Mangroves play a vital role in protecting both the environment and local livelihoods. In Nayaru Lagoon in Sri Lanka’s Mullaitivu District, they act as natural buffers against storms, reduce coastal erosion, and provide breeding grounds for fish and other aquatic species. However, years of conflict and environmental degradation has weakened these life-sustaining ecosystems, exposing the ...

Families in remote villages in Sri Lanka’s Central Province face difficulties in accessing health care facilities due to long travel distances and the lack of regular transport to towns. Field Maternal and Child Health Centres (FMCHC) located in villages play a vital role in bridging this gap by offering free, essential healthcare services to vulnerable ...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka’s central province faced challenges in accessing nutritious food sources due to inter-regional transportation issues. During this time, many families resorted to home gardening to supplement their food supply. However, they were hampered by challenges including lack of funds to purchase quality seeds and fertilizers, lack of ...

Mr. Lindapitiya is a vegetable farmer from the Nawakadadora Grama Niladhari (GN) division in Nuwara Eliya district. For the past 25 years, he has been cultivating vegetables such as bell peppers, leeks, carrot, potato, and cabbage on half an acre (80 perch) plot of land.  However, over the past few years, Mr. Lindapitiya had faced ...

September 2015, Colombo. The South Asia Urban Forum, entitled “Urban Quest South Asia”, was held from 21st – 22nd September 2015 in Colombo, Sri Lanka to discuss key urbanization challenges in the South Asia region. The two day conference brought together urban researchers, practitioners and interest groups from South Asian nations including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan ...

Ms. Yasotharan Karthiyayini, a school teacher from Kilinochchi district, recently constructed her permanent house with funding from the project “Improving Living Conditions in Returnee Areas Through Housing”. Her new house has been built using environmentally-friendly, cost effective techniques as a “demonstration house”. Funded by the European Union, Government of Australia and the Swiss Agency for ...

Community centres are an important element of village life in Sri Lanka. They are used for events, village level administration, to disseminate public information and to conduct public meetings and regular health clinics for residents. The lack of such an indoor space in a village can cause serious inconveniences to communities.  In 2014, with funding ...

The Indian Housing Project (IHP) is a housing reconstruction project funded by the Government of India and implemented through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Sri Lanka. UN-Habitat is implementing this project in the Northern districts of Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Jaffna. Through a homeowner driven process, UN-Habitat will support 18,000 families to construct ...

Well maintained internal access roads are vital for the smooth functioning of villages in rural Sri Lanka. Internal roads are used daily by residents to travel to their workplaces, agricultural lands and children’s schools as well as to access towns and marketplaces to buy and sell produce. When internal roads are in a state of ...

Water is a precious resource in Sri Lanka’s dry zone. As most rural areas are not linked to pipe borne water, families usually obtain water from available sources including wells, rivers and irrigation tanks. The village of Weligahakandiya in Batticaloa district is no exception. The community in this conflict affected village depend mainly on small ...