Australian High Commission
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

131127_Visiting PM Tony Abbott meets Sri Lankans receiving a helping hand from Australia

 Australian High Commission
Colombo


MEDIA RELEASE

______________________________________
27 November 2013

 

Visiting PM Tony Abbott meets Sri Lankans receiving a helping hand from Australia

The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently met with several housing beneficiaries who have received Australian Government assistance through UN-Habitat to rebuild their homes after they were destroyed during the conflict.

“It really is exhilarating to see what the Australian Government and people have been able to do in this country. It’s also particularly exhilarating that we haven’t just been helping; we have been helping Sri Lankan people to help themselves”, Mr Abbott said.

The housing program uses a “home owner-driven” approach which means families are placed at the centre of the rebuilding process and actively take responsibility for their own recovery.

This process has helped revive the local economy as materials and skilled labour are sourced locally and therefore the funds remain within the community.
Since 2010, Australia has directly assisted with the reconstruction of over 5,000 houses in partnership with UN-Habitat. The European Union and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation are also contributing to the program, which in total will assist 13,200 families. In addition to housing, the program is also providing vital community infrastructure facilities including common wells, access roads, community centres and preschools.

During his visit, the Prime Minister also met elders and doctors supported through The Fred Hollows Foundation, an Australian organisation which has been making a real difference to end avoidable blindness across the world over the past two decades.

In 2012, the Foundation worked in 19 countries to help partners provide over 400,000 sight restoring treatments and procedures, train more than 40,000 health workers and surgeons and provide two million eye screenings.

In Sri Lanka, the Foundation is working on a Better Vision, Healthier Ageing project with a fellow Australian organisation - the Burnet Institute - and local NGOs to address cataract, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration among elders’ groups in the Nuwara Eliya District.

The results are expected to provide the blueprint for a sustainable and affordable strategy for Sri Lanka – one that can be introduced in other low and middle income countries.

 Also read: Australia helping to rebuild communities in Sri Lanka