July 2014, Vavuniya, Sri Lanka: Vavuniya Town, located in Northern Sri Lanka, regularly experiences floods and droughts. The effects of these hazards have increased due to the lack of infrastructure such as drainage systems in the urban council area. The inadequate capacity of the irrigation system around the Vavuniya Kulam (Vavuniya tank), the main water ...

July 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Mr.Lalith Lankatilleke, Senior Human Settlements Officer of UN-Habitat responsible for the country operations of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka has bid farewell, having retired after 36 years of service. An Architect-Planner by profession, Lalith has worked for over 40 years in the field of human settlements. 36 years have ...

25 June 2014, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka: A delegation from the European Union (EU) office for Sri Lanka and the Maldives visited the conflict affected village of  Welikkakandy in Batticaloa District in the Eastern Province on 25th June 2014. During the field visit, Mr. Willy Vandenberghe, First Counsellor and Head of Operations for the EU Delegation ...

24 June 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: Fifty high level delegates from Government Ministries and partner agencies came together at a workshop held in Colombo on the 24th of June 2014 to formulate the National Habitat III Report. The workshop was convened by the Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities of the Government ...

May 2014, Northern Province. Sri Lanka: UN-Habitat Sri Lanka recently conducted a training programme for skilled construction workers and members of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) of Mannar district on the use of innovative, environmentally-friendly construction technologies coupled with a field visit to Killinochchi and Mullaitivu districts. This training programme was conducted under the project “Improving ...

May 2014, Mannar, Sri Lanka: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in collaboration with the Mannar Urban Council, is implementing a number of small scale Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) initiatives to assist communities cope with the adverse impacts of natural disasters through the Disaster Resilient City Development Strategies for four Cities in the Northern ...

May 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in collaboration with the University of Moratuwa, conducted a training programme  on  Geographic Information Systems to facilitate Disaster Resilient Urban Planning for Urban Planners and  Local Authority Officers working in the planning sectors of four Sri Lankan cities. This programme is one of ...

May 2014, Balangoda, Sri Lanka: Over recent years, the Balangoda town centre had been subject to severe flooding during heavy rains, thereby posing major challenges to its residents. The recently completed Rehabilitation of the Dorawela Oya and Flood Mitigation Project, implemented by UN-Habitat with funding from the Government of Australia, has contributed towards making Balangoda ...

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa led the national World Habitat Day Celebrations at a ceremony held at the Soysapura Housing Scheme grounds in Moratuwa.  The event, which drew the participation of thousands from the busy suburb of Colombo, marked the launch of a stamp commemorating the day. The President also ceremoniously vested with the public ...

March 2014, Akkaraipattu, Sri Lanka: The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in collaboration with the Akkaraipattu Municipal Council, officially opened the Disaster Resilient Urban Planning and Development Unit at the Akkaraipattu Municipal Council premises on 13 March 2014.The establishment of the Disaster Resilient Urban Planning and Development Units is a key component of the ...

26th March 2014 Colombo, Sri Lanka: Senior Government officials, donors, implementing partners, policy makers, development practitioners, academics, community members and representatives of UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations participated in the international conference ‘Restoring Communities through Homeowner-Driven Reconstruction: from post-Emergency to Development’ held in Colombo from 24th – 25th March 2014. Organised by UN-Habitat, the forum ...

24th March 2014, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The International Conference on Post Emergency Shelter Reconstruction ‘Restoring Communities through Home-Owner-Driven Reconstruction: from post-Emergency to Development’ was ceremonially inaugurated this morning in Colombo. Organized by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in partnership with the donor partners, the European Union Delegation to Sri Lanka, the Government of ...