20 September 2011, Colombo, Sri Lanka: The Australian Government, in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), has assisted 3,785 returnee families to reconstruct or repair their damaged houses in the districts of Vavuniya, Mullaitivu and Killinochchi under the ‘Shelter Support to Conflict Affected IDPs in Northern Sri Lanka’ Project. To mark the ...

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements programme is supporting the Government of Sri Lanka in formulating a National Climate Change Policy (NCCP). The partnership recognizes need for a pro-active strategy developed using a consultative process, a critical catalyst in ensuring continued sustainable development of Sri Lanka. According to the Ministry of Environment the absence of ...

To enhance resilience to climate change in coastal Sri Lankan cities, the Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) together with its national partners – the University of Moratuwa, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Batticaloa Municipal Council (BMC) and Negombo Municipal Council (NMC), have initiated a new project titled “Climate Resilient Action Plans for Coastal ...

With European Commission (EC), Australian government (AusAID) and the Swiss government (SDC) funding support, UN-Habitat intends to reach 4,400 new families with permanent housing support in the Northern districts of Sri Lanka in partnership over the next two and a half years. The programme mobilizes USD 23.5 million targeting the districts of Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and ...

The new Galle Fish Market reconstructed with the assistance of UN-Habitat and BASF, was ceremonially opened on Thursday 6th January by Chief Minister, Southern Province Hon. Shan Wijeyalal de Silva, on the invitation of the Mayor of Galle His Worship Methsiri de Silva. Parliamentarians, members of the Municipal Council, UN-Habitat and BASF officials, and the ...

By Dhaneshi YATAWARA Wasanthamala was waiting for three of her daughters to return from school in the Kilinochchi town. Her other two girls had stayed home that day. Wasanthamala and her six children – five daughters and an infant boy – live in Kilinochchi in their half-built house on a small plot of land. A ...

Ajmeer Khan was a regular playful 10 years old, a grade 5 student of the Al Jalal Vidyalaya in Sainthamaratu. He lived with his parents at Hospital Road, Sainthamarathu in Kalmunai, Ampara district on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. The Tsunami of December 2004 turned his life upside down; both his parents died tragically ...

Polykandy West in Jaffna District in the North of Sri Lanka is a small community of fifteen (15) most vulnerable families. These families who were earning a meager income as conservancy laborers at the Local Authority, had no proper shelter and were living in small makeshift shelters along the beach. The Tsunami in December 2004 ...