‘Changing Lives’

Home Affairs Minister Vajira Abeywardena and Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Head of Cooperation Libuse Soukupova

The perseverance of individuals and communities in the north and the east of Sri Lanka has been depicted through a photo and film exhibition at the Park Street Mews. 

The exhibition, inaugurated on 8 June at 6 p.m., witnessed the presence of the Minister of Home Affairs, Vajira Abeywardena, Libuse Soukupova, Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and Willem Verpoest, Charge d ‘Affaire a.i. , Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Laura Gualdi, Programme Manager for  Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition at the European Commission, Alain Sibenaler, UN Resident Coordinator a.i., and Amena Arif, IFC Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives. 

The three-day exhibition showcases the strong partnership that has been forged over the years between the people of Sri Lanka, the district Government bodies, the EU, UN agencies and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group. The districts of Batticaloa, Ampara, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura and Mannar, where the photos and films were shot, demonstrate how the European Union funded Support to District Development Programme (EU-SDDP) has made a tangible and sustainable contribution towards improving the lives of these communities. 

Addressing the gathering, Soukupova said: “The narratives seen during the exhibition have been illustrated through the photographs taken by Lekha Edirisinghe and the seven mini-documentaries filmed by Ranga Jagoda. They are a reflection of all the work that is being put into empowering war affected communities. The EU-SDDP has played an important role in ensuring that the communities themselves are strong enough to take charge of their own future.”

Among the documentaries screened at the event were the stories of:

Seetha Menike, a woman entrepreneur who received an SME loan from SANASA Development Bank facilitated through the bank’s partnership with IFC;

Wijesiri, a farmer from Anuradhapura District who was supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Department of Agriculture to grow onion true seeds;

A group of women from Mannar who were helped in setting up a mini-garment production facility through the intervention of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the National Youth Services Council (NYSC);

A family of children with irregular school attendance who were re-engaged at school through the work of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and local partner OfERR;

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) support to empower women with disabilities in Vavuniya to enhance their skills in producing and marketing leather and palmyrah products, and in empowering youth from Vaharai to acquire leadership and business skills to help them work with Government institutions to find solutions to community issues, and

The United Nations Office for Project Services’ (UNOPS) provision of facilities, training and community education to help the Kattankudy Urban Council and community to deal with a significant garbage and health challenge through successful solid waste management.

Jointly implemented by five agencies of the United Nations namely UNDP, UNICEF, UNOPS, FAO and ILO, and IFC, EU-SDDP is a European Union funded development cooperation programme with a total financial envelope of EUR 60 million. Its objective is to contribute to poverty reduction and livelihood development in seven districts in the North and East to bridge the socio-economic gap with the rest of the country. The programme supports the conflict-affected districts of Batticaloa, Mannar, Vavuniya, Ampara, Monaragala, Anuradhapura and Puttalam impacting half a million people.

Pix by Upul Abayasekara