War and Women: Meeting the Needs of Sri Lanka's Displaced People

Water and sanitation are still in critically short supply at the camps in Vavuniya, just outside the conflict zone – a situation that disproportionately affects women and girls. Women report that the shortage of latrines is hardest on them. Men and children can use the bush, but women have to wait in line to use trench toilets that carry a stench. CARE is urgently appealing to donors to provide the funds necessary to install additional sanitary facilities.

Emergency trench toilets were erected immediately as a temporary measure, but these need to be replaced quickly with semi-permanent latrines to prevent the spread of disease and ensure sanitation in the camps. While CARE and other agencies are installing water taps and tanks, the relief response is still struggling to bring in enough water, particularly as the dry season approaches.

Women face the brunt of these water shortages. Just as they did before their lives were disrupted, women are responsible for collecting water for their families in the camps; and the majority of people lining up to get water from collection points are women.

As in its emergency response work around the world, CARE is making a special effort to meet the needs of women, including providing sanitary supplies and crucial items for mothers with small children. Along with massive logistical issues, CARE and other agencies are grappling with the rising cost of serving a camp population that has nearly tripled in little more than two weeks.

"More than 186,000 displaced people now have managed to reach the camps. Until these people can go home, long-term funding will be needed to ensure their basic needs are met," said CARE Sri Lanka Country Director Nick Osborne, who just returned from Vavuniya, where the majority of the displaced people are in camps.

"People were on the run for months, faced significant hardships, surviving without enough food and water. We need to make sure that in these camps, they can access food, clean water and sanitation. We urgently need additional funding to meet the current needs of the people already in the camps, let alone prepare for the second wave of people out of the conflict zone, when they arrive."

Despite worldwide attention to one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world today, the UN appeal for the relief response is only 30-percent funded. On Monday, May 4, the UN presented an emergency funding document to donors, identifying urgent needs of food, water and sanitation.

CARE is appealing for $9 million for its immediate emergency response and to assist in the long-term recovery, rebuilding homes, livelihoods, infrastructure and social services.

About CARE: CARE, which has worked in all parts of Sri Lanka since 1950, has extensive experience working with conflict-affected communities in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Throughout the 25-year conflict, CARE has provided support for food production, infrastructure rehabilitation, savings and credit, income generation, and emergency assistance such as shelter, access to water and sanitation facilities.