By Nilan Fernando and Maria Merla Aquino

Although the civil war in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province ended in May 2009, decades of armed conflict have damaged the relationship between state and civil society, between the government and the governed.

Because of the war, elections for municipal councils, urban councils, and pradeshiya sabhas (local authorities that mostly govern in rural areas) in the North have been few and far between. Nevertheless, administrative staff of these local authorities remained in place and – despite limited capacity and resources – worked to provide necessary services for a semblance of local governance; but clearly much has been neglected. With the war’s end, the Province is beginning to recover. The first local authority elections since the war ended were held in 2009 for the Jaffna Municipal Council (won by the government party, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance) and the Vavuniya Urban Council (won by the Tamil National Alliance). It was the first election to the Jaffna MC since 1998 and the first election to the Vavuniya UC since 1994. Elections for the 32 other local councils in the North as well as for the provincial council are likely be held in late 2010.
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By Nilan Fernando

Sri Lanka’s presidential election will be held on January 26, 2010. The race has been more competitive than people expected. The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), elected in 2005, is battling for a second term against the former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka, who together with the president and his defence secretary defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009 and ended Sri Lanka’s three-decade-long civil war.

General Fonseka entered the race in early December as a joint opposition candidate bearing a grudge against the president and defence secretary after feeling personally slighted by them after the war. Fonseka was encouraged to run by Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of the main opposition party the United National Party (UNP), because his own chances of winning were slim. Mr. Wickremesinghe is hindered by the fact that he was the architect of the unsuccessful peace process with the LTTE from 2002 to 2004. The peace process is so discredited and Mr. Wickremesinghe so closely associated with it that a Wickremesinghe-led UNP could not hope to mount a serious challenge to the popular war president. Opposition leaders were grateful that Fonseka was available, none more than Mr. Wickremesinghe.

A campaign poster for the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Photo by Karl Grobl.

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By Marion Staunton and Mihiri Ferdinando

May 2009 marked the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil conflict that left thousands dead and many more displaced from the fighting. Most of those affected, both Tamil and Sinhalese, come from the ranks of the poor. While large numbers of those displaced begin to make their way back home and the nation readies for a presidential election, much work needs to be done to heal the wounds inflicted from the trauma that communities have endured.

In any endeavor to rebuild a nation, a society’s emotional well-being is critical to ensure a healthy population, especially one that has experienced suffering of such magnitude as in Sri Lanka. To help communities affected by conflict-related violence, The Asia Foundation is partnering with two local NGOs on a program called RESIST, or “Reducing the Effects & Incidents of Trauma,” which helps increase access to psychosocial services. The partners are the Family Rehabilitation Centre (FRC) and Shanthiham (The Association for Health and Counselling).

Services are available in seven districts in the north and east regions, including Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara.

Many of Sri Lanka's displaced families have only recently returned to their homes, such as this Tamil woman and child from the Batticaloa district in the east. (Photo by Karl Grobl.)

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By Anila SK

Kurunegala, the capital of Sri Lanka’s Northwestern province, derives its name from an elephant-shaped rock, reaching 316 meters at an altitude of 116 meters above sea level. Situated 94 kilometers from Colombo, the region is known for its huge, rocky outcrops that charm visitors with their resemblance to different animal shapes.

Its proximity to a number of famous sights and its temperate climate also makes Kurunegala a prominent transit town for travelers, especially tourists. An estimated 100,000 people travel through Kurunegala daily, far surpassing the town’s resident population of 40,000.
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By V.S. Srikantha

V.S. Srikantha is The Asia Foundation’s Program Manager in Sri Lanka. He can be reached at vssrikantha@asiafound.org.

The end of Sri Lanka’s long 25-year civil war, declared in May, has brought renewed attention to infrastructure and social services essential for accelerating development especially in regions of the country hard hit by the conflict, such as the Eastern Province. Businesses and communities here are eager to rebuild and spark economic growth.

In an effort to strengthen the capacity of local governments in the East to facilitate better services and respond to citizens’ needs, The Asia Foundation, through its Local Economic Governance Project, conducted a study tour in June for over 40 Municipal Council (MC) members and business leaders from two Eastern towns – Batticaloa and Kalmunai. The participants spent two weeks visiting and learning from their counterparts in the Central Province who are practicing good local governance.
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By Nilan Fernando

Nilan Fernando is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Sri Lanka. He can be reached at nfernando@asiafound.org.

Situated at Sri Lanka’s highest point, the Nuwara Eliya District is one of the county’s most popular tourist destinations with refreshingly cool breezes that offer a respite from the sultry tropics of the lowlands. The hillsides shimmer a vibrant green from the tea bushes that produce the famous Ceylon tea enjoyed throughout the world. The residents of this mountain retreat, however, have a far different story to tell.

A combination of factors, including erosion, heavy rains, and urbanization, have greatly increased the risk of landslides in the area, making residents of Nuwara Eliya vulnerable. In January, 2007 alone, for example, landslides and flooding displaced over 18,000 people from Walapane and Hanguranketha, resulting in a massive need for shelter and aid. While immediate aid is obviously crucial, much of the area’s infrastructure and morale was also badly damaged, making long-term, post-disaster rehabilitation and development essential.

When disasters occur, those affected rely on the local government for immediate relief and short- and long-term rehabilitation. Without comprehensive relief and aid, affected areas are also in danger of experiencing conflict between host communities and the internally displaced.
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By Nilan Fernando

Nilan Fernando is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Sri Lanka and is based in Colombo. He can be reached at tafsrilanka@asiafound.org.

The civil war in Sri Lanka has taken a terrible toll. No one knows for sure how many people have died, but it is probably not an exaggeration to say that, on average, 5,000-10,000 people have died annually for the past 25 years. Most of these casualties, both Tamil and Sinhalese, have come from the ranks of the poor. The war has triggered massive displacement and migration and the country’s demographic makeup has been altered, probably forever. For Tamils in the North, the war has been particularly disastrous.

Now, after two years of intense fighting, the 25-year-old civil conflict in Sri Lanka is reaching a climax with the government on the verge of victory. The 2002 Ceasefire Agreement between the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) unraveled in 2006 and, having largely cleared the Eastern Province of the LTTE in 2007, the government focused on winning back the Northern Province in 2008. The last LTTE fighters and their leader, Vellupillai Prabhakaran, are now clinging to a sliver of territory on the northeast coast, hiding behind what the government and members of the international community have called a “human shield” of around 100,000 Tamil civilians.
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By Nilan Fernando

Nilan Fernando is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Sri Lanka. He can be reached at nfernando@asiafound.org.

In Sri Lanka, legal aid is implicitly recognized as a fundamental right of all citizens under the constitution. Both the governmental and non-governmental sectors are committed to common goals for legal aid service delivery, service providers operate independently, and beneficiaries indicate a high level of satisfaction with services provided to them, according to a study released by The Asia Foundation. However, the study also determined that rapid expansion of legal aid services has led to a lack of coordination among service providers, and it calls for a national strategy on legal aid that puts social empowerment and financial and institutional sustainability at its core.

The Legal Aid Sector in Sri Lanka: Searching for Sustainable Solutions provides a comprehensive map of Sri Lanka’s legal aid system. The report findings identify gaps in services and challenges, discuss the opportunities available for sustainable legal aid services, and propose recommendations for an improved legal aid system that is accessible to all.
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By Melody Zavala

Melody Zavala is Director of The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Program. She can be reached at mzavala@asiafound.org.

International Women’s Day brings attention to the enormous challenges and opportunities that women from developed and developing countries alike face in their pursuit for equality in schools, the workplace, and community and political life. At Books for Asia, we are especially proud of the increased access to education our program extends to girls and women throughout Asia.

Unfortunately, female literacy rates still remain far lower than that of males. According to the International Women’s Day website, women represent two-thirds of the over 1 billion illiterate adults who have no access to basic education. In many countries, girls are still denied basic education and women lack marketable skills they need to earn an income, resulting in a vicious cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and ill-health for them and their children. Nowhere are these problems more serious than in Asia, home to more than half the world’s female population.
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The Policy Advocacy Handbook for Improving Economic Governance published by The Asia Foundation’s Sri Lanka office is now available. This handbook provides private enterprises, government institutions, and other organizations in Sri Lanka with basic information on how to become effective advocates in establishing and safeguarding their rights. It was prepared by The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka, through its Local Economic Governance Program, with financial support from the Australian Agency for International Development and the Department for International Development (UK). The handbook is largely adapted from a publication on policy advocacy for Small and Medium Enterprises in Indonesia, prepared by The Asia Foundation in Indonesia.