Facts regarding post-tsunami recovery six months on

ReliefWeb - Document Preview: Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Date: 16 Jun 2005

The tsunami’s devastating impact

By 16 June, the Government of Sri Lanka reported that:
- 31,229 persons died as a result of the tsunami.
- 4,100 persons are missing.
- 516,150 persons are currently registered as tsunami-displaced in welfare centres or staying with friends and relatives.
- 14 out of 28 Sri Lankan districts were affected by the tsunami.
- 23,449 acres of cultivated land were affected, including 9,000 acres of paddy, 645 acres of other field crops, 12,928 home gardens, 559 acres of vegetable farms, and 317 acres of fruit trees according to FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture.
- 16,479 fishing craft were damaged or destroyed which represents 50 per cent of the Sri Lankan fleet, according to FAO and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture.
- 86 medical facilities were damaged or destroyed, not including pharmacies and other medical-related facilities, according to TAFREN.
- 195 educational facilities including universities and vocational training centres were damaged with 59 schools totally destroyed and 117 partially destroyed, according to TAFREN
- 275,000 lost jobs -- nine out of ten working men and women -- according to ILO with 34 per cent of such jobs having been in the fishing industry.

- 31,000 transitional shelters have now been completed by a variety of actors, including international and national NGOs, private groups and UNHCR, IOM and various other agencies and NGOs nationwide with some 150,000 family members now living in them. Another 9,000 transitional shelters are expected to be completed by the end of June, according to TAFREN.
- 54,266 transitional shelters in all are currently scheduled to be complete in the coming month, housing more than 250,000 people according to UNHCR.
- 9,480 families were still living in tents as of 8 June, according to the Head of TAFOR.
- Over 480,000 non-food relief items (mosquito nets, lanterns, cooking utensils, buckets, etc.) have been provided to affected families by UN agencies.
- Some of the assistance provided to date by UN agencies

- 53,000 tonnes provided by the World Food Programme, feeding some 910,000 people
Health
- 101 emergency health kits have been provided to hospitals and clinics by UNICEF and WHO benefiting some 1,500,000 tsunami-affected people
- Approx. 6000 malaria rapid diagnostic kits and over 100,000 anti-malarial tablets supplied by UN agencies.
- 48,000 impregnated mosquito nets have been provided by UNICEF and WHO with 50,000 more are on the way.
- Some 10,000 chlorine tablets, 500 chlorine testing kits, 30 bacteriological testing kits and 900 sanitation kits for toilet maintenance by UN agencies.
- 384,885 children between 6-months to 5-years of age in the10 tsunami-affected districts have received vitamin “A” mega dose supplementation.

- At least 650 wells have been cleaned by UNICEF.
- Water purification tablets have been distributed extensively in camps and shelter sites by UNICEF and WHO.
- Over 100,000 persons are being provided 15 liters of drinking water per-day by means of 285 water tanks, 96 water bladders holding 1,500 liters each and 11 water bowsers supplied by UNICEF.

- 3,109 School-in-a-Box kits have been provided for over 200,000 children and more 1,350 recreation kits have been distributed reaching some 81,000 Children by UNICEF.
- 172 schools have been cleaned with the support of UNICEF.
- 104 temporary teaching facilities -- out of 277 planned -- have been provided by UNICEF plans to restore 24 school buildings.
- Over 227,000 school uniforms, 50,000 desks and chairs, 480,000 textbooks, and over 114,000 school bags have been provided by UNICEF.

- 10,198 boats in total have now been repaired or replaced by government agencies and NGOs, according to FAO.
- 3,415 boats, 212 inboard engines and 658 outboard motors have been repaired by FAO and it enables some 12,000 fishers to resume their livelihoods.
- 25 IOM sewing centres have been opened by IOM in camps to provide training and employment to tsunami-affected people and fifty-nine carpenters have been provided with IOM replacement tool kits to help rebuild their livelihoods.
- Cash-for-work and food for work projects by various UN agencies are on-going, including a pilot cash-for-work project, assisted by the ILO, in which two roads are being cleaned and repaired, providing 20 people some 1,600 workdays. The pilot project will provide valuable experience for ILO policy technical advice to the Rapid Income Recovery Programme (RIRP) of TAFREN.