Promotion of Human Security: Core Support for District Consortia

Introduction

In January 2004 the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies [CHA] began the implementation of one year project on Promotion of Human Security, which aims to enable core support to be provided to six [6] District Consortia [Batticaloa, Jaffna, Mannar, Puttalam, Trincomalee and Vavuniya] located in areas affected by conflict, for strengthened coordination and networking towards achieving this goal.

The CHA with the status like any other consortium had been striving for quite a long time to find support for district consortia, and consulted and gained concurrence from the Switzerland Embassy in Sri Lanka for the intended project and conducted a preliminary meeting for need assessment and planning of the project with the District Consortia on November 13, 2003 in Vavuniya.

The need for each partner to understand one's role, strengths, gaps, challenges, etc. keeping in line with the Joint Principles of Operation for Agencies Providing Humanitarian Assistance in Sri Lanka were discussed in detail.

Also guidelines to comprising project proposal documents were provided. The meeting was seen as informative and timely with regards to the situation in the country. Comments on the humanitarian sector included lack of transparency particularly on the part of international NGOs with regards to the district-based activities.

A first draft of the proposal which included project proposals from all 6 District Consortia and CHA was presented to the Embassy on December 03, 2003. A number of revisions to the budget had to be made before being forwarded to Bern through the Embassy. Nevertheless the CHA was able to, on principle carryout the project with the Consortia until the agreement with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Political Affairs Division IV was singed on June 03, 2004.

There are three main objectives of the programme as follows;

A second meeting with the Consortia took place on February 06, 2004 in Vavuniya in order to discuss the role of NGOs in North and East and to update the Consortia regarding the latest status of the Proposal. Common issues such as Internally Displaced People, High Security Zones, Indian Fishermen encroaching Sri Lankan sea and NGO offices in districts were discussed at the meeting. It was also a session to share lessons learned so far throughout the existence within districts.

The CHA also led the discussion on promotion of mutual accountability and learning, deepening and strengthening north/east linkages, while also looking to enhance the capacity of District Consortia as well as other local organisations and civil society organisations to contribute more effectively to promotion of human security and peace-building.

A third review with the Consortia was held on July 16, 2004 in Vavuniya where the participation of the Heads of the Consortia was very minimal. At the same review, a longer discussion on a future endeavour proposed by Mr. Martin Stürzinger, to invite members of the second generation of the Sri Lankan diasporas in Switzerland to aid Sri Lankan rehabilitation in conjunction with the Swiss Foreign Ministry where local organisations would be expected to provide accommodation and food took place.

Highlights

1. District Consortia suggested an active focus on project objective 3, ‘Prevention of a recurrence of war' due to recent events in Batticaloa. Some of the plans suggested were:
	Making districts aware of peace dividends; mobilizing the general public to become advocates for peace Work with rural villagers, politicians and the armed forces in the south, where perceptions of conflict come only from the central government Armed forces as a group that decides when to fight; public pressure should support to moderate Exchange between youth in the north and south
2. Each Consortium shared their particular objectives:
	Puttalam a) Expanding coordination, facilitation and networking – wider district coverage and involving more stakeholders b) Clear focus on representation c) Focus on consortium activities through developing a resource centre for member organisations' activities, target population profile, nature of work d) Advocacy regarding human rights violations and peace-related activities e) Increase administrative infrastructure – separate office with new technology.
	Vavuniya a) Goals for 6 subcommittees, 11 activities b) Strengthening subcommittees and increasing independent funds and project-design within each subcommittee c) Training and skills activities – strengthen district base office via increased staff, technology, and computer training d) Utilize volunteers (Swiss proposal) to provide rural services e) Develop a monitoring tool for member organization activities and outcomes
	Jaffna a) Conducting monthly coordination meetings b) Organising training workshops on skills development c) Using effective monthly situation reports to explain activities
	Mannar a) General meetings occur monthly, with 3 sections also meeting to collect information and share it with the GA. The district review is sent to CHA-Colombo and the government b) Using the Peace & Development Program to guide other NGOs and the general society on activities supporting the peace process c) Providing training (computer skills) so member-NGO employees are self-sufficient, have greater job options, and raise the Consortium's profile in the community d) Need more funds from more sources, and more volunteers to extend work. Currently only 25 out of 45 member organizations subsidize the Consortium.
3. Reviews of the past six months: all districts emphasised their need for additional funding to carry out their proposed objectives. In order to achieve the objective of providing Core Support for the District Consortia, the CHA with the consent of the Consortia, proposed to utilise a Reimbursement Mechanism of the funds. The mechanism would be as follows:
	Send requests to Shammi, the Administrative Officer at CHA, at the end of each month with the required documents, which include, supporting documents showing expenditure and financial statement Salaries will be reimbursed immediately if requests are sent up to ten days before payment is due Requests for specific items must be sent by the second week of the month Consortia could request advance funding in writing, providing necessary supporting documents after using the funding