[ UN News Centre ]

The United Nations, along with dozens of partner agencies, are working to improve basic conditions in camps housing people who fled the recently-ended conflict in northern Sri Lanka, it was announced today. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that since the arrival of the last of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the camps, relief workers have been working to ease pressure on overcrowded sites, construct more latrines and improve water supply to meet international standards. Other priorities include reuniting families and improving freedom of movement in the camps.

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[ UN ]

A United Nations humanitarian spokesman in Sri Lanka today voiced concern over the shelling of a hospital in the zone of fighting between the Government and rebel forces, emphasizing the ever-increasing threat to the lives of some 250,000 civilians trapped by the conflict. Gordon Weiss of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the hospital, in the north-east of the island nation, was shelled numerous times over the past day, resulting in the killing of 11 people altogether, including one nurse. Mr. Weiss said that it is uncertain where the shellfire came from but that his office had notified both the Government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the damage, but the strikes have not halted.

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[UN]

A United Nations humanitarian spokesman in Sri Lanka today voiced concern over the shelling of a hospital in the zone of fighting between the Government and rebel forces, emphasizing the ever-increasing threat to the lives of some 250,000 civilians trapped by the conflict. Gordon Weiss of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the hospital, in the north-east of the island nation, was shelled numerous times over the past day, resulting in the killing of 11 people altogether, including one nurse. Mr. Weiss said that it is uncertain where the shellfire came from but that his office had notified both the Government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) about the damage, but the strikes have not halted.

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[ UN News Centre ]

United Nations relief officials are continuing to assist authorities in the conflict-wracked north of Sri Lanka respond to flooding that has displaced more than 70,000 people and affected 300,000 others. A UN inter-agency assessment of civilian needs in Northern province’s Jaffna district — the district hardest hit by the floods — has been carried out, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.

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[ UN News Centre ]

Three United Nations agencies are offering relief to tens of thousands of Sri Lankans who have been displaced from their homes after floods struck at least five districts in the north of the island nation this week. Aid agencies held a coordination meeting in the town of Jaffna today to plan their response to the floods, which follow several days of heavy rains, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is coordinating the distribution of non-food relief items and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is providing dry rations at the request of local authorities. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is assisting with water and sanitation services.

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[IRIN]

The UN and NGOs working in the conflict-ridden north and east are warning of a mounting humanitarian toll in 2008 due to the escalation in hostilities between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Agencies should be prepared to assist “up to 500,000 conflict-affected individuals comprising IDPs, returnees and economically affected persons”, according to the Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) 2008, prepared by the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) country team for Sri Lanka and released on 22 February.

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