Sri Lanka
HI implemented its first project in Sri Lanka almost thirty years ago, focusing on training rehabilitation professionals in Colombo and Jaffna. HI is currently implementing projects focused on rehabilitation and resilience to climate change and disaster risk reduction. The organization is working for other sectorial projects including economic inclusion, inclusion technical assistance and inclusive education project for 2025.
Arumugam Pakkiyam lives in Redbanapuram, a small village in the east of Sri Lanka that is frequently affected by flooding. | © HI
Actions in process
HI Sri Lanka is currently implementing 3 projects: rehabilitation for children who has clubfoot; resilience to climate change and disaster risk reduction; and technical assistance to UNDP in testing model disability assessment. HI Sri Lanka is working for other sectorial projects including economic inclusion, inclusion technical assistance and inclusive education project for 2025.
The organization implemented its first project in Sri Lanka in 1992, focusing on training rehabilitation professionals in Colombo and Jaffna. In 2003, in partnership with UNDP, HI developed a quality standard procedure for mine clearance. In 2004, a program for mine survivors in eastern Sri Lanka was established. On 26 December 2004, the tsunami hit Sri Lanka, killing 35,000 people and leaving more than 250,000 homeless. HI's new project focused on survivors in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee and Hambantota.
With the end of the war in Sri Lanka, HI also shifted its activities to the Northern Province to provide post-conflict assistance. Faced with the forced displacement of 300,000 people from Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu to army-run camps in Vavuniya, HI began responding to the needs of IDPs through a physical rehabilitation project. HI undertook further projects to integrate rehabilitation services into the public health system.
From 2011, HI broadened the scope of its interventions to include livelihoods, inclusive sports, inclusive disaster risk management, and support to rehabilitation professionals and community-based rehabilitation actors.
Following the election of the coalition government in 2015 and the renewed political will to address structural inequalities and national reconciliation, which was widely supported by the international community, HI shifted its interventions to address reconciliation issues, including transitional justice and reducing inequalities through inclusive economic development programs.
At the same time, HI began to respond to small and medium scale natural disasters (floods and droughts) through early recovery programming. Rehabilitation activities resumed in 2017 on a very small scale, focusing only on clubfoot treatment, thanks to the interest of Miracle Feet.
Areas of intervention
concretely
Situation of the country
Sri Lanka is a South Asian Island in the Indian Ocean. It has a tropical climate with the north-east monsoon from December to March and the south-west monsoon from June to October. Sri Lanka was experiencing a major macroeconomic crisis in the beginning of 2022.
In March 2022, mass protests began in Sri Lanka against the government due to its mismanagement of the Sri Lankan economy, which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation, daily blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, domestic gas, and other essential goods. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing aftermaths of the macro-economic crisis of 2022. The 2024 Sri Lankan presidential election was the ninth presidential election in the country’s history and was held on 21 September 2024. Left-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won Sri Lanka’s presidential election 2024.
Number of HI staff members: 8
Date the programme opened: 1992.
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