Colombo – Poor communities in Ampara, an eastern district of Sri Lanka affected by two decades of violence and the 2004 tsunami, can look forward to greater income security, following a new agreement signed today between the European Commission (EC) and IOM.

The EC will provide EUR 9.9 million over four years to fund an IOM Community Livelihood Support project that will directly benefit about 100,000 people in Ampara, where some 10,000 people died in the tsunami.

The project will help communities and local authorities to construct and renovate critical productive and social infrastructure, such as rice mills and fish processing and packaging facilities. It will also improve vital social services such as health clinics and vocational training centres.

“One important goal of the project is to enhance the profitability of small and medium enterprises through training. We need to teach people how to manage businesses efficiently, how to add value to local products and how to reach more lucrative markets,” says IOM Sri Lanka Chief of Mission, Christopher Gascon.

The project will also encourage women and young people to develop marketable skills through training, backed up by recognized certification and work experience.

It will also identify job opportunities and potential employers. It will also work with government and commercial banks to train entrepreneurs in business planning, in order to increase community access to credit.

IOM has been working in Ampara and throughout Sri Lanka with families displaced by the conflict since 2002. Following the tsunami, it constructed emergency and transitional shelters, provided water and sanitation facilities, and replaced tools and equipment to help affected families generate income and restart their lives.

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For more information, please contact: Annie E. Scarborough, IOM Sri Lanka, Tel: +0773 020 399, E-mail: annies@iomsrilanka.org