Gender and Development

Sri Lanka

The tsunami disaster that hit Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004 destroyed the livelihoods of communities that were barely emerging from years of conflict in the north and east. In response to the tsunami disaster, an emergency project, the Tsunami Affected Areas Rebuilding Project (TAARP) was developed in conjunction with the processing of the North East Communities Reconstruction and Development Project (NECORD) Phase II to provide opportunities for both men and women to restart livelihood and enterprise activities.

Objectives and Scope

The joint loan including Tsunami Affected Areas Rebuilding Project and North East Community Restoration and Development Project II was approved on 14 April 2005 for $63 million and $72.7 million respectively.

TAARP: The objective of TAARP is to rapidly improve the living conditions and well-being of a significant number of people in the tsunami-affected areas by restoring basic social infrastructure, community and public services and livelihoods. TAARP components include

• road rebuilding and rehabilitation
• north east coastal community development
• rural finance and livelihood restoration
• water supply and sanitation
• southern province reconstruction
• coastal resources protection
• north east community restoration and development
• legal assistance, governance and anticorruption

NECORD II: The objective of NECORD II is to rapidly improve the living conditions and well-being of a significant number of people in the conflict-affected areas of the north east by restoring basic social infrastructure, community and public services and livelihoods. NECORD II components include

• community development
• civil works: access and rural roads building and rehabilitation
• civil works: basic infrastructure development (health, education, water supply and sanitation, irrigation)
• institutional infrastructure development and institutional strengthening

Framework for Gender and Development Activities

In the past 2 decades, while the conflict in Sri Lanka resulted in an increase of female- headed households and changes in gender roles, women still suffer from unequal access to resources and skills training, inequitable division of labor, job discrimination, wage disparities, increasing domestic violence, and incest. The joint Project aims for equal participation of men and women in

• urban planning and village reconstruction and development activities
• recovery of economic activities with special attention to the needs of war widows and female-headed households in conflict and tsunami-affected areas
• infrastructure planning, construction, maintenance and management activities
• environmental and coastal resource management activities

Gender-Inclusive Design

A component-wise gender action plan (GAP) was developed during the joint loan appraisal which was incorporated into the project design and included in the loan agreement. The joint project GAP addresses existing gender disparities in social, economic and political spheres and supports initiatives to improve women’s participation in and benefits from basic social infrastructure, community and public services, and livelihood enhancement activities in the aftermath of the tsunami and 20 years of civil war. The Project GAP describes gender design features mainstreamed in all project components:

Livelihood/Coastal:

• support formation of community-based organizations (CBOs) for women in fishing communities to re-establish livelihoods - selling fresh fish, making and selling dried fish
• train women in leadership and organizational skills for management of CBOs
• provide women with training and micro credit for economic activities
• provide women and men with access to value addition processes, local and other markets
• provide women and men with information and access to other types of skills training and livelihood opportunities

Coastal Management:

• consult both women and men in developing the coastal resources management plan
• promote participation of and training for women and men in implementation and management of coastal resources
• support promotion of fisheries-related and non-fisheries employment and livelihood opportunities for women and single-headed households

Village Development:

• consult both men and women in village reconstruction and development plans
• ensure the participation of both men and women in establishing CBOs and training for managing them
• secure women’s rights in obtaining titles to housing and property
• provide employment opportunities for women and men in shelter construction
• ensure that the special needs of women, single-headed households, children, the elderly and the disabled are addressed in village reconstruction design and planning
• provide training to women and men on micro-credit and revolving fund schemes
• provide referral services and access to information for livelihood support and enterprises to both women and men

Education:

• provide suitable quarters for female teachers to encourage them to move to these areas
• encourage recruitment of female and male teachers for teacher training who are from or are willing to relocate to these areas
• encourage the involvement of both women and men in school management and education committees

Water Supply and Sanitation:

• ensure the equal participation of men and women in planning, construction and maintenance of water supply schemes
• encourage women to take leadership in CBOs and working committees for the scheme
• consult women in the community on water supply options, e.g. common wells, taps, rainwater harvesting tanks
• ensure that the privacy and safety needs of women and special needs of the elderly and disabled are addressed in the design of common wells, the provision of individual water sources and sanitation facilities
• obtain women’s input on the location of water sources and individual sanitation facilities
• train both women and men in the maintenance of water supply and sanitation schemes

Health:

• ensure that health facilities cater to the physical and psychological needs of tsunami- and conflict-affected men, women, children, the elderly and the disabled
• ensure wage parity for men and women in constructing health facilities
• ensure that the health facilities have separate units for sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS providing information and testing services and treatment
• recruit experts (women and men) from NGOs to deliver awareness and prevention training on HIV/AIDS to contractors, construction personnel and workers and local communities

Irrigation:

• ensure the equal participation of women and men in decisions for reconstruction of irrigation schemes
• train both women and men where socially and culturally appropriate, to maintain irrigation schemes
• encourage women and men to be involved in inland fisheries

Roads:

• orient contractors to employ women and ensure wage parity
• ensure the participation of local men and women in the planning, construction and maintenance of infrastructure
• provide security and private sanitary facilities for female workers on construction sites
• encourage local women and men to participate in road construction through a “cash for work” scheme

Livelihood/Training:

• promote and facilitate women’s participation in skill development
• provide facilities to ensure women’s participation in skill training

Livelihood/Agriculture/Livestock:

• support reestablishment of women’s rural development societies to promote women’s livelihood activities
• educate extension service providers on gender issues
• recruit female extension staff to cater to women with restricted mobility
• provide women with seed packets to grow high-nutrition vegetables in their home gardens
• arrange post-harvest technology training and linkages to service providers for both women and men

Urban Development:

• consult both women and men in the urban development planning process
• incorporate special needs of single-headed households, the elderly and the disabled in urban planning and construction
• ensure that public facilities have separate sanitary facilities and rest areas for women and the elderly and disabled access
• promote the ‘cash for work’ system among local men and women in the process of urban cleaning and establishing infrastructure

Institutional Development and Capacity Building:

• consult staff to determine needs and necessary facilities when designing and planning the offices to be constructed
• provide adequate and separate facilities for women and men in the reconstruction of local government and district offices
• ensure equal access to and participation of women and men in training programmes
• actively promote women’s entry into higher levels of public administration
• provide gender awareness training to public administration staff to ensure that women are not discriminated against in getting access to and benefiting from local government services

Guidance on Gender and Development Activities

In collaboration with the executing agencies, the ADB Sri Lanka Gender Specialist will monitor and report on the implementation of the joint project GAP and provide assistance as necessary. The capacity of project implementing staff will be strengthened through training and technical assistance to ensure GAP implementation.