Executive Summary

The tsunami of December 26th 2004 was – in terms of lives and property lost – the most devastating of natural disasters in Sri Lanka’s living memory.

The generosity with which the international community responded was overwhelming, their empathy and compassion were confirmed by massive waves of assistance that flowed in. A strong sense of Southern solidarity was evidenced by the reaction and support extended by the Southern nations to this tragedy. These developing nations contributed a sum of US$ 3.51 million through the UNDP’s Special Unit for South – South Co-operation, of which US$ 550,000 was allocated to Sri Lanka in two tranches. Four other nations affected by the tsunami, i.e. the Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand and India, also benefited from the SSGF program. The twin objectives of the grant were Livelihood Development and Construction of Small Infrastructure.

In Sri Lanka, the role played by the National Steering Committee in sifting through several project proposals, to identify the most deserving cases, was of tremendous value. Our implementing partners, the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), did a commendable job. Together we’ve learnt many lessons and understood how the communities could be better served. These observations have been highlighted in this report.

The SSGF funds were channelled through UNDP’s Global Environment Facility/ Small Grants Programme. GEF/ SGP was chosen to implement this plan in partnership with UNOPS. GEF/ SGP had been working with communities at the grassroots level for several years, in the protection of the environment. The experience thus gained and the contacts made with the communities was more than useful to reach out to the affected coastal communities, restore their lost livelihoods and address their basic infrastructure needs such as water, sanitary facilities and kitchens in their homes. The GEF/ SGP know-how ensured effective delivery mechanisms. Our time-tested methods used in the selection and monitoring processes of NGOs have resulted in the funds being appropriately deployed.

In the run-up to preparing this report, the authors visited the eight coastal districts and met with the beneficiaries of the thirty projects undertaken. We observed that SSGF has spurred the resilience of the tsunami-affected people. An estimated 4,768 beneficiaries have bounced back from the event.

In some areas along the coastline, broken and deserted houses are still visible, a grim reminder of that fateful morning when the sea encroached onto the land. But even more in evidence are happy faces, stories of courage and expressions of hope. This is the story of the buoyancy of the Sri Lankan people. Perhaps this story might have had a completely different ending but for the generosity of the people of Algeria, China, Brazil, Benin, Samoa, Trinidad & Tobago, Comoros, Tuvalu, Jamaica, Egypt and Venezuela.