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SARVODAYA SOCIAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE - ACTION PLAN Sarvodaya has agreed upon the following action as short, medium and long term interventions to recover from this tragic situation. (Sarvodaya has already started on some of the interventions already). 1. Financial support for the funeral and related activities It has been reported as some of the victims are facing financial difficulties in carrying the funeral and ‘Dana’ activities. Sarvodaya is proposing to assist the families who need such kind of supports to make those families comfortable. With the recommendation of the Grama Niladari required amount will be given to the family. Sarvodaya will ensure the transparency in this assisting process 2. House to House visits Sarvodaya will conduct house-to-house visits with the support of the trained volunteers. These visits will help to understand the status of the affected families and initial needs assessment will be completed. 3. Provide psychosocial assistance: Psychological trauma will be one of the immediate results for who have experienced this kind of unexpected tragedy in their life, which will be a route cause for many invisible wounds and leads to adverse long term effects in the community. Sarvodaya will initiate the psychosocial assistance for the target beneficiaries with the support of qualified experienced psychologists and counselors. Sarvodaya will also coordinate and collaborate with other organizations specialized in this field. 4. Support for affected school children The school going children of affected families will be offered a sponsorship to continue their formal education for certain period to avoid the school drop outs incidents due to financial difficulties. 5. Supporting children who lost the parent/guardian Children who are under age of 5 and lost their parent/guardians will be looked as special beneficiary category. Proposing to support to full the their requirements by providing financial assistance and link with the supportive system as per legal provisions in this regard. 6. Livelihood Support There would have been the loss of many breadwinners amongst the affected families. Based on the household needs assessment, Sarvodaya propose to provide opportunities for vocational training, skill development and the entrepreneurship skills of the affected women and youth in their interested fields to get them out of the cycle of poverty. Activities have been outlined such as providing capacity development, financial assistance in the form of seed capital, mentorship and market linkages with relevant institutions. This would include support to start the small business initiation or continue the existing business and agriculture activities. 7. Support to overcome disability Expecting, number of victims will be reported with different needs and aiming to support 50 such victims to provide supporting equipment (wheel chair, hearing aid, artificial limbs etc.) with the recommendation of the medical specialists in the respective hospitals. 8. “Voice of victims” Victims have strong voice in preventing such incidents by sharing their own stories and losses. Sarvodaya is proposing to use the voice of the victims to share among other communities in the island. Effected youth will be encouraged to come forward to build and strengthen the resilience in the community. 9. Intra-faith and Inter-faith activities Key of this proposed intervention is to bring youth (Male & Female) together, from different communities and different religions, to prevent spread of racial prejudice, hatred, contain possible violent reprisals and promote peace. Encouraging dialogue between victims, who have different backgrounds, experiences, and stories. This exercise will contribute enhance the tol-
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erance among the different communities by understanding others and encourage to interact with each other with empathy and will support to avoid be in isolation. 10. Promote reconciliation through forming a Coalition for National harmony Sarvodaya is proposing to establish a coalition with the participation of all community from different sectors especially from intellectuals, business people, active youth, religious and community leaders. This coalition will support to raise the voice for harmony at national level. Sarvodaya response so far (Descriptions in BOLD FONT indicates latest updates)
ITEM
DESCRIPTION
Responsibili ty
Notes
1.0
Support the victims and people affected by the attacks: Sarvodaya-Colombo, Gampaha, and Batticaloa are instructed to visit the churches, and houses of the affected people, and to extend any immediate support (in terms of financial and inkind) to manage the immediate situations including the funerals.
DCs : CMB, GMP, BAT FoD
ongoing, centrally as well as district basis
1.2 Today, 63 families of injured receiving treatment at Batticaloa General Hospital were given Rs.5000.00 each to manage the immediate expenses.
DC : BAT, CMB, GMP
payment s/ oneoff Social conditio ns are assessed and also relief assistanc e.
DC : CMB, BAT, GMP
ongoing
Due to Hartal (strike and closure action) in the East coast, Batticaloa relief operations require prioritisation. Shop closures severely affect victim families and Sarvodaya will closely monitor their needs. A comprehensive list of information about deceased, survivors and victims were requested from District Centres. Basic sanitary packs & first aid kits will be distributed among affected. Information of affected families was collected by DC CMB from relevant authorities to extend relief requirements.
1.3 Taking part and assisting funeral arrangements. Gampaha teams attended funerals. Colombo teams attended funerals a well as attended to immediate needs of families ranging from finances to medical.
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1.4 Provided temporary visitor’s shelter, basic first aid and refreshments to relatives and families of the deceased (assisting identification of corpses) at the Colombo mortuary for the third day. Tamil translators were provided on-site too. 2.0
Sarvodaya and Sarvodaya Vishva Nikethan (VN) is working on providing psych-social support for the survivors and victim families, and we are in discussion with CARITAS Sri Lanka as well as the catholic church on this.
DC : CMB, Disaster Response
ongoing round 03
VISHVA NIKETAN Suwasetha
Preassessm ent happene d at Negomb o Counsell or training already in loop
Shanthi Sena (SSS) - Inter religious boards
ongoing, CMB DC and SSS already conduct ed different rounds of talks
Majority of victims require a Catholic/ Christian approach to counselling hence we try our best to collaborate with Catholic and christian bodies. VN is already in touch with experts on disaster related psychological care and are preparing in advance to briefly train accredited counsellors along with a team of parapsychologists (international experts) on the field. Specialist child care needs and scanning for victim children will be coordinated by Sarvodaya Suwasetha. Vishva Nikethan team visited the Katuwapitiya village: Negombo, to discuss with the Parish priests and other key leaders on immediate psychological needs. The team was accompanied by Sisters of the Holy Family order. The team conducted pre-assessments to evaluate the actual requirement for counselling. VN is collaborating with relevant church authorities to formulate counselling needs of victims.
3.0
Sarvodaya Shanthi Sena (the youth peace brigades) are mobilising their existing inter-faith circles in the affected districts, and in other hotspots to get religious leaders of all religions on board to prevent any further escalation of communal violence. Several representatives took part as well as facilitated a dialogue on preventing violence at the National Peace Council. Many Civil Society representatives were present. Muslim leaders’ dialogue (business, clergy and civil society) was conducted at the Hq. The goal of this meeting was to respond to the situation, to sensitise this group with current sentiments prevailing after the series of attacks and investi-
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gations. A national platform will be established to address communal tensions. A team of independent young influencers had several meetings with President: Sarvodaya in order to discuss mechanisms to address potential risk of mob attacks and violence.
President SIHL
President and a team is already reaching out to key religious leaders and personnel at the grassroots and leadership positions to address long-term interfaith approaches to build and sustain trust between communities.
4.0
Sarvodaya district offices are mobilising Sarvodaya membership, and facilitating the activation, and convening of the Community Police Teams in all areas, to ensure security, as well as to prevent the spread of violence.
FoD - DCS - HQ
discussio n stage 3
SIHL & INT
on-going
Some teams already met at several occasions to discuss matters.
5.0
Volunteer requests and volunteer management. - As of 30/4 number of volunteers reporting has increased. They will be working with different sub-committees responding to the situation. - sub com on volunteers will register volunteers & their interest - coordinating, brief training and deployment (depending on the nature of action) - The need for international volunteers was ruled out. However, we welcome International expert volunteers to assist planning activities as well as training ground staff but not field work due to security concerns as well as language proficiency (Sinhala/Tamil).
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6.0
Media coordination
MEDIA
- press briefings will be published - content creation for different media platforms and audiences - messages of peace will be disseminated using different platforms - Dr A.T. Ariyaratne’s message calling for unity was disseminated in different platforms. - Several new short videos clips were disseminated in different platforms. 7.0
PRESIDENT’ s Bureau - Executive Director’s and President’s bureau will be directly handling donor requests as well as other partnership initi- ED’s Bureau atives. Local and International Partner Coordination
- Different local companies and organisations are already having discussions to assist with monetary and relief donations. - Dialog Foundation (telecom provider) partnered with Sarvodaya and Word Vision to establish an education scholarship scheme for all child victims. The fund will take care of their education needs until they turn 18 years of age. The fund will be disseminated among victim children in Negombo, Colombo and Batticalao. - Several other donors are in touch to address long-term requirements of the victims. This information was shared with the Ops teams.
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pressstateme nts sent video clips being produce d / ready for circulati on
ongoing, already establish ed connecti ons with local and internati onal orgs and wellwishers also managin g requests for the same
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SARVODAYA SOCIAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE SUB-COMMITTEES 1) Emergency Relief & Field Response - Medical and Psychosocial support 2) Media & Communications 3) Peace and inter-ethnic/religious dialogue 4) National & International Partner/Donor Coordination 5) Volunteer coordination 6) Finance 7) Security of operations and field teams INFORMATION ON DONATIONS INTERNATIONAL We have our Sampath Bank Payment Gateway for donations (with www.sarvodaya.org). The contact details of Sarvodaya USA, which has approved charity status there are given below, and please contact them OR Sarvodaya HQ, Finance Coordinator Mr. Kamal Gamage for any possible support for the affected people. Kamal Mobile: +94759360542, kamal@sarvodaya.org Name: Bridgette Weber, Treasurer - Sarvodaya USA, Email: bridgette@sarvodayausa.org, Phone: 1608-567-4421
Other methods LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL Sarvodaya (Sampath Bank) direct payment gateway http://www.sarvodaya.org/donate/donate.html PayPal Donations For the simplest donation we recommend using PayPal to donate to our Sarvodaya USA branch. PayPal does not currently interconnect with Sri Lankan banks, but through Sarvodaya USA we are able to transfer these funds and use them for direct relief efforts. PayPal processes Visa and Mastercard. These donations are tax deductible in the USA. Please donate via the secure ‘Make A Donation’ button in the sidebar at right. Donations to Our Sri Lankan Bank You may donate online via Sampath Bank, one of Sri Lanka’s leading banks. This payment gateway accepts Mastercard and Visa. These donations are not tax-deductible. Cheques and Money Orders In Sri Lanka you may mail a cheque to the following address, or visit us in person! Sarvodaya Headquarters No 98, Rawatawatta Road, Moratuwa , Sri Lanka For tax exemption in the US, please contact Sarvodaya USA. Sarvodaya USA is a 501 ( c ) 3 taxexempt, non-profit organization which will provide a receipt for your donation. Sarvodaya USA’s tax ID number is 13-3358148. You may send a check to our Madison Office: Payable To: Sarvodaya USA
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Mailing Address: Sarvodaya USA, 1127 University Ave, Madison, WI 53715 USA Wire Transfers, Bank Accounts For local donations (LKR) Bank Name : Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Bank Account : 1590008015 Currency : USD Bank Address : No.766, Galle Road, Idama, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Swift Code : CCEYLKLXXXX For foreign donations Bank Name : Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC Bank Account : 1590008015 Currency : USD Bank Address : No.766, Galle Road, Idama, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Swift Code : CCEYLKLXXXX
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