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Sri Lanka: Joint Plan for Assistance Northern Province 2011

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Govt. Sri Lanka
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Joint plan of assistance launched to support northern recovery

Colombo / 01 February 2011: To support the people in the north to recover and rebuild their lives the Government of Sri Lanka, jointly with the United Nations and the broad humanitarian community including NGOs, launched a plan of assistance today.

The one-year program called the "Joint Plan for Assistance for Northern Province in 2011" (JPA) identifies priority activities and strategies to be undertaken during 2011. This plan has been developed in support to the overall national programme to help the people of the Northern Province to recover, rebuild and return to a normal life in the coming years.

The JPA provides a framework for meeting immediate needs while linking interventions to the early - and medium-term recovery efforts including the priorities of building shelters and homes, supporting agriculture, food security and livelihood recovery. The plan also includes a wide-range of early recovery efforts such as improving health and nutrition, clearing mines to support continued resettlement, education initiatives, water and sanitation strategies and strengthening of civil administration and national protection mechanisms.

Speaking at the JPA launch, Minister of Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa said that the government is well aware of what needs to be done to support re-establishment of lives and livelihoods and invited the donor community to invest in the reconstruction and development of the Northern Province. "Through partnership with the UN and NGOs more investments will be made to move towards full development of the region to reach similar standards found in the rest of the country," he said.

The United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Neil Buhne said that "the ultimate aim is to ensure the long-term sustainable development of the Northern Province within the shortest timeframe possible." Noting that "the process of recovery, from humanitarian relief to economic development, would take several years," Mr. Buhne stressed the importance of strengthened partnership and planning to realize these objectives.

The recovery plan was developed through a consultative process led by the Government through the Presidential Task Force, involving technical Ministries, the Northern Provincial Government, Government Agents, the United Nations and its agencies, national and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International Organizations (IOs).

The JPA outlines the considerable accomplishments made by the Government and its partners during 2009 and 2010 during which hundreds of thousands of displaced families returned to their homes and began to recover and rebuild their lives.

Regular monitoring will be carried out on the JPA, which aims to ensure that assistance targets the people and the institutions that most need it, that interventions continue to be consistent with the Government's plans, and with internationally established principles for such assistance. ENDS./

For more information please contact:

Presidential Task Force Mr. M.S Wickramarachchi, Senior Consultant, Tel: (+94-11) 2472462

United Nations Mr. Neil Buhne, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Tel: (+94-11) 2580691-8, Ext. 256