12 September 2014,  Colombo, Sri Lanka: Vavuniya The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in partnership with four cities, the Municipal Council of Akkaraipattu, Urban Councils of Vavuniya and Mannar and the Pradeshiya Sabha of Maritimepattu (Mullaitivu), will officially launch the Disaster Risk Reduction and Preparedness Plan for each city on Monday, 15th September. The ...

26 August 2014, Mullaitvu District, Sri Lanka: : The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), in partnership with Save the Children Japan, is supporting the development of preschool education in Sri Lanka’s conflict affected Northern Province. With funding from the Government of Japan, this joint initiative is providing training for 21 preschool teachers on child-friendly ...

5th August 2014, Killinochchi, Sri Lanka: The Coca-Cola Foundation in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), has assisted over 1,600 residents in Punnanineeravi GN Division in Killinochchi district in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province to access fresh water through a rain water harvesting project. To mark the completion of this 15 month project, ...

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 ...