SRI LANKA / DISABLED CHILDREN SPORT

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. UNDP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:29
• Production Date: 12 November 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP
• Subject Topical: PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES; LEISURE; SPORTS
• Geographic Subject: SRI LANKA
• MAMS Id: U091112d

Description

STORY: SRI LANKA / DISABLED CHILDREN SPORT
TRT: 1.29
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT, VAVUNIYA, NORTHERN SRI LANKA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, children marching band at start of disabled children sporting event
2. Med shot, child lighting flame at beginning of event
3. Med shot, children running in sporting event
4. Wide shot, boy competing in high jump
5. Med shot, child competing in long jump
6. Close up, measuring the long jump
7. Med shot, children playing cricket
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Navaneethan, head of Vavunyia office, United Nations Development Programme:
“This is a milestone for Sri Lanka history. The war has come to an end and people are working together now. We are in the process of reducing the gag between the communities by organizing sporting events, culture programs and livelihood training and so many programs we are organizing.”
9. Various shots, teachers coaching children
10. Med shot, two boys using sign language
11. Various shots, children filling jars with water for a sporting event
12. Various shots, children winning medals at event

Storyline

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. UNDP’s 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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