On the 13th and 14th of March a roundtable and a discussion meeting took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The roundtable consisted of Local CSOs and international NGOs while the discussion meeting hosted representatives from Sri Lanka’s government and international donors.
EC aid is politically significant in Sri Lanka, at a time when Tsunami reconstruction efforts are being wound down and many bilateral donors are withdrawing, in large part because of concerns about the breakdown of the ceasefire and the human rights and governance situation. The EC is putting its funds entirely through the UN and civil society partners. EC funding is seen to be improving, and delegation efforts to engage civil society are welcome. However, concerns persist about the ‘procedural overload’ that accompanies EC aid, and the requirement that recipients have a legal personality – something requiring NGOs to register under the Companies Act in Sri Lanka. There are also questions about whether the expectation that civil society will take on a stronger governance role is realistic, and concerns about some of the risks involved. Finally, there are ongoing questions about transparency and responsiveness, and whether the delegation has the right skills to engage in an increasingly political set of discussions about peace and governance.
Civil society and multilateral organisations are the two main channels for EC funding in, which is focused on human rights and support to Tsunami and conflict-affected IDPs and their host communities. As other donors withdraw or scale back, the EC is the main European donor in the country. Engagement with civil society could be improved, although this would require changes from CSOs, as well as the Commission. Overall, the quality of the relationship has improved, as has the quality of EC aid. The official state of war effectively precludes progress on the agenda.
Report of the roundtable with CSOs: .doc|.pdf
Report of the discussion meeting with EC: .doc|.pdf
List of participants.
Filed under: Roundtables
