Press Conference 13 Nov 2008 Opening Remarks by Naoko Ishii World Bank Group Country Director for Sri Lanka Thank you so much for coming. We hosted a workshop on the new Country Assistance Strategy in early October. Since then we have received a number of questions regarding the conflict sensitive approach taken in the CAS and actual and proposed programs for the conflict affected areas, as well as concerns about our engagement with the Eastern Provincial Council. The purpose of this media briefing is to explain to you our approach to the conflict affected, with particular emphasis on the “conflict filter” and to share with you our work in the North and East. Why conflict sensitive approach? -- The ongoing conflict has been a major obstacle to the longer-term development. It permeates every aspect of the society, including the results of development assistance. But we cannot wait for the conflict to be over; rather we need to address conflict driven needs in a more systematic manner. We need to do so in a sensitive way so that we avoid to inadvertently fuel the conflict on the ground. What is the “conflict filter”? How it works? This is an instrument we have developed to keep us alert to conflict sensitivities. It is a list of questions to ask ourselves consistently as we plan, develop projects with official counterparts and supervise ongoing efforts. This filter is most clearly applicable when we support work in areas directly affected by conflict but it is just as useful to apply to our work right across Sri Lanka. The filter helps us consider whether we have asked enough people what they think. And have we asked a good mix of people considering ethnicity, gender, religion, civil society organizations, political parties, government officials and those who should be in line to benefit from a project? Is there an adequate, impartial and accessible grievance mechanism to listen to peoples’ complaints about a project? Are the managers and administrators of the project sensitive to inter-ethnic issues like communicating in local languages, of an appropriate mix themselves and making decisions transparently based on the determined development needs of the community rather than, dare we say, political and other considerations? Have we been keen to special needs generated by the conflict and violence itself like psycho-social impacts on communities, human resource shortages in education and health? And, lastly have we made sufficient effort to capture opportunities to strengthen reconciliation and inter-ethnic trust through projects? For example, can we choose multi-ethnic communities, all other things being equal, under community development projects, and can we encourage Tamil- and Sinhala-speaking students to learn each others’ language by working towards mixed Tamil-Sinhala schooling under education projects? The conflict filter has been formulated in consultation with donors and CSOs in this country, as well as with experts at the World Bank, based on the experiences on the ground. In others words, this is not something created at a desk, but efforts already made and tested, if not completed, in response to challenges on the ground.. What is our work in the North and East? We had the Bank-supported operation in the North and East as early as in 2000. Under the previous CAS, several North East related projects were parked under Equity and Tsunami Pillars. Currently, we have 14 projects ongoing, among which about 30 percent are estimated to be for the North and East, or conflict driven needs. Those operations range from housing, to livelihood, rural infrastructure, irrigation, agricultural production, health and education. (see handouts information sheet of projects). Among newly proposed projects under the new CAS, we expect about 30 percent of resources to be allocated to the North and East, or conflict driven needs, though the final decision is made by the government. Going forward: For now as we move ahead with the new conflict sensitive CAS, it is critical for us to stay alert to ensure our supported operations do not create further tensions on the ground, while we address more systematically causes and consequences of the conflict. The conflict filter will need to be updated in parallel with the constantly changing ground situation. Our team has been and will be there in person as frequently as possible to keep our consultation up and running to hear the voices of citizens across party, ethnic, religious and geographical lines, both in private and public sector, so that we can read the ground situation from multiple angles, and best address challenges. Certainly the situation in the east is far from optimal and we have encountered many challenges. However we believe that by supporting development, livelihoods, public services, that we will give hope for a better future of the people in the conflict affected areas. We believe it is important to work with and strengthen local government authorities. At the same time, efforts for security and development effort need to go hand in hand. The international community, development partners, civil society groups, and stakeholders need to work together to help bring the conducive environment |
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