IRD engineers rebuild a water treatment plant damaged by the tsunami

IRD Receives Grant to Help Displaced Persons in Northeastern Sri Lanka

Washington, DC — June 6, 2006 — UNICEF has awarded a grant to International Relief and Development to improve sanitation and increase awareness of good health and hygiene practices  in areas of Sri Lanka plagued by civil strife, IRD announced today.

The $215,000 one-year grant targets approximately 11,000 displaced people in transitional shelters in the districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara.

“The overall goal of this project is to minimize the risk of diseases caused by lack of sanitation, unsafe drinking water and disease-carrying insects,” said Michael Barros, acting director of IRD’s Infrastructure programs.

“Until now the focus of our work has been in Hambantota province which was so hard hit by the tsunami back in December of 2004,” Barros noted. “But  now that the situation has improved in the areas devastated by the tsunami, we can begin to focus on the thousands of people forced to move out of their homes by the on-going conflict,” he added.

The objectives of the program are as follows:

• To raise awareness  of communities – particularly mothers and children – of practical ways to improve hygiene, sanitation and avoid disease carrying insects;
• To design and implement a program to introduce good habits in terms of toilet use, food preparation and consumption, drinking water quality and basic hygiene, including hand washing; and
• To establish a practical monitoring process for the above to ensure effectiveness and corrective actions.

Founded in 1998 by Dr. Arthur B. Keys, Jr., IRD is a charitable, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency.

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