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Civil society agenda for rehabilitation and development

The worst ever natural disaster to hit Sri Lankan shores has had a calamitous impact on the lives of countless numbers of people. But the first phase of the local and international responses to the unprecedented destruction caused by the tsunami has been encouraging.

The response of the general public and civic groups was spontaneous and magnanimous. Not only were contributions made but people personally delivered relief and assistance to those in need.

A tsunami survivor sits in his makeshift shelter among houses that were destroyed by the tsunami in Kallar on east coast. (REUTERS)

By their acts of generosity and solidarity with the victims of the tsunami disaster that have transcended regional boundaries and ethnicity, the people have demonstrated a maturity and compassion towards each other that needs to be built upon.

Nevertheless, there are improvements that have to be made in the delivery of relief assistance. Even though supplies have been adequate, there have been reports of disorder in many welfare centres, long waits for food, and looting of supplies.

There are also reports of rapes, abduction of children and various forms of exploitation of victims.

Having studied the prevailing situation, we are of the opinion that the relief effort has been hampered in part because of over-centralisation in Colombo, and also because civil society groups in the affected areas have not been adequately mobilised in order to make the delivery of relief more effective.

We believe that civil society groups in the affected areas have a two-fold role to play. They could assist in the immediate task of delivering and monitoring the relief supplies. They could also contribute to the longer-term rehabilitation of households and the reconstruction of the affected areas.

The latter will require the mobilisation of civil society effort on an unprecedented scale and civil society organizations need to give high priority to that task and begin preparing for it.

We, therefore believe that the entire relief and rehabilitation effort must be so organized that it empowers the communities that are affected and builds up their capacity to recover fully from the disaster.

Civil society would need to pay close attention to and continuously monitor the systems, procedures and processes that are in operation in order to ensure that all activities and programs relating to relief and rehabilitation fulfil the conditions that are intrinsic to good governance and human development.

Accordingly as civil society organizations, we propose to collaborate in:

* Supporting citizens and civic organisations in the affected areas and building up their capacity to be involved in the coordination, monitoring and administration of aid and the task of mid-term and long-term planning for rehabilitation and development of the affected communities.

* Strengthening structures at the district and divisional level to prevent excessive centralisation and promote and adequate degree of decentralization and community participation in all relief and rehabilitation activities.

* Setting up mechanisms to ensure that the entire process of relief and rehabilitation is equitable, needs-based and free from discrimination:

* Exchanging information and mapping out relief efforts so as to assist civil society, private sector and public sector organisations to plan and coordinate their activities more effectively.

* Establishing systems and mechanisms to promote and monitor the accountability and transparency of government, civil society organizations, the private sector and all other agencies involved in the relief effort.

* Organising the activities and programmes in a manner that defines the obligations and responsibilities of the providers of relief and rehabilitation and the rights and entitlements of victims.

* Set up mechanisms to monitor the human rights of the affected people, especially vulnerable groups such as women and children.

* Promoting initiatives to create a society wide process of sharing and caring which makes a substantial contribution towards the relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.

Apart from these actions that civil society can take upon itself, we believe that the government has the primary responsibility to address these issues and establish the necessary institutional and procedural framework.

We urge that the government and its task forces the donors, the private sector, the LTTE and all agencies engaged in relief and rehabilitation to ensure that these essential elements of equity, non-discrimination, participation, transparency, accountability, the definition of rights and responsibilities and the protection of human rights are built into every part of the relief and rehabilitation effort.

In doing so we urge the government, its task forces and the donor community to establish a regular institutionalized process of consultations with civil society.

The legislation dealing with the rehabilitation and reconstruction should be available for public scrutiny and discussion before enactment and civil society should have the opportunity to participate in and contribute to the medium and long-term plans before they are finalised.

In the North and East effective arrangements for cooperation between government, the LTTE and civil society are indispensable for reaching the affected population.

We also emphasise the urgent need for high level political reconciliation to accompany the people's unity of purpose and sense of solidarity that have transcended regional boundaries and ethnicity.

The task of rebuilding the country must transcend party agendas and all parties must engage in it with a sense of shared responsibility subordinating their party identity to the national need.

Accordingly, joint initiatives are needed at the highest political level to reflect and strengthen the consensus at the grass roots level of society.

This would be important in setting up the necessary structures for relief and rehabilitation that would gain the support and active participation of all political parties at the Provincial, District and Divisional levels.

Participating institutions and representatives:

Sarvodaya - Dr. Vinya Ariyaratna, Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies - Jeevan Thiagarajah, Marga Institute - Basil Illangakoon, Foundation for Co-Existence - Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe, National Peace Council - Dr. Jehan Perera, Centre for Policy Alternatives - Kethesh Loganathan, Transparency International (Sri Lanka Branch) - J.C. Welimuna, Social and Economic Development Centre (SEDEC) - Newton Fernando, International Centre for Ethnic Studies - Radhika Coomaraswamy, People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) - Kingsley Rodrigo, Movement for the Defence of Democratic Rights - Wimal Fernando, Centre for Society and Religion-Centre for Poverty Analysis - Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, Women's Media Collective - Dr. Sepali Kottegoda, Viluthu, Human Resources Development Centre - Shanthi Sachithanandan and EORO Project - Leo Fonseka.

The full list of participants. These include the members of the Civil Society Committee of the NARPC.

Godfrey Gunatilleke - Marga Institute - Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Gulzar Jafferjee - Jafferjee Brothers Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Kingsley Rodrigo - People's Association for Free & Fair Elections, Nilhan de Mel - National Peace Council, Dr. Jehan Perera - National Peace Council, Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake - Centre for Poverty Analysis, Dr. Kumar Rupesinghe - Foundation for Co-Existence, Wimal Fernando - Movement for Defence of Democratic Rights, Deva Rodrigo - Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Manouri Muttetuwegama - Civil Rights Movement Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Dr. Sepali Kottegoda - Women's Media Collective, Mark Fernando - Retired Supreme Court Judge, SEDEC, Newton Fernando - Socio-Economic Development Centre, Basil Illangakoon - Marga Institute, Jeevan Thiagarajah - Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies, Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne - Sarvodaya, Shanthi Sachithanandan - Viluthu, Human Resources Development Centre, Prof. Ranjith Amerasinghe - University of Peradeniya Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Prof. Laksiri Fernando - Peace Building Project, Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, Javid Yusuf - Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, S. Balakrishnan - National Anti-War Front, Member of the Civil Society Committee, NACPR, H.A. Bandaranayake - Marga Institute, J.C. Welimuna - Transparency International (Sri Lanka Chapter) and Leo Fonseka - EORO Project.

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