STOP THE VIOLENCE – INCREASE THE PEACE!!

STOP THE VIOLENCE – INCREASE THE PEACE!!

Research Intelligence Unit - www.riunit.com


Neither side in the conflict has managed to find a solution to ease the suffering of the many thousands of conflict affected civilians in the north. Moreover, aid agencies and health staff have fallen victim and been prevented from conducting duties. A solution in this connection is urgently needed to address the logistical issues in getting aid to the displaced.

Choking

International Committee of the Red Cross has requested Sri Lanka’s warring parties to allow essential supplies to reach tens of thousands of increasingly desperate civilians in Jaffna. The Committee’s regional head said that around a million people in the area were choking, adding that ‘when you cant’ take in oxygen, you know what the consequences are’. He made the statement on his return from a five-day mission in Sri Lanka.

The renewed conflict has now been raging for over one month, cutting off the local people from essential medical and other supplies. Compounding the situation, the city is having to house some 50,000 refugees from neighboring conflict areas who have fled in an attempt to secure their personal safety. They are currently living under precarious conditions in schools and temples. Some 8,000 foreign national are also living in Jaffna city and seeking way to make the exit.

Additionally, an estimated 60,000 people are displaced in the eastern province as a consequence of the conflict according to sources.

Following the Red Cross statement last Friday, the Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition said that the Sri Lankan President has given specific instructions to get humanitarian aid to reach the affected areas, including the LTTE who may be injured in the conflict. The Ministry added that over Rs320 million worth of drugs have been dispatched to the non-government held areas of Mullativu and Killionochchi.

Aid block

However, the ten lorries that had been dispatched had not been able to travel beyond Vavuniya due to road blocks and shelling. On the request of the Health Minister, the ICRC has agreed to take the drugs under its banner in order for them to be delivered to the health directors of Killinochchi and Mullativu hospitals.

The Ministry further claimed that essential medicines worth over Rs25 million were dispatched to the Jaffna teaching hospital and other hospitals in the districts last week, via ship.


North East Province is divided into areas controlled by the GOSL and the LTTE. Since the start of the CFA, health network staff has worked in the LTTE controlled areas on the basis of obtaining security clearance from forces representing both sides. For example, in the district of Mannar and Vavuniya, some of the PHM areas are located in LTTE controlled areas so doctors and midwives would operate in all areas whilst the base represented by the DPDHS (deputy provincial director of remained in the town, controlled by the GOSL.

Since the start of recent escalation in violence, the work of the district health staff has been severely paralyzed with respect to visiting the LTTE controlled areas. In a recent incident, an ambulance was blown up along with the passenger that included a doctor and midwives. Local medical staff could not identify the perpetrators.

The executive director of the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA), claimed that part of the warfare ‘is to batter people psychologically, and physically prevent them from getting help’. The local and international NGOs have for several weeks been protesting the imposition of bureaucratic restrictions by the government.
Under the rules of conflict, certain groups cannot be attacked. However, in Sri Lanka a Tamil Red Cross worker was shot and killed in Vavuniya early August, two ambulances ferrying wounded in Muttur was blown off the road and a claymore bomb destroyed an ambulance in LTTE held Vanni, killing five medical workers.
Research intelligence

Children living in the North East Province of Sri Lanka have long been placed at a disadvantage in many respects as a result of direct exposure to the ethnic conflict. Sans any comprehensive study that included areas held by the LTTE since 1982, the true picture of children’s nutrition in the north continues to remain vague. Under the circumstances, Sri Lanka’s claim to be amongst the more socially advanced of the developing nations and its UNDP Human Development Ranking of 84 (1999) should be viewed with some caution as a number of districts have not been surveyed in its entirety.

Moreover, the system has all but broken-down in the conflict affected areas where even the compilation of birth and immunization registers has not been maintained. The distribution of basic medical equipment to these areas over recent years has also not been forthcoming and many Medical Officers of Health (MOH) have to operate sans electricity supply, piped water and living quarters

Between September 2004 and August 2006, the Research Intelligence Unit conducted a baseline survey and follow-up quarterly surveillance of over 1000 children in the districts of Mannar and Vavuniya. Data analysis of the sample resulted in the revelation of a number of interesting findings, some of which confirmed previous study results and some that were new. The key findings included the following;

• Malnutrition, especially wasting, is most prominently seen in two year old children.
• Malnutrition, especially under-weight in the LTTE controlled areas (46 per cent) is notably higher than in the government controlled areas (29 per cent). Similarly, stunting in the LTTE areas (25.9 per cent vs. 16 per cent) and wasting (23 per cent compared to 17.4 per cent) was found to be much higher than in the government controlled areas.
• The distribution of CSB and Thriposha in all areas was 30 per cent and 33 per cent respectively. The distribution in LTTE areas was 17.2 per cent (CSB) and 15.5 per cent (Thriposha).
• A recorded 67.2 per cent of children’s families had an income of less than Rs.5000. The mean daily expenditure on food was 204.59 in Vavuniya and Rs.251.66 for Mannar. Per capita expenditure on food was found to be Rs.45.35 in Vavuniya and 50.32 in Mannar


Fresh ideas

In a gathering held early September, many of the health network directors and medical experts from both the north and south of Sri Lanka met last weekend at the annual WFP sponsored Mother and Child Nutrition workshop. Amongst those attending were the district health directors from the conflict affected districts of Mannar, Vavuniy and Trincomale.

During the workshop, the participants were called to make localized recommendation to resolve the health related problems faced by local residents in their respective districts.
Whist the problem faced by the Trincomale, Mannar and Vavuniya district staff is beyond the control of the health staff, it was stressed that some form of action, however limited, needs to be taken. Perhaps it would take the form of alerting the higher authorities of the deteriorating situation on a regular basis and making routine recommendations on what action needs to be taken. .

One ideas discussed has been to initiate a publicity campaign on the situation that will alert the local INGO sector as well as the international community. A key point to be stressed would be that children in these areas were already in a disadvantageous position and under the current conflict situation their position has been further jeopardized.

All island

From a wider, all island perspective, most districts are fortunate enough not to be faced with a military conflict situation. Even so, malnutrition levels in many parts remain unacceptably high. Moreover, many remote areas that are physically marginalized in the districts of Monoragala and Badulla are among the most mal-nutrition in the country.

In this connection, a number of new as well as tried and tested ideas have been suggested to address the nutrition questions. Foremost amongst the initiates discussed at the WFP workshop were education programmers for both mother and fathers. Key points in these programs will be to educate on the availability of locally available nutritious foods and their use. Home gardening is also an important strategy that can serve to boost the household nutritional levels. Education on breastfeeding g for young mothers as well as hygiene awareness is set to be included under ‘mothers clubs’ and ‘ clean kitchen’ programmes. Education for father will include awareness building on the negative impact of smoking, drugs and alcohol on children. Such social ill affect the entire population of Sri Lanka.

MOH officers are also expected to work with local Universities and other authorities to further their objectives. Large open spaces within MOH areas need to be used for home gardening and other related activities. Assistance and support from the UN agencies, INGO’s and the government to heighten these activities also need to be pursued.

John Lock said ‘no man is an island onto himself, every one is part of the main’ – This statement made centuries back by the influential political philosopher rings even more true for an island of people who pretend normality and turn a blind eye to his fellow countryman’s’ affliction all too often. Peace can only be enjoyed if it prevails with justice within the entire district, province, island, continent and indeed, the world.


Copyright (RIU 2006) - Prepared exclusively for the Business Standard