The European Union partners with UNOPS and UNICEF to celebrate World Water Day

Supported by the European Union, the World Water Day 2015 was marked by United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) through conducting a series of awareness raising and community participation activities in Mannar and Vavuniya townships. These activities form an integral part of the financial assistance that is provided through the EU Support to District Development Programme (EU-SDDP) with a total financial envelope of EUR 60 million. The programme aims at supporting the Government of Sri Lanka’s thrust for economic and social development in 7 conflict-affected districts covering half a million people.

The activities that took place were spread across the four days and included shramadhana activities at community level, and art competitions for school children.

In Mannar, activities were carried out to raise awareness among community members and school children about the importance of water and the role of the community in preserving a clean and safe environment. As disposal of household garbage into ponds and drains, has contributed to frequent flooding in residential areas, UNOPS worked with the Mannar Urban Council to raise awareness on the issue and in building consensus regarding their maintenance. Activities also included an exercise to clean up these ponds and drain networks through a shramadhana programme where over 250 volunteering community members participated.

Art competitions were also organized on the theme of “Water and Sustainable Development” with the participation of 83 students from 6 schools in Mannar and 230 school children in Vavuniya participated. The children’s participation was recognized at a public event, where representatives from UNICEF and UNOPS highlighted the importance of educating people on environmental issues and the value of safe access to water and sanitation. Community members were invited to actively participate in the maintenance of the cities, with special emphasis on public infrastructure related to water and waste management.

An awareness session was also held at the Vavuniya Saivapragasa Ladies College for more than 1 200 students and 30 teachers. The UNOPS team in Vavuniya also collaborated with the Irrigation Department to organize a shramadhana activity to clean a local irrigation channel where 50 farmers from the Pavatkulam irrigation scheme farmer organization took part.

Under the EU-SDDP framework, UNOPS contributes to the overall programme objective through the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure and specific capacity building activities in Mannar and Vavuniya whereas UNICEF works towards improving the Water, Sanitation and Health (WASH) facilities and water safety and hygiene practices.