“Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness and pull another hand into the light”

CHA responds to the right of all people to a life of security, dignity and access to basic needs. We support the right to pursue a life that is without fear, persecution or personal deprivation.

The individual in need is not a victim but persons in need of support. It’s vital that we recognise that these people are not simply objects of charity but people with rights who need to be consulted, given a choice, be treated with dignity and be active participants in the decisions that concern them.

The Relief and Rehabilitation Unit centre staging lives of those in need was set up with the unfolding of the Tsunami disaster which called for an immediate national response. The unit focused on direct personalized delivery of assistance to those in need and transformed the lives of over a 106,000 families in 2005-8. We also conducted a hugely successful quick impact small grants programe through CBOs and NGOs enabling enhanced capacity of these partners as well through our joint work. We set up Urumaya- Social Enterprise working with tsunami affected communities. People from four districts in the South, two in the East and one in the North were linked through this effort to ensure sustainable livelihood of many.

Towards the end of 2005 with the resumption of conflict, our partnership with the Government of the Netherlands and other donors enabled the expansion of the program to conflict affected areas where we worked directly with internally displaced persons. Families, who had been though multiple displacements, lost loved ones, their means to a livelihood and all that they held dear. Our efforts both though direct implementation  and through local CBOs and NGOs focused on Immediate relief, permanent housing, livelihood, health, water sanitation  and education and enabled assistance to over 188,358 persons over a period of two years.

The Community protection network (CPN)  established throughout 12 Districts, with a core objective to promote and protect of human rights at the district level .The existence of CPNs signifies a much-needed bridge between citizens at the grassroots level and decision-makers, humanitarian actors and the local government. In addition the free legal aid programe touched the lives of many through legal clinics and representation through CHA district lawyers.

In 2009, we focused primarily on the recently displaced and enabled assistance to those in dire conditions in the form of food relief, medical programes, education, toilets and nonfood relief items.  Our work has enabled assistance to over 67,250 persons from January – July alone, this includes a feeding programe over a four month period for 4000-5000 people daily.

We partnered like minded people and agencies in Sri Lanka and overseas who wished to assist the young, the old, children who patiently wait for the day to return in safety to their places of habitual residence, to rebuild and repair their once shattered lives.