The Government today (Thursday 10 April) announced that it was publishing, with immediate effect, the Needs Assessment Document for the North and the East submitted to it by the multilateral community.

The document which was prepared after being commissioned by the Sub Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs (SIHRN) was delivered to the Government and the LTTE on Monday.

The document has been produced after months of work and covers a wide range of issues relating to the North and the East. This needs assessment was felt necessary to look at the immediate needs of the war torn areas of the Island. In particular the Government was keen that development of roads as well as housing, schools and hospitals brought a real peace dividend to an area where many people were forced to flee during the war and where much destruction has taken place.

The Government at this stage is studying the document and looking to see how it can build the recommendations into the national priorities development document ‘Regaining Sri Lanka’ which it will then submit to the forthcoming Tokyo Donors Conference to be held in early June.

The needs assessment document looks at a number of important areas that are of immediate concern in the North and the East. These include protection and resettlement, health, education and housing. It also looks into infrastructure, agriculture and livelihoods as well as capacity development.

The document which has also been delivered to the LTTE seeks to provide solutions to these areas over the next few years. Projects have had to be prioritised since the list is so long and the ability for both peace parties to implement all the necessary changes immediately would prove impossible.

The Government has asked for comments to be submitted to Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation by Tuesday 6th May before recommendations are included in the larger island wide national priorities paper ‘Regaining Sri Lanka’.

It is expected that the Tokyo Donors Conference will be attended by a large number of Donors and will be co-chaired by Japan, the United States, Norway and the European Union. The Government is seeking the widest possible support form the Donor community and has sent Minister Milinda Moragoda on a number of missions. The Minister visited the European Commission Headquarters in Brussels last week as well as a visit to meet Clare Short the UK development minister. He will be participating in a further meeting in Washington next Monday where Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State will be in attendance.