Uva Province

Plan Sri Lanka has been working in the South-East since 1996, and operates in the districts of Monaragala, Buttala, Wellawaya, Siyabalanduwa and Madulla in Uva Province. Operation areas encompass 2 of the poorest districts in the country, as well as the least developed areas other than the war-affected North and East.

Economic activities centre on irrigation-fed, paddy-based agriculture, rain-fed cultivation and small rubber plantations. While generally considered a dry area, there are occasionally long spells of severe drought.

Programme highlights

Developing healthy practices

Plan Sri Lanka facilitates the training of health volunteers in first aid and nutrition, home gardening for food security, child-raising, and sexual and reproductive health. An awareness programme on HIV and AIDS has been conducted in Siyambalanduwa area, with input from the health authorities. 

Children raise their voices 

A number of child media projects have been implemented in partnership with schools, community radio stations, and provincial education authorities to help children speak out on issues that affect them.

Centres where children can broadcast their own radio have been set up in 4 schools, and Uva Community Radio has allocated an exclusive time slot of one hour each weekday for schools to broadcast their own programmes. Plan Sri Lanka aims to launch this initiative in the remaining schools in the area.

Nurturing knowledge and crops

Four irrigation schemes have been completed and handed over to farmer organisations. In addition, 11 wells have been constructed in 5 divisional areas, while training has been provided in areas including water management, crop diversification and soil conservation.

Protecting children’s right to a quality education

Plan Sri Lanka has financially supported the training of 50 women to enhance the quality of early childhood care and development services. These teachers gained knowledge in stimulating child development techniques. They developed an awareness of the national policy frameworks and standards that need to be met to protect children’s right to a good education and are ensuring they are promoted in their pre-schools.

As a result, parents are realising the importance of education. Ajantha, a preschool teacher, has seen a change in parent support. “Their thinking pattern, attitudes and approach have totally changed. Earlier they wanted to improve the pre-school physically but now their main target is improving children’s performance,” she said.

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