MaximsNewsNetwork: SRI LANKA: DISABLED CHILDREN SPORT: UNDP

MaximsNewsNetwork: 12 November 2009 - UNDP: After more than three decades of civil war, the UN Development Program (UNDP) is bringing together disabled children from the north and south for a sporting event.

The usually sleepy town of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka recently saw a surprising burst of activity. The small Tamil community was in the news for a slightly unusual reason: it was hosting Sinhalese school children and teachers from Matara district in southern Sri Lanka for a sporting event.

Sri Lanka is still recovering from the fall out of a three decade civil war that came to an end in May, 2009. UNDPs Communities for Peace project, better known as C4P, invited children with disabilities from Matara to meet and compete with their counterparts in the north.

Prior to the end of the conflict, movement between the north and the rest of the country was difficult, since large parts of the north were controlled by rebel forces. Now the peace project is beginning the difficult and long-term work of repairing relationships between communities that were torn apart by violence.

This particular UNDP peace building programme began in 2008 and is funded by AusAID, the Australian Government aid program. Participants work in 11 districts to strengthen local governance institutions and help improve the social conditions and livelihoods of people living in conflict-affected communities, from the internally displaced to the villages and towns that host them. Vulnerable groups included women-headed households, young people and people with disabilities are particularly prioritized.

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• disabled children
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• UNDP
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