VZCZCXRO9112
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH
DE RUEHLM #0126/01 0530319
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 220319Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1338
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2434
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 9451
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 7706
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3873
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 0012
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0532
RUEHKP/AMCONSUL KARACHI 2712
RUEHLH/AMCONSUL LAHORE 0154
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 7246

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 COLOMBO 000126 
 
STATE PASS TO USAID AID/W FOR ASIA/SCAA AND EGAT/WID 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID KWMN PREL KPAO PHUM AID CDC COM TRSY CE MV
SUBJECT:  S/GWI PROJECT PROPOSALS FOR SRI LANKA AND THE MALDIVES 
 
REFTEL: STATE 12531 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Post carefully reviewed 59 proposals for S/GWI 
funding, and after discussing country priorities, the committee 
selected the strongest five proposals:  four are for Sri Lanka, and 
one is for the Maldives.  The proposed projects cover key issues 
such as gender based violence, economic empowerment, and political 
participation.  The recommended Sri Lanka projects cover different 
vulnerable groups and geographic areas, including the former 
conflict-affected area of Jaffna, the Sinhalese south, Muslim areas, 
and poverty stricken women working on plantations.  The project 
recommended for the Maldives will encourage greater political 
participation by women.  End Summary. 
 
Country Context 
 
¶2. (SBU)  In May 2009 the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) finally won 
a 26-year war against the terrorist group the Liberation Tigers of 
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which had held control of large areas in the 
North and East of the country for decades.  Tens of thousands of 
people died in the war, which resulted in thousands of war widows, 
continued violence in society, and diminished economic opportunities 
throughout Sri Lanka.  Although the GSL won the war, they have not 
yet won the peace through political reconciliation.  Sri Lanka 
remains a volatile mix of ethnic tension and economic 
underdevelopment.  Successful economic development plays an 
important role in reducing political tensions between the majority 
Singhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, and the 'Plantation Tamils.' 
 
¶3. (SBU) Sri Lankan women have certain achievements to their credit, 
for example, Sri Lanka has had both a female President and female 
Prime Ministers.  In other areas, however, progress still needs to 
be made.  Sri Lankan women are underrepresented in politics, they 
face gender based violence, and they have far fewer economic 
opportunities than their male counterparts.  Women constitute 52% of 
Sri Lanka's population, but female representation in Parliament 
stands at 4%, at only 1.9% in local government and at 3.4% in 
municipal councils.  Although Sri Lanka approved a law against 
domestic violence in 2005, the Ministry of Women's Affairs estimated 
that 60 percent of all women will face domestic or other forms of 
violence at some point in their lives.   Women also receive fewer 
economic opportunities, particularly in rural areas, and this 
problem is exacerbated by the number of 'war widows' with limited 
economic skills who now must work to support their families. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In the Maldives, women have a great opportunity to increase 
their political participation, and thereby increase other life 
opportunities.  The Maldives was under 30 years of authoritarian 
rule until 2008, when there were free elections and a former 
political prisoner became President.  President Nasheed attempted to 
have a woman run as his Vice Presidential candidate, but was unable 
to do so because women still are not permitted to serve as President 
in the Maldives.  The Maldives is a moderate Muslim society, but 
women face discrimination, especially in the outlying islands, away 
from the capital of Male, where two-thirds of the people reside. 
 
Summary of Selected Proposals 
 
¶5. (U) Post reviewed numerous strong proposals, and selected the 
following five projects which address key issues in Sri Lanka and 
the Maldives.  The projects would be administered by the United 
States Agency for International Development office in Colombo.  We 
have listed the proposals in our order of preference:  1) the Women 
in Need NGO focuses on gender based violence issues in Jaffna, the 
former war zone in Northern Sri Lanka; 2) the Maldivian Detainee 
Network emphasizes political empowerment by training local women 
leaders, especially in remote islands; 3)the Hambantota Chamber of 
Commerce will teach entrepreneurship, English and IT skills to 
disadvantaged rural women, and form women's chambers of commerce; 4) 
the Women's Savings Effort in Sri Lanka will provide workshops and 
training for women entrepreneurs and provide loans and materials to 
start micro enterprises; and 5) the POWER Foundation will empower 
community based organizations, encourage political participation, 
and support business activities by plantation Tamil women, the 
poorest sector of Sri Lankan society. 
 
Project 1: Women in Need (WIN) - Project Against Gender Based 
Violence 
 
¶6. (U) Problem Statement - Violence against women is widespread in 
Sri Lanka.  Domestic violence, in particular, is considered a 
private matter, so many women are reluctant to seek help from 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  002 OF 008 
 
 
authorities, and are discouraged from doing so by their friends and 
families.  Law enforcement and judicial authorities do not always 
take cases seriously.  Sri Lanka's 26-year conflict exacerbated 
violence against women in the community and in the home.  The Jaffna 
district was particularly hard-hit, with most of the population 
displaced within the district or to other parts of Sri Lanka. 
 
¶7. (U) Program Summary - WIN's project against gender based violence 
includes awareness raising/training, service delivery and 
organizational capacity building.  Legal, counseling and shelter 
services will be provided to 10,000 direct and indirect 
beneficiaries through WIN's seven offices throughout the country. 
Awareness-raising/training will target police, health workers, 
community leaders, and teachers for improved gender-based violence 
response.  Capacity building will focus mainly on strengthening and 
expanding services in the war-affected Jaffna district but will also 
include national-level initiatives. 
 
¶8. (U) Project Description 
a) Awareness-raising/ Training 
During the first three months, WIN will develop a curriculum for 
awareness-raising/training sessions, targeted to particular 
audiences.  WIN will also update and print brochures, handbills and 
posters for its campaign.  WIN will then conduct 26 
awareness-raising/training sessions on gender-based violence. 
Target groups and target numbers include: police officers (250), 
doctors (100), nurses (100), midwives (50), village public health 
inspectors (50), village leaders (50), development officers (50), 
community mediators (50), teachers (250) and students (250).  WIN 
will conduct pre- and post-program assessments.  The aim is to 
improve the response to gender-based violence at women's and 
children's desks at police stations, hospitals, mediation boards and 
community levels. 
b) Service Provision 
WIN will provide legal advice, legal representation and counseling 
services through its seven centers across the country.  It will also 
continue to offer a shelter for survivors of violence, the only 
known shelter of its kind in the country.  WIN aims to serve a total 
of 10,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries. 
c) Organizational Capacity Building 
WIN will focus its capacity building on its Jaffna center, while 
also addressing needs across the country.  The Jaffna center has 
experienced an increased demand for services over the past months as 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned from camps.  Over 
280,000 people were in IDP camps at the end of the war, but 
approximately 170,000 have been released and have returned primarily 
to Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka.  Jaffna-specific 
capacity-building will include staff training, expansion of services 
to outer areas of Jaffna and outreach to IDPs.  Staff at all centers 
will be trained in information technology to facilitate WIN's newly 
implemented client management system.  WIN will also bring staff 
from across the island together for one-time training and reflection 
on WIN's best practices and lessons learned. 
WIN's close collaboration with local service providers contributes 
to the sustainability of its work.  Its work could be scaled up to 
include additional geographic areas and increased numbers of 
beneficiaries. 
 
¶9. (U) Budget and Duration - WIN requests $100,000 for the 18-month 
project.  This includes the costs of curriculum development 
($3,000), awareness-raising/ training programs ($32,000), 
strengthening the Jaffna center ($15,000), capacity building 
($10,000), service provision ($30,000) and administrative costs 
($10,000). 
 
¶10. (U) Recipient Organization - WIN was established in 1987 to 
address domestic violence and has expanded into a nationwide network 
of centers addressing gender-based violence.  WIN has over 120 
staff, including lawyers, social workers, and counselors as well as 
administrative and support staff.  WIN has successfully recruited 
volunteer experts and raised funds from international donors and 
individuals for over 20 years.  Donors have included DAI (USAID 
small grants programs), Swedish International Development Agency 
(SIDA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the World 
Bank, and UNICEF. 
 
¶11. (U) Why Post Recommends this project - As IDPs return to Jaffna, 
it has become increasingly important to develop and strengthen local 
support mechanisms, particularly for extremely vulnerable 
individuals.  UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies have cited the 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  003 OF 008 
 
 
lack of services for gender based violence (GBV) survivors as an 
obstacle to return and reintegration.  WIN has a long history of 
working with GBV survivors and service providers in Sri Lanka.  The 
fact that WIN maintained a center in Jaffna throughout the conflict 
is an impressive testament to its commitment and capacity.  The 
proposed activities build on existing WIN models and could be 
implemented with little start-up delay. 
 
Project 2: Network of Women's Rights Leaders proposed by the 
Maldivian Detainee Network (MDN) 
 
¶12. (U) Problem Statement - The Maldives is a geographically 
dispersed nation state made up of 20 atolls and approximately 1,200 
islands.  The Maldives is a 100% Muslim state but the people have 
always practiced a moderate and tolerant form of Islam.  Democracy 
in the country is in its infant stages:  the country held its first 
multi-party Presidential Elections in October 2008 and its first 
multi-party Parliamentary Elections in May 2009. 
 
The country is also a party to core United Nations Human Rights 
Conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All 
forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 
 
¶13. (U) There are new influences in the religious practices in the 
Maldives, including the recent rise of an ultra-conservative 
interpretation of Islam that argues for a subservient role for 
women.  Traditional practices, and the new current of conservative 
theology, threaten the rights of women to equal opportunities at 
work, education and political participation.  Many Maldivian women 
do not understand their rights, and as a consequence, they lose out 
during legal processes such as divorce, child custody, and abuse 
cases.  The Maldives also has a high rate of abuse of women, 
estimated at one in three for women over the age of 15.  These 
issues are especially difficult in the more rural and isolated outer 
atolls where two-thirds of the population lives. 
 
¶14. (U) Program Summary - The project aims to inculcate a culture of 
women's rights and gender equality throughout the Maldives by 
empowering women in local communities to advocate and preserve their 
rights.  MDN plans to create a voluntary network of women leaders 
based within local communities across 19 atolls and the capital, 
Male'.  Training will be conducted on women's rights issues 
including human rights; constitutional, statutory and religious law; 
advocacy; and monitoring.  Leaders in the network will advocate for 
women's rights, act as a community focal point, and report on 
women's rights issues. 
 
¶15. (U) Project Description: The project will increase the number of 
women who actively participate in their social, political and 
economic environments; train and accredit 120 women from 19 atolls 
and Male' in women's rights, monitoring, reporting and advocacy; and 
publish reports and updates on the MDN website regarding women's 
rights situation across the country. 
a) Training of Trainers (ToT) - ToT will cover family law, 
inheritance law, and child rights; a moderate interpretation of 
Islam on marital rights, right to work, right to education and 
political participation; peer experiences from other Muslim 
countries; Maldives' obligations under CEDAW and the mechanism to 
lodge complaints to the CEDAW committee; Constitutional rights and 
legal redress mechanisms; and project management including planning, 
execution, and monitoring. 
b) Identifying Individuals for the Network - Community Based 
Organizations (CBOs) and NGOs will be utilized to identify at least 
six potential female candidates from each atoll to serve as 
advocates for women's rights.  Local women will be better versed in 
the community context and will be better able to advocate for 
women's rights among the inhabitants in their particular island. 
c) Training the Volunteer Network - Volunteer women leaders will 
undergo a week-long intensive training at each atoll.  Women leaders 
will be trained on the ToT subjects and act as focal points for 
women's concerns in their local community.  The volunteers will 
advocate at the local level and communicate to MDN for advocacy at 
the national level. 
d) Accrediting the Volunteers - Trainees will be invited to join the 
volunteer network and sign a pledge to promote women's rights in a 
non-partisan manner and to be truthful and as accurate as possible 
in all reporting activities.  Having a recognized and accredited 
person in the community to advocate for women's rights and having a 
support network will enhance the sustainability of the project. 
e) Follow-up and Reporting - MDN will support the volunteers through 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  004 OF 008 
 
 
regular communications and members will file bi-annual reports on 
the local women's rights situation.  MDN will publish the reports on 
its website and compile a comprehensive annual report. 
 
¶16. (U) Budget and Duration - The total project budget is $102,914 
and the project duration is 18 months.  Although the total budget is 
over $100,000, the amount requested from S/GWI is $76,237 and MDN is 
providing cost share of $26,677.  Request funding is broken down as 
follows: Direct Staff - $30,385, Training of Trainers - $7,600, 
Training of Network of Rights Defenders $23,376, and Support - 
$14,876.  Post will email budget detail to S/GWI and work with MDN 
to reduce the total project budget to $100,000 if required. 
 
¶17. (U) Recipient Organization - MDN was established in 2004 to 
campaign against the abuse of political detainees following 
political unrest in the Maldives.  MDN is widely recognized for its 
important role during the country's transition to democracy and has 
since broadened its mandate to human rights.  MDN has received 
financial assistance from many international donors including the 
British High Commission, Australian High Commission, Canadian Fund 
for Local Initiatives, Amnesty International, and United Nations 
Development Program.  The MDN is currently engaged in a 
constitutional awareness raising project to educate the public in 
all 20 atolls about constitutional rights, legal redress mechanisms, 
international human rights treaty obligations and complaints 
mechanisms.  MDN has 3 full-time staff focused on core activities 
and skilled in project management, human rights and development 
work.  MDN also has an extensive and distinguished pool of 
volunteers including the Deputy Prosecutor General, lawyers, 
religious experts, and well-known artists. 
 
¶18. (U) Why Post Recommends this Project - The Maldives is a 
moderate Muslim country with a young democracy that is facing 
threats of radicalization.  Women's rights are receding under the 
shift towards extremist Islamic ideology.  With a track record of 
fighting for human rights, MDN has created a proposal that addresses 
this erosion of women's rights at the island and community level by 
training local women leaders and establishing a support network of 
volunteers.  This network will provide a voice for the vulnerable 
women in local communities and serve as a catalyst to mobilize other 
women to come forward and exercise their rights. 
 
 
Project 3: Women's Entrepreneurship Project in the South 
 
¶19. (U) Problem Statement:  Many women in the rural south of Sri 
Lanka have inferior educational and economic skills that restrict 
their ability to participate in society and provide for their 
families.  Twenty percent of the households in this area are headed 
by women, many of whom lost their husbands to the war or the 2004 
tsunami, so the lack of opportunities leads to family deprivation. 
There are few women entrepreneurs in the Southern district of 
Hambantota, and to comply with local culture, some women run their 
businesses under their husband's name.   Finally, although Sri Lanka 
has high literacy rates, many people do not have practical skills, 
and there is a great need for training in English and Information 
Technology. 
 
¶20. (U) Program Summary:  The Hambantota Chamber of Commerce (HCC) 
plans to promote entrepreneurship among disadvantaged women, 
especially female headed households and widows, by providing 
financing, mentoring and business development services.  The HCC 
will also provide English, entrepreneurship and IT skills to 200 
participants, of whom 70 percent will be women.  The HCC will 
develop sustainable support for women entrepreneurs by creating a 
women's section in the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce. 
 
¶21. (U) Project Description:  There are three primary activities in 
this program. 
a) The project to promote entrepreneurship among women will conduct 
awareness campaigns, training sessions, provide loans, sponsor 
business awards to increase business quality, and form links with 
other women's organizations.  The goal will be to increase the 
capacity for the target group to establish and sustain their 
businesses. 
b) English and Information Technology (IT) skills are essential to 
run a successful business, and to reach target markets, such as 
tourists.  HCC plans to offer basic English courses, basic computer 
training classes, and entrepreneurship and leadership classes.  Each 
of these programs will be offered to 200 participants, in classes of 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  005 OF 008 
 
 
two hours per week for six months. 
c) Currently there are few women business leaders and role models, 
but the HCC plans to change that by establishing a women's section 
in the Hambantota Chamber of Commerce.  The women's section will be 
a forum and networking platform to teach basic business skills 
through peer assistance.  The women's section will also be tied to 
the HCC, thereby providing access to larger businesses in the 
district. 
 
¶22. (U) Budget and Duration:  The project will run for 18 months and 
have a budget of $100,000.  The HCC plans to expend $61,000 on the 
project to promote awareness and entrepreneurship, $10,000 for the 
English and IT classes, $12,000 for the activities of the women's 
section of the Chamber of Commerce, and $16,000 in organization 
costs.  Post will send the detailed breakdown of the budget to 
S/GWI. 
 
¶23. (U) Recipient Organization:  The HCC is a non-profit 
organization with 42 staff members, a board of 23 directors, and its 
finances are audited by a firm of international advisors.  The HCC 
began in 1990, and at its inception it received assistance from 
USAID.  The HCC has received funding from the Norwegian Embassy, the 
U.S. International Youth Foundation, and other NGO and international 
NGO donors.  The HCC was the first local chamber in Sri Lanka, which 
has served as a model for almost 20 chambers around the country. 
The HCC has previously implemented projects for youth entrepreneurs, 
business development for widows and female heads of household.  The 
HCC currently is implementing a two year $200,000 program for the 
International Finance Corporation for access to financing and 
business seminars and counseling for SMEs. 
 
¶24. (U) Why Post Recommends this Project:  The Hambantota Chamber of 
Commerce is a highly professional organization which can get the job 
done.  The project is also appealing because many women are trying 
to support their families, but they do not have the awareness, 
skills, or financial access to start a business.  This proposed 
project addresses all of these needs.  Post also likes the approach 
of creating a women's section in the Chamber to encourage young 
business women, which puts them in touch with people with real world 
business experience.  The Hambantota Chamber of Commerce has been a 
model for other chambers in the past, and if this program is 
successful, it is likely to be copied throughout the island. 
 
Project 4: Women's Savings Effort (WSE):  Economic empowerment of 
marginalized women in Sri Lankan villages 
 
¶25. (U) Problem Statement:  A Women's Savings Effort (WSE) study in 
the target area found that women engaged in small scale village 
industries were disadvantaged because they did not have collective 
organizations to promote their interests.  The women were also 
constrained by their lack of business management and design skills. 
Women lacked capital to invest and weak bargaining power lead to 
exploitation by money lenders, middlemen, and buyers.  Incomplete 
access to production and marketing information also limited economic 
advancement.  The Puttalam district is an ethnically mixed district 
with majority Sinhalese and minority Muslims. 
 
¶26. (U) Project Summary:   Through its ongoing work on rural 
poverty, WSE has identified 225 female small scale producers in 5 
Divisional Secretariat (DS) divisions (similar to counties) in the 
Puttalam district.  The proposed activities include the formation of 
women's organizations, training in product design and business 
management, a revolving loan fund, collective equipment and 
developing market linkages through exhibitions and advertising. 
 
¶27. (U) Project Description: 
a) Women's Organizations - WSE will hold ten interactive workshops 
to mobilize women producers and facilitate the formation of 9 
Women's Organizations aimed at improving local economies. 
b) Training - All 225 target women will be trained in business 
management, using the International Labor Organization curriculum. 
Upon completion of training, participants will understand business 
management systems and be able to keep records and assess their own 
progress.  Twenty women will be trained to design products such as 
household utility items, handicrafts, and footwear.  These women 
will lead 'exposure programs' for the other women, so that 98 
percent of all the beneficiaries are introduced to new products and 
improve the quality of their own work.  WSE will also work with 
women to better cultivate raw materials, such as reeds, for 
production while conserving the environment. 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  006 OF 008 
 
 
c) Revolving Loan - WSE will establish a revolving loan fund to 
provide beneficiaries with access to credit unavailable from banks. 
Impact will be measured by increases in investments, savings and 
production.  WSE will provide sewing machines and tools on a group 
loan basis.  Impact will be measured by increase in production, 
income, savings, quality of products and demand for products. 
d) Market linkages - WSE will print catalogues, handbills, leaflets 
and posters to advertise beneficiaries' products.  It will also 
organize five exhibitions in urban areas to link women to buyers. 
Performance will be measures by the number of agreements signed and 
orders placed, and the percent increase in sales. 
e) The WSE project has the potential to create sustainable 
improvement by helping women organize into ongoing groups, 
developing their skills and access to credit, and creating market 
linkages.  The project could be scaled up to provide increased 
credit lines to eligible women or to expand target products.  It 
could also be replicated in other geographic areas. 
 
¶28. (U) Budget and Duration: WSE requests a total of $51,720 for an 
18-month project.  The bulk, $39,960, would go to program costs.  Of 
this, $5,000 would go to the revolving loan fund, $3,200 would cover 
sewing machines and tools, $8,325 would cover the exhibitions and 
advertising, and the remainder would fund trainings and creation of 
women's organizations.  Staff costs total $8,010 and would fund a 
Senior Coordinator, an Assistant Coordinator and part-time Accounts 
Assistant.  Travel costs for coordinators total $1,680 and other 
direct costs (office supplies, communication, utilities, reporting, 
auditing) total $1,680. 
 
¶29. (U) Recipient Organization:  The Women's Savings Effort (WSE) 
was established in 1978 to carry out rural development programs in 
Sri Lanka.  WSE conducts savings and credit programs, and initiates 
women's organizations in the Puttalam and Galle districts.  Income 
generation programs have included handicrafts, paper production from 
recycled paper, food processing such as fruit juice production and 
nontraditional activities for women such as masonry and carpentry. 
WSE has a group of women trained by the International Labor 
Organization to train women entrepreneurs.  WSE's 2008 budget 
totaled US $86,454.  Accounts are audited yearly by Government 
approved external auditors.  Previous donors include CIDA, AusAID, 
ACT-Japan, IUCN-Sri Lanka, Australian High Commission, British High 
Commission, and ILO - IPCE Sri Lanka. 
 
¶30. (U) Why Post Recommends this Project:  WSE has already laid the 
groundwork for its project through its study of the target area. 
The proposed activities directly address the needs identified.  WSE 
has demonstrated expertise in rural economic empowerment and has 
attracted an impressive list of donors for such a small 
organization.  Its grassroots approach keeps connections to the 
target communities close and costs low.  Its relatively small budget 
request demonstrates a realistic sense of its own capacity and a 
commitment to quality over chasing funds.  Puttalam is home to much 
of Sri Lanka's minority Muslim population and has also long hosted 
Muslims forcibly expelled from Northern Sri Lanka by the LTTE in 
¶1990.  A project in Puttalam would help Post diversify its 
assistance across religious groups and geographic areas in Sri 
Lanka. 
 
Project 5: Broad Based Assistance for Plantation Women by The POWER 
Foundation (TPF) 
 
¶31. (U) Problem Statement:  The Tamil plantation workers in Sri 
Lanka are descendents from migrant laborers who came to work in the 
tea plantations over one hundred years ago, but they were recognized 
as citizens only in 2003, and they struggle to gain their full 
rights.  The plantation tea workers remain the poorest group in the 
country, and unlike the rest of the population, their poverty rates 
are not declining.  Plantation women have a particularly difficult 
life because they actually pick the tea leaves, and they have little 
education and few economic opportunities.  Indeed, the husbands of 
60% of the women workers draw the women's wages, so they have little 
independence.  The women's low level of education, lack of 
occupational skills and gender discrimination lead to a marginalized 
life of dependency and vulnerability. 
 
¶32. (U) Project Summary:  Although civil society organizations are 
operating in the plantation communities, women's rights are largely 
unaddressed due to the lack of a formal institutional mechanism to 
raise and present women's issues in the plantations.  This 
cross-cutting project aims to establish a women's network in the 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  007 OF 008 
 
 
Badulla District of Uva Province to enable the plantation women to 
actively participate in promoting their well being; safeguarding 
their rights; and enhancing their role in leadership and decision 
making. 
 
¶33. (U) Project Description:  The project objectives and a summary 
of the related activities are as follows.  Post will email the 
detailed table of Activities, Desired Outcome, and Performance 
Measures to S/GWI. 
a) Improve self confidence and reliance of women at community and 
family levels - activities will educate/expose members on 
fundamental rights/women's rights and social responsibilities of 
women; and promote harmony within the family, community and outside 
the community.  The project will create mass awareness on the 
plantation women's plight and their aspirations through weekly radio 
programs; and organize a women's conference and a school competition 
to draw the attention of the authorities and policy makers.  TPF 
will provide the necessary support for the well being of women and 
safeguarding of victims of violence. 
b) Increase additional family income by women up to minimum $23 per 
month by the end of the 15th month - activities will promote income 
generating activities in the sector of agriculture and non-farm 
sector for selected beneficiaries; and strengthen organizational and 
institutional capacity of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to 
provide support services for the $10,909 investment fund for 
activities in agriculture and small enterprise sectors.  Selected 
women with poor and deserving families will be assisted by the 
respective women's desk to promote additional income generation 
activity. 
c) Promote women's participation in political activities - 
activities will create awareness of political rights and 
responsibilities; and develop democratic decision making leadership 
skills.  Twenty young women who possess leadership qualities will be 
identified, given information on civil society, and encouraged to 
participate in local government activities.  The women's network in 
the five divisional secretariats will organize a conference to 
promote women's participation in local politics. 
d) Improve physical infrastructure and resource management systems - 
activities will strengthen the institutional capacity of CBOs and 
their women's desks.  The project will utilize 40 Community Based 
Organizations to promote and establish individual women's wings 
within each CBO that will be affiliated with the five local women's 
networks.  Each of these networks will formulate a women's desk to 
provide legal and other support services to the plantation women. 
Training on social responsibilities, gender and rights issues will 
be conducted for the women's network.  The women's networks will be 
linked to the Ministry of Women's Affairs, estate management, and 
trade unions to enhance shared responsibility and sustainability of 
the project. 
 
¶34. (U) Budget and Duration:  The total project budget is $110,977 
and the project duration is 18 months.  Although the total budget is 
over $100,000, the amount requested from S/GWI is $93,088 with TPF 
providing a cost share of $17,889.  Requested funding is broken down 
as follows: Direct Labor - $24,685; Travel and Per Diem - $1,636; 
Equipment and Supplies - $5,000; Program Activities - $58,582; and 
Other Direct Cost - $3,185.  Post will email the budget detail to 
S/GWI, and will work with TPF to reduce the total project budget to 
$100,000 if required. 
 
¶35. (U) Recipient Organization:  TPF was established in 1986, and 
they have been working with plantation workers in the Uva Province 
since 1991.  TPF employs a total of 42 full-time staff, including 
project directors, coordinators, administrative support, and field 
staff.  75% of the TPF team members are females.  TPF has been 
engaged in social mobilization; community empowerment; livelihood 
development; awareness building on right issues; gender 
sensitization and women development activities; training and 
education; and peace building activities with the financial 
assistance of international donors such as American Jewish World 
Service, Oxfam GB, AusAID, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, International 
Labor Organization, and Asia Foundation. 
 
¶36. (U) Why Post Recommends this Project:  The plantation Tamils are 
an excluded minority in Sri Lanka with Tamils in the post-war East 
and North garnering more attention from the donor community.  The 
plantation women are locked in a cycle of poverty that is rooted in 
a dependency mentality, low income, and lack of awareness of their 
rights.  Working with TPF's partner CBOs in the plantation 
communities, this cross-cutting project will address the core 
 
COLOMBO 00000126  008 OF 008 
 
 
problem by establishing a structure for plantation women to take 
part in the process of ensuring their rights and enhancing their 
participation in political, economic, and social advancement.