Rehabilitation Of Community Infrastructure, Imrpovement Of Livelihoods And Empwerment Of Women In The Northern And Eastern Provinces Of Sri Lanka

1. Target Beneficiaries and Geographic Location The target population in this proposed action includes communities in the most deprived villages in lagging districts. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2013-2017, the overarching framework for UN agencies to support the country, strongly recognizes the persistence inequalities and in particular, the plight of vulnerable communities in poverty pockets, returnees of the conflict affected areas and communities exposed to disaster and climate change risks . The targeting of communities benefitting from the proposed actions will be based on: a. GDP contribution to the national economy b. Poverty indicators c. Women headed household population d. Number of human deaths due to wild elephant attacks District average population/ GN # of GN # of beneficiaries average # of family member # of beneficiary families Mullaitivu 1,350 35 47,250 3.75 12,600 Kilinochchi 880 32 28,160 3.56 7,910 Mannar 664 6 3,984 3.69 1,080 Batticaloa 1,696 17 28,832 3.77 7,648 TOTAL 90 116,378 31,309 1.1 Imbalance in economic production Sri Lanka's economy is characterized by substantial regional imbalances and the economic production is heavily concentrated in the Western Province, which accounts for 45 percent of the GDP whilst containing only 28 per cent of the country's population. The second and third highest contributions to GDP are from the Southern Province at 11.1 percent and from Central Province at 9.8 percent. The Northern Province (3.7 percent) and Uva Province (4.5 percent) record the lowest current GDP contribution . Item/ Province Year Western Central Southern Northern Eastern North Western North Central Uva S'gamuwa Island GDP Share (%) 2010 44.8 10.0 10.7 3.4 6.0 9.5 4.8 4.5 6.3 100 2011 44.4 9.8 11.1 3.7 5.7 10.0 4.6 4.5 6.2 100 Source: Central Bank of Sri Lanka 2012 1.2 Poverty indicators According to the 2009/10 national poverty statistics, Batticaloa (20.3% of households), Jaffna (16.1%) Monaragala (14.5%), Badulla (13.3%) and Ampara (11.8%) are the districts reporting the highest levels of poverty. Poverty Head Count Ratio by District District Household Income and Expenditure Survey Period 1990/91 1995/96 2002 2006/07 2009/10 Jaffna N/A N/A N/A N/A 16.1 Vavuniya N/A N/A N/A N/A 2.3 Batticaloa N/A N/A N/A 10.7 20.3 Ampara N/A N/A N/A 10.9 11.8 Badulla 31.0 41.0 37.3 23.7 13.3 Moneragala 33.7 56.2 37.2 33.2 14.5 Source: Poverty Indicators, Household Income and Expenditure Survey - 2009/10, Department of Census and Statistics, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Volume 1 Issue 2 May 2011 1.3 Women headed households The country's prolonged armed conflict has contributed to an increase in the percentage of women headed households, particularly in the conflict affected Northern and Eastern provinces. District Less than 25 years (%) 25-39 years (%) 40 and above (%) Batticaloa 4.2 25.9 70.0 Ampara 1.8 35.8 62.3 Badulla 2.3 26.9 70.8 Moneragala 2.7 26.5 70.7 Mannar N/A N/A N/A Mullaittivu N/A N/A N/A Kilinochchi N/A N/A N/A Jaffna 0.0 20.0 80.0 Colombo 1.3 13.0 85.7 Sri Lanka 1.4 17.8 80.8 Source: Housing Income and Expenditure Survey 2009/10, Department of Census and Statistics 1.4 Number of human deaths due to wild elephant attacks Sri Lanka is one the thirteen Asian elephant range states and it is recorded that over 5879 wild elephants are in the country . According to the Department of Wildlife, Sri Lanka has the highest density of Wild Elephants in Asian Continent. In this scenario, Human Elephant Conflicts (HEC) are bound to arise and continue. According to Department of Wildlife Conservation records, during the period of 2005-2009 an annual average of 70 humans and 185 elephant deaths were reported. In 2012, 73 people and 257 elephants have been killed. A simultaneous increase is also recorded in the number of injured farmers and serious damage to agricultural crops, houses and other properties. The villages which are isolated and neighboring to forest with elephant habitat face serious challenges Protecting their crops, properties and mobility of people. 2. Project Objectives, Activities and Outputs 2.1 Objective 1: Improving living conditions of returnees and other conflict affected people through restoration of community infrastructure and building disaster resilient communities Activity 1.1: Community Mobilization Firstly, in mobilizing communities, building awareness of why it is important to work together and how to organize and what the project is about is carried contacting community representatives and holding small group meetings to discuss 1) community assets, resources and issues 2) problems and their causes, 3) assess the capacity of existing CBO's and the feasibility of establishing a new one, 4) generate demand for a large community meeting. Assisted by UN-Habitat, a community holds a large community meeting to discuss the status of existing CBO's and to identify capacity gaps or to establish a new CBO. Emphasis is given for representation of women and vulnerable members in the CBO. In the case where an existing CBO is recognized and well represented by the community, project activities will be carried out with that CBO. In places where there is no representative CBO, UN-Habitat will facilitate the election of a CBO and having it registered with the local authority. Activity 1.2: Preparation of Community Action Plans Facilitated by UN-Habitat, the CBO prepares the Community Action Plan (CAP) for infrastructure. Community Action Planning is a structured process where the community identifies their vulnerabilities and needs in terms of social, economic and physical infrastructure needs. Then they prioritize the needs and plan how to address them taking to consideration options and trade-offs. Finally the plan is presented to all the community members to discus and to be endorsed. UN-Habitat has developed guidelines to conduct Community Action Planning. Activity 1.3: Community Contracting UN-Habitat together with CBO prepares the detail designs of infrastructure projects with cost estimates based on the CAP. Then project proposals are prepared and obtains endorsement of the community members. Then UN-Habitat awards a community contract to the CBO for project implementation. Activity 1.4: Implementation and Monitoring Following the formalization of the community contracts, the construction /implementation of the projects identified will commence. The community, through the CBO, will monitor the progress. UN-Habitat project technical personnel will provide technical advice on construction to maintain quality and standards. The project will introduce DRR features and standards in all construction work and provide advocacy and knowledge on DRR at the local level by incorporation in all training programmes. The Project will also introduce DRR guidelines and manuals for community construction based on ongoing UN-Habitat DRR initiatives. Training on eco-friendly construction techniques will be conducted to staff, community leaders and stakeholders. Output 1.1.1: 90 Community Based Organizations mobilized Output 1.2.1: 90 Community Action Plans for infrastructure prepared Output 1.2.2: 900 Community members trained in community action planning Output 1.3.1: 50 Community Contracts Awarded Output 1.4.1: Reconstruction of 18 Multipurpose Community Centers The multi-purpose community centers will consist of a community meeting hall, space for conducting mobile health clinics and community consultation areas for grassroots level government officials, agricultural extension officers and family health workers to cater to community needs. These facilities will allow the community to receive support on health and hygiene needs, social services assistance and direct support for their general agricultural needs from the Government. These centers will have toilets and rainwater harvesting facilities. They will be constructed through a community contracting process with resources provided by the Project. The community will take ownership of these assets and will receive training on operations and maintenance. Output 1.4.2: Construction of 10 rainwater harvesting facilities in public buildings The project will construct rainwater harvesting facilities in selected public buildings in the target villages. Implementation will conform to the guidelines and standards of the National Rainwater Harvesting Policy, and targeted at enhancing the availability of water supply in order to improve the general living conditions of the community. In addition, rainwater harvesting facilities will also be installed in all new public buildings constructed under this project, making a total of 46 rainwater harvesting systems installed. Output 1.4.3: Construction of 18 Preschools District rehabilitation plans developed by the government district administration have prioritized the construction of pre-schools in the Northern Province, particularly in the districts of Killinochchi and Mullaitivu. It is also observed that a large number of villages which are geographically isolated preclude the attendance of children to preschools. This project will identify the 18 most vulnerable villages with a significant child population and build pre-school facilities and train preschool teachers from within the same community. While pre-schools will support the development of children, they will also result in women (housewives / mothers) having more free time to engage in livelihood opportunities. Output 1.4.4: Diploma course for 36 pre-school teachers and the potential teachers in the community for 18 preschools The project will also provide the pre-school training for teachers of the 18 proposed pre-schools. The training will include material in all three languages in keeping with the tri-lingual policy of the Government Output 1.4.5: 90 Communities Resilient to Disaster with Improved Environment established - Reconstruction of 10 km of storm water drainage The Northern and Eastern Provinces experiences serious flooding during the monsoon season, leading to inundation of roads and low lying areas. The project will initiate the construction of approximately 10 km of storm water drains. The community will be trained on maintaining the drains. - Disaster risk reduction (DRR) features to be incorporated into the construction of all community infrastructure - 63,500 trees planted by the communities The communities will be engaged in environmental improvements through campaigns for tree planting for home gardening, on road sides and public places to increase the green cover in the villages, thereby mitigating the reduction of trees due to ongoing construction work and increased timber usage at the local level. The project aims to plant 63,500 trees through community actions and to promote edible, fruit bearing plants in order to promote food security and livelihood activities. Output 1.4.6: Community and stakeholder capacities built to ensure sustainable operation and maintenance of rehabilitated infrastructure and facilities The project will conduct training in basic construction skills for youth. The training will assist the communities, in the short term, to overcome the shortage of skilled labour for infrastructure construction. There will be two methods of training for the youth in the target group. Firstly, those with sufficient educational qualifications as required by the formal training systems will be enrolled for construction based vocational training. Secondly, training will be conducted to include those who do not have basic educational qualifications in an apprenticeship programme under a master craftsman. Trainees will be able, in both the long and short-term, to use the training acquired through the project to improve their livelihood opportunities and family incomes. 2.2 Objective 2: Creating better economic opportunities to communities through the improvement of accessibility to markets Activity 2.1: Design of Economic Infrastructure (Roads, Irrigation Channels and Storage Facilities) and Awarding of Community Contracts Un-Habitat technical staff together with the CBOs will prepare detail designs with cost estimates for economic infrastructure projects identified in the Community Action Plans. For each project UN-Habitat will award a community contract to the CBO. Training in managing a project will be provided to the CBO for example in procuring material, hiring skilled labour, time keeping etc. Activity 2.2: Implementation and Monitoring Following the formalization of the community contracts, the construction /implementation of the projects identified will commence. The community, through the CBO, will monitor the progress. UN-Habitat project technical personnel will provide technical advice on construction to maintain quality and standards. Output 2.1.1: 35 Community Contracts Awarded Output 2.2.1: 10 Community Storage Facilities built To increase the efficiency of the livelihood activities, in particular farming, the project will construct 10 storage facilities for crops, fertilizer and agricultural equipment. This will assist with reducing loss through protection from animal and weather damage. Output 2.2.2 30 km of internal access roads including culverts rehabilitated The project will target rehabilitation of internal access roads with required culverts. They will be constructed according to the established standards and specifications for rural roads of the Provincial Road Development Authorities. Training and schedules for regular repair and maintenance will also be provided to the Community Based Organisations. These assets will enable improved access for communities to nearby town centres, transportation of produce to the village markets and create access for children to travel safely to school. Output 2.2.3: 10 Irrigation channels/ systems constructed Note: Although Community Infrastructure and Economic Infrastructure have been quantified above, the actual may vary depending on the outcomes of the Community Action Plans 2.3 Objective 3: Empowering women through training and access to credit Activity 3.1: Mobilization of Women's Groups Women's organizations like the Women's Rural Development Societies that were existed and functioned in very rudimentary form before the war and during the war will be reconstituted and strengthened with capacity building and awareness to realize their rights and responsibilities. In the areas where women's groups do not exist, new groups would be formed bringing community women together to work on their common problems and aspirations. Activity 3.2: Preparation of Community Action Plans for Women's Needs A Community Action Planning module will be developed to identify women's social and economic needs and the planning workshops will be conducted with women's organizations. The project would address their needs within resources available and also link them to other programmes of the Government and other agencies. This will enable women's groups to access other sources of resources for example Women's Micro Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme. The specially designed CAP will also address protection issues that the groups would wish to address. Activity 3.3: Provision of Vocational Training for Women Depending of the training needs identified in the CAPs, specialized vocational training will be provided for women in vocations where they could work from home as individuals, and from multipurpose community centers as groups. In certain areas experienced Japanese NGO APCAS will be assigned under the project carry out training activities. Activity 3.4: Introduction of Savings and Credit Group savings and credit will be introduced to women's groups to build on their traditional thrift and also to address their immediate credit needs. The Women's Bank with extensive experience country wide will be assigned under the project to carry out the mobilization and organization of savings and credit groups. Output 3.1.1: 10 Women's Community Groups established Output 3.2.1: 90 Community Action Plans identifying women's need Output 3.3.1: 1600 Women trained in different vocations identified by them Output 3.4.1: 90 Savings and Credit Groups established 2.4 Objective 4: Relearning to live with elephants by supporting communities with innovative protection methods in the villages bordering forests reserves Activity 4.1: Preparation of Community Action Plans to live with elephants A module of Community Action Planning will be designed for communities to reflect on how they used to live with elephants, the problems that they face with elephants and the methods to mitigate the problems. Although The Department of Wild Life has allocated funding for certain villages for electric fencing, large number of villages remain unattended. Officials of the Department of Wild Life will be part of CAP workshops so that their experience and knowledge will be share with the communities. Activity 4.2: Establish mitigation measures to keep elephants away Mitigation method would include electrical fencing, bio-fencing. Digging of water holes for elephants away from villages and provision of salt could be other options. Output 4.1.1: Community Action Plans to live with elephants for 3 villages prepared and 9 awareness programmes for community members in the elephant habitat areas conducted. Output 4.1.2: Mitigation measures to keep elephants away from harming villages established in 3 villages