Sri Lanka

The island nation of Sri Lanka has experienced one of the longest civil conflicts in the world. The armed struggle of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, better known as the Tamil Tigers) for the creation of an independent Tamil state ended in their defeat by the governmental forces in May 2009. The conflict, which lasted almost three decades, caused more than 100,000 deaths. During the last phase of the war alone, more than 300 thousand people were internally displaced and had to spend months and in some cases years in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

People in Need has been active in Sri Lanka since early 2005, in the aftermath of the destructive tsunami. The main PIN target area was Eastern Province where the tsunami aggravated the already grave situation inflicted by the protracted civil war. The initial relief and immediate recovery activities were followed by a series of long-term reconstruction and development projects and activities, mainly in the sectors of good governance, education, livelihoods and agriculture.

Since 2009, PIN has focused on helping IDPs and returnees in the North affected by the last phase of the war. Initially, People in Need operated in the Pulmoddai IDP camp and later assisted with reintegration of the returning IDPs to Vavuniya, Mullativu and Kilinochchi Districts and the recovery of the war-affected area.

PIN also has focused on transferring its Cambodian experience with market-based promotion of biogas systems as renewable sources of energy for households and SMEs.