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Skills Development for Economic Empowerment and the creations of Livelihoods after Tsunami- ILO CBTREE Project, SriLanka

Project Number	SRL/05/08/BEL
Government Counterpart	Ministry of Labor Relations and Man Power, District Secretariat of Ampara
Partners / Donors	Local NGOs/Government of Belgium
Total Project Budget	$ 1.56 million
Location (State and District)	Tsunami Affected Divisions of Ampara District, SriLanka
Duration	2006 – 2007(Presently on a no-cost extension up to June 2008)
Sector(s)	Employment
UNDAF/MDGs	UNDAF Outcome 01
Contacts	In Colombo Ms. Pramo Weerasekara , Programme Assistant Tel: +94 11 2592525 ext. 293 or In Ampara Mr. Ramalingam Sivapragasam, National Project Manager, Tel: +94 63 2224882/ +94 77 3074188

Background
The ILO CB-TREE Project, or Community-based Training for Economic Empowerment, is a joint undertaking of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Government of Belgium to help the Government of Sri Lanka specifically, in the restoration of livelihoods and revival of local economies, in areas that has been affected by the tsunami through skills training, enterprise development and the installation of appropriate economic support mechanisms at the community level. The Project is being implemented in Ampara District since February 2006.

The Project is initially planned for Trincomalee and Ampara districts but due to escalation of conflicts in Trincomalee during the community preparation stage, it was limited to Ampara district with same output targets.

Objectives

• Target groups are trained, their communities mobilized and empowered
• CB-TREE concepts, methodology and strategies adapted to the SriLankan context and used by partners
• National Policy on community-based training developed for the Government of SriLanka
• At the end of the Project, it hopes to achieve the following:
1. 45 villages covered in the tsunami affected divisions of the district
2. 2000 beneficiaries trained and 70% of them engaged in enterprise projects
3. 10 community funds organized and operational
4. 2400 community members indirectly benefitting from the intervention
5. CB-TREE Methodology adapted and introduced to Government

Strategy
The ILO CB-TREE Project is involved in a two-pronged strategic activity; the provision of technical and financial assistance to tsunami victims in Ampara District to restore or rehabilitate their lost livelihoods through skills training, enterprise development and related support services, and, the preparation of a national policy paper on community-based training based on the project concept, methodology and experience in order to maximize the opportunity to help government in developing effective and efficient policies and programmes for poverty reduction.

The Project specifically addresses income-generation as its entry point. The main strategy is to enhance production skills and transform the traditional concept of livelihood into profit conscious micro-enterprises in order to be more sustainable. This is done through skills training coupled with practical entrepreneurship schemes while at the same time developing community support mechanisms through the creation of internal market structures orchestrated by community-owned and managed financing system that is compatible with the nature of village economies.

Achievements

Outputs	Accomplished as at end of April 2008
Trained beneficiaries	558
Beneficiaries receiving training	282
Villages covered	54
Training programs completed	56
Group Enterprises created	56
Beneficiaries engaged in enterprises	445
Groups with co-funds	07
Beneficiaries of co-funds	601
Local partners mobilized	15
Capability building training provided to	247
Studies conducted	2
Project Manual	1 Manual
Product Exhibitions held	02