Inaugural national steering committee meeting held for “Build resilience to climate change and climate variability of vulnerable communities in Mullaitivu District of Sri Lanka” project

21 January 2025, Colombo, Sri Lanka. With funding of USD 2 Million from the Adaptation Fund, UN-Habitat is implementing a project in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, to strengthen climate resilience of communities vulnerable to climate change impacts in Mullaitivu District. The project’s first national steering committee meeting was held on 21 January at the Ministry of Environment in Colombo. The meeting was chaired by Mr. K.R. Uduwawala, Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, together with Mr. Leel Randeni, Director of the Climate Change Secretariat. A total of 26 participants attended the meeting, representing key government stakeholders and implementing partners.

At the meeting, UN-Habitat’s Country Programme Manager, Ms. Harshini Halangode, introduced the project and provided an overview of UN-Habitat’s programme in Sri Lanka. She noted that Mullaitivu District was selected for assistance due to the district’s vulnerability to climate change and emphasized the importance of the project interventions in strengthening livelihoods of communities in the agriculture and fisheries sectors in the selected DS Divisions of Maritimepattu, Puthukudiyiruppu and Welioya. Mr. M.S.M Aleem, Project Manager of UN-Habitat Sri Lanka presented the project progress to the steering committee. He mentioned that the construction of a 1 km earth bund to prevent saltwater intrusion in Martimepattu will benefit 490 acres of paddy land, while the renovation of 15 minor irrigation tanks will benefit 3,375 acres of paddy land. The improvement of the existing 3 km evacuation route in Nayaru will benefit approximately 293 farmer families while around 585 families will benefit from the provision of an early warning system and rescue facilities through the improvement of the causeway in Raalkulam, Kallappadu South Grama Niladhari Division. In Weli Oya DS Division, the project is providing 20 disaster resilient sanitation facilities for 18 vulnerable families and 2 preschools. He also discussed in detail the beneficiary selection criteria used to select the beneficiaries for each output, in close collaboration with the Mullaitivu District Secretariat and other Government agencies and departments.

Decisions taken by the district level Project Support Unit and the project work plan were discussed at this meeting. The importance of quality assurance for all project outputs was highlighted by the steering committee members. All members pledged support of their respective departments towards the successful implementation of the project activities in the field. The National Steering Committee consists of key Government stakeholders of the project including the Ministry of Environment; Mullaitivu District Secretariat; Department of National Planning; Department of External Resources; Department of Agriculture; Department of Agrarian Development; Forest Department; Department of Wildlife Conservation; Central Environmental Authority; Department of Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management; National Building Research Organization; Disaster Management Center and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The Build resilience to climate change and climate variability of vulnerable communities in Mullaitivu District of Sri Lanka project is being implemented by UN-Habitat from 2023-2025. The Ministry of Environment, as the Executing Entity (EE) for the Adaptation Fund (AF) project, ensures effective implementation in compliance with AF operational and financial guidelines while providing strategic direction to align project objectives with environmental and climate adaptation priorities and commitments.