The Sri Lankan civil war was one of the longest running armed conflicts in Asia until the LTTE was militarily defeated by the Sri Lankan Military in May 2009.

Sri Lanka has also been steadily recovering from the devastation caused by the tsunami in December 2004 that killed thousands of people and destroyed as many homes and livelihoods.

ActionAid in Sri Lanka

Since the tsunami, ActionAid has prioritised the rebuilding of livelihoods for the people of the hardest hit areas in the South and East of the country. With local partner, Women and Child Care Organisation (WACCO), our focus is to rebuild the lives of women who have been affected by both the civil war and the 2004 tsunami.

Activities undertaken by the ActionAid team and WACCO include the creation of local cooperative groups that provide women with a secure means through which they can sell their goods locally and boost their earning capacity.

Because women are at risk from exploitation, we provide them with training in managing, running and promoting their businesses.

We are also working to educate women on how to cope with sexual abuse, and we provide counselling services to women who are dealing with trauma as a result of the war, the tsunami, gender abuse, and the general trials of poverty.

The salinization of paddy fields has converted soils that were once rich in nutrients, into defunct lots of land. We are helping to regenerate the agricultural sector that was so damaged during the tsunami, and return the Southern and Eastern parts of the country to a state of normal agricultural production.

Essential Stats

	Sri Lanka	Australia
Population	21.3 million (2009)	21.5 million (2009)
Area	65,610 km2	7,703,581 km2
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	$91.9 billion (2008)	$970.6 billion (2009)
GDP per capita	$4,300 (2009)	$44,598 (2009)
Human Development Index	0.743 (2009)	0.965 (2009)
Life expectancy (male/female)	68.8/76.2 (2005-2010)	79/84 (2005-2010
Adult literacy (%)	90.7 (1995-2005)	99 (1995-2005)