rains have stopped
Even
though a lot has been achieved through the
generosity of Commercial organisations,
Government, Kind Individuals, Members of
BPW International and Sri Lanka, there is
yet a considerable amount of assistance
needed to realise the full potential of
the project. Urgently, we still need funding
for:
- 110 more houses
- 45 drinking water
wells
- The rehabilitation
of 6 irrigation tanks and connecting channels
- 200 cows and dairy
farm equipment
- seed and agricultural
farming equipment and tools
- building materials
- Medical aid and
equipment
Last update: year 2005 |
