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Sri Lanka
Although a ceasefire between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil Tigers was reached in early 2002, ethnic tensions continue. The country now needs to face the challenges relating to the rehabilitation of the displaced population and the rehabilitation processes to reintegrate former child soldiers.
Sri Lanka still suffers from the aftermath of the catastrophic December 2004 tsunami, which claimed tens of thousands of lives. Property damage was extensive, and hundreds of thousands of people have fallen into poverty after losing homes and jobs.1 As a result many children work as domestic servants and are often subjected to sexual abuse. An increasing number of children are exploited sexually, and especially young boys are forced into prostitution, both locally and in international sex tourism.2
Health
In its 2003 concluding observations, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expresses its deep concern about the high level of malnutrition among children. Statistics show that about 23 per cent of new-born infants are underweight at the time of birth and that children belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups are especially at risk, such as displaced and refugee children who have little or no access to health care services. The Committee is also deeply concerned about the surprisingly high rate of suicide among youngsters.3
Children in conflict
Tamil rebels were known to forcibly recruit children, particularly in the east. If the families refused to send a daughter or son to fight for "the cause", they were often subjected to threats and harassment and the children were eventually taken by force. According to UNICEF more than 40 percent of recruited children were girls, but unlike most girls being forced into armed conflicts, reports of sexual abuse were rare, and sexual relations between group members were strictly forbidden. However, boys and girls would still be beaten by their superiors and allowed no contact with their families. They were also forced to learn how to use weapons and mines, often causing permanent disability.4
And the conflict influences all aspects of the daily life, the violence spreading into everyday situations, affecting the children: In certain provinces in Sri Lanka which experienced ethnic conflict for many years, children account for one out of every five nonwar-related homicide victims. More than half of them are under 6 years of age and the proportion of male children is slightly higher. 70 percent of theperpetrators are blood/other relatives.5
Children without appropriate care
More than 19,000 children are staying in 488 voluntary residential care institutions in Sri Lanka and a total of 6,722 live in remand homes.6A large number of children are left behind as their mothers are forced to migrate for work, especially to the Gulf countries. Those children (between 200,000 and 300,000) often live in difficult circumstances and may be subjected to different types of abuse or exploitation.7
In Sri Lanka, trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation
and child sex tourism remains a well organized economic activity that affects pockets of communities and their way of life. Both boys and
girls from very young age to adult age becomes involved.8
Justice
Children's rights have not been sufficiently incorporated into current national legislation and there are disparities in Sri Lankan general law, Kandyan and Muslim law with respect to the minimum age of marriage of a girl (12 years). According to the UN Committe of the Rights of the Child the views of the Child are not taken sufficiently into consideration in the current legislation, concerning family matters, school and the juvenile justice system. The Committee is also concerned about the apparent persistence of discriminatory attitudes directed towards girls, children born out of wedlock, children from poorer income groups, rural children, child refugees or displaced children, working children, children affected by armed conflicts and children of overseas workers. No specific rehabilitation measures exist for abused children, instead they are treated like delinquents. Corporal punishment also persists in Sri Lankan society and is accepted in schools.The age of criminal responsibility is low (8 years) and children between 16 and 18 years old are considered as adults by penal law.9
Education
Sri Lanka has high rates of school drop out, discrepancies in education facilities (especially in rural areas), and an insufficiency of pre-school establishments which are usually managed by non-governmental institutions and are not under State responsibility.10
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Our Voices Matter: The views of children on emergency preparedness and response in Sri Lanka
On 15 May 2016 Cyclone Roanu struck Sri Lanka, causing severe flooding and numerous landslides, the destruction of houses and loss of productive assets. This report reflects the views and voices of children affected by the disaster, collected by means of
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Disaster Risk Reduction in the Education Sector: Sri Lanka
Through the DIPECHO 8 project, Save the Children aims to create linkages between national disaster management systems and structures across all levels of the Ministry of Education and ensure the full integration of community and school-based DRR planning
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Literacy Boost: Sri Lanka, Endline Report 2016
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Child Protection in Emergencies Facts and Figures
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Comparative Research on the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration of Migrants
Although sustainable voluntary return of migrants back to their countries of origin is a vital part of migration strategies, there is a lack of common understanding and available data on how policy enables or promotes sustainable return and reintegration.
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Tsunami Ten Years On, Stories of Change 2004-2014: Community perceptions of the Indian Ocean tsunami response and recovery
The objective of this study is to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, sustainability, and impact of the tsunami response in Sri Lanka and Indonesia 10 years later. A cross cutting theme of this study is the assessment of whether communities are now better
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The Women's Wealth and Influence Storybook
The Women's Wealth and Influence Program teaches women how to be self-evident, build confidence, how to work as a group, and good business principles. This document is a collection of stories from women who have successfully gone through the program or ar
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Prohibition of Corporal Punishment of Children in South Asia: Progress and proposals for reform 2014
This report discusses the legal provisions of the countries of South Asia to prohibit the use of corporal punishment of children. It finds that almost all countries in South Asia have laws which permit or authorize physical violence against children in th
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Literacy Boost, Gampaha District Sri Lanka Country Office Endline Report – December 2014
This report examines the results of a learner background survey and reading assessment conducted in September 2014 as the endline evaluation of the USAID All Children Reading (ACR) Grand Challenge in Sri Lanka. The survey and reading assessment was admini
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Child marriage in South Asia: Realities, Responses and the Way Forward
A paper prepared by the International Center for Research on Women for the UNFPA Asia Pacific Regional Office, Bangkok, on child marriage in South Asia. Child marriage is a serious human rights crisis and one of the most pressing development concerns in
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The South Asian Report on the Child-friendliness of Governments
Save the Children, HAQ: Centre for Child Rights, Plan International, Terre des Hommes, and CRY: Child Rights and You launches a new comprehensive rights-based report which, for the first time, objectively measures the extent to which the South Asian gover
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A MenCare Fathers' Group Manual for Sri Lanka
This manual contains group education modules intended for fathers and their partners, more often spouses, in the plantation region (tea estates) of Sri Lanka. The purpose is to promote gender equality within the home and children’s healthy development and