The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do

not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development

Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they
represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included
in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of
their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on
ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily
conform to ADB's terminology.

North East Coastal

Community Development
Project – Sri Lanka

Presented by:
I.L. Thowfeek
Deputy Project Director
NECCDEP
 Project Background
Project Impact: Reduce poverty
and meet basic needs of coastal
communities in eastern province

Project Outcome: Sustainable livelihood

improvements and sound management
of natural resources

Project Period : Six Years (2005-2010)

 Project Components

Tender

MF
IP NGO LEDS NGO

IP
NGO

IP
NGO Calling Tender
for
Implementing
Activities
 Project Area
Name of TAARP NECCDEP
District GN GN
Trinconmalee 53 27

Batticaloa 90 74
Ampara 111 29
Jaffna 32
Killinochchi 10
Mullithivu 35
Total 331 130
 NECCDEP GENDER ACTION PLAN (GAP)
AREAS OF FOCUS
• Equal participation of women and men in urban planning and
village reconstruction and development activities and
processes;
• Recovery of livelihood and economic activities for women and
men while paying special attention to the introduction and
support for livelihood and enterprise activities for war
widows and female headed households in the conflict-
affected areas;
• Equal access of women and men to infrastructure activities in
relation to planning, construction and maintenance;
• Involvement of women and men in environmental
management and coastal resource management.
Women’s Constraints in Access to Finance
• Women, within the overall target group, were recognized as being socially
and economically disadvantaged on the basis of gender
• Women, especially in rural areas, depend on the earnings of men and
their earnings are seen as secondary and supplementary to the income of
the male breadwinner
• Women have less experience in interacting with government authorities
and formal financial institutions
• Women hesitate to go to formal financial institutions, e.g. Banks, as they
are not used to dealing with such institutions and are given little attention
by bank staff
• Banks need an asset guarantee or collateral to issue loans and women
often do not have such resources
• Banks and other financial institution are more interested in loans for
bigger enterprises and business activities in the formal sector.
 NECCDEP: Sustainable Livelihood
Improvement Component-GAP Activities
• Support re-establishment of Women’s Rural Development
Societies (WRDSs) and promote women’s livelihood activities
through them
• Use WRDSs to channel credit and training to poor women in
coastal communities
• Educate extension service providers for better outreach to
women, especially those with mobility constraints
• Provide seed packets for women to grow high-nutrition
vegetables in their home gardens
• Arrange post-harvest technology training, links with technical
assistance and service providers for women and men
• Promote and facilitate women’s participation in skill training.
 Objectives of WRDS
Tsunami affected Area
 Promote women’s empowerment
 Increase income of vulnerable groups

 Conduct Awareness Programs on

Savings, Nutrition, Education etc.
 Create Savings Groups

 Encourage women’s participation in

community development activities
 Micro credit (Livelihood Grants - WRDS)
1. WRDSs formed or strengthened in each village to implement Livelihood
Programs & Micro Credit / Grant Activities
2. Assistance provided to register the WRDSs with the Rural Development
Department
3. Training provided for WRDS members on book keeping & accounts
maintenance so they can manage on-lending to women entrepreneurs
through their newly formed banking systems which is audited by the
Rural Development Department
4. Suitable borrowers (beneficiaries) are identified by WRDSs
5. Training programs on Skill Development Activities are organized and
conducted by Implementing Partner NGOs (IP-NGOs) and Livelihood and
Enterprise Development Service (LEDS) Providers for beneficiaries,
mostly for women
6 . Training provided to borrowers to prepare business plans
7 . Assistance provided to entrepreneurs for market linkages
8 . Assistance provided to WRDSs on the provision of livelihood grants of
Rs.30,000.00 (Average) to the beneficiaries on time.
9 . Assistance provided to WRDSs to recover loans.
 Saving Groups - WRDS
District No of Savings Amount TAARP Grant
Groups (Rs Mn) Amount
(Rs Mn)
Trincomalee 639 4.20 50.75
Batticaloa 1723 7.46 90.25
Ampara 1244 10.82 93.66
Killinochchi 175 1.16 8.70
Mullaithivu 288 2,81 23.45

Jaffna 442 3.51 30.40

Total 4511 29.96 297.21

 Micro Credit for Beneficiaries through
Community Based Organization including WRDS
District No. of Partner No. of POs Signed Disbursement Reimbursed
Organizations Agreement (MFNGOs) Rs.Mn by NDTF
(PO) Rs.Mn

Trincomalee 04 04 (28.00 Mn.) 26.31 26.11

Batticaloa 06 06 (102.56 Mn.) 96.18 93.70
Ampara 08 08 (174.0 Mn.) 128.83 125.08
Total 18 18 (304.56 Mn.) 251.06 244.89

B. NDTF
District Released No. of Beneficiaries
Amount
Male Female Total
Trincomalee 31.810 274 488 762
Batticaloa 95.920 205 2775 2980
Ampara 128.836 461 3257 3718
Total 256.566 940 6520 7460
 WRDS: Livelihood Improvement Achievements
1. Livelihood related training programmes conducted on
Agriculture, Fisheries, Food processing, Tailoring, Beauty
culture, Embroidery, Leather products, Screen printing etc.

2. Livelihood related projects identified and implemented

Example : Milk Products, Mesh Product, Coir-Based Products,
Tailoring Clothes etc.

3. Marketing opportunities improved and followed up by

constructing shopping complexes, market buildings, business
outlets, resource centres and maintained by special groups
formed within WRDS
Livelihood Improvement Achievements Cont..
4. Skill training programmes conducted on sewing machine repair,
Net mending, Leather products, Food processing

5. Skills for self-employed women provided in the following areas:

i. Costing
ii. Book-Keeping
iii. Sourcing funds
iv. Identifying raw materials
v. Pricing
vi. Marketing
 Livelihood Enterprise Development Service
Training (NECCDEP)
District No. of Service No. of Beneficiaries
Pogrammes Providers
Male Female Total
Trincomalee 114 SEED 1694 2340 4034
Batticaloa 157 Practical Action 1889 2420 4309
Ampara 197 Agromart 2202 3001 5203
Total 488 5785 7761 13546
 Micro Credit & Skill Trainings Led To:
• Opportunities to start a new enterprise or to expand
existing ventures
• Increased use of existing raw materials and resources in
villages for production
• Increased family incomes and savings
• Reduction in poverty levels and better standards of living
• Ability to send children to school
• Increased confidence of women to live independently
• Improved decision-making and leadership abilities among
women
• Involvement of women in community activities
• Reduction of domestic violence
• Improved economic status of women in society.
 Innovative Approaches
• Assisting war and tsunami-affected people to re-establish
their lives and re-start economic activities in their villages -
during the on-going conflict
• Establishing/Strengthening CBO’s (Rural Development
Societies {RDSs} and Women’s Rural Development Societies
{WRDSs} ) for providing access to financial resources
• Identifying and selecting suitable men and women for
home-based micro-enterprises
• Providing livelihood/enterprise-related skill training and
micro finance for livelihood activities
• Training both men and women in contract management for
community infrastructure
• Encouraging WRDSs to bid for and carry out community
infrastructure sub-projects
 Innovative Approaches cont..
• Training WRDSs/RDSs in maintaining physical assets created
by the project.
• Providing links between communities and local government
authorities
• Providing gender awareness training to communities
• Supporting new leadership development in war and tsunami-
affected communities.
• Encouraging women to take leadership in their communities
• Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and economic
empowerment through the livelihood and skills training
activities facilitated by WRDSs.
• Providing extra support for and targeting war widows, wives
of the ‘disappeared’, women heads of household in project
activities
 Way Forward
• Strengthen WRDSs capacity to provide financial resources to
women entrepreneurs who are unable to access bank loans
• Provide skill training to improve the quality of products of
home-based entrepreneurs
• Strengthen market linkages for entrepreneurs.
• Strengthen links between RDSs and WRDSs and local
government agencies for long-term organizational and
technical support.
• Encourage more women to engage in livelihood and
entrepreneurial activities and improve their knowledge and
skills
• Support women’s involvement in local governance structures
and increased access to decision-making and resources.
Contact :
: NECCDEP
No. 56, Central Road,
Orr’s Hill,
Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
 : 009426 2225336 - 7
Web: www.neccdep.com