National Microfinance Study of Sri Lanka: Survey of Practices and ...

The exception to this is a government sponsored IT Park in Jaffna Town that was
opened in May 2001 and is supplying computer training for children, youth and
adults at a subsidised price designed to recoup recurrent expenditure only. As an
example of demand in the area, the present courses are full with 1000 students.
Another 700 prospective students are awaiting places. This facility is of the
highest standards, has air-conditioning, continuous power supply, integrated
networks and is presently awaiting connections for email, internet and broadband
services.
Outside of the Universities i.e. the University of the East in Batticaloa and the
University of Jaffna, that undertake sporadic research projects, services such as
business information and market research are only based in specific INGO and
agency funded projects. For example the GTZ funded projects such as GTZ/IFSP
in Trincomalee and JRP in Jaffna source these services from GTZ projects based
in the south of Sri Lanka.
Presently the only registered district Chambers of Commerce & Industry in the
region is in Jaffna, where one was registered in July of 2001 and has 80 member
businesses. There are Traders’ Associations (TAs) in all the districts and having
excellent linkages in the retail and wholesale sectors.
Apart from other para-statal and community level organisations, such as the
National Youth Services Council (NYSC) and the Lions Association, there is
little interchange or linkages, not including the Microfinance Network in Jaffna
that was started in July 2001.
The Extremely Vulnerable
This group of people is in the first stages of social and economic mobilisation and
typically requires basic awareness training concerning issues of health &
sanitation, diet & nutrition. INGOs and NGOs are adequately supplying these
services throughout the region as part of the ongoing relief, resettlement and
relocation activities.
Organisations such as CARE, FORUT, Oxfam, Sarvodaya, Sewa Lanka, ZOA,
and the relief agencies of the United Nations also start the process of savings and
credit at what is known as the ‘barefoot’ level and some of this group of people
are receiving basic microfinance awareness training.
The Poor/Subsistence Level Income.
This group of people have reached the stage where their home environments have
become settled and in the main they are increasingly focussed on finding more
sustainable employment and self-employment opportunities and are becoming
fully economically mobilised. In this group are also people from the host
communities whose livelihoods have been lost through the consequence of
conflict but have not been displaced.
Often the people at this level demonstrate ‘recipient’ behaviour that reflects a
strategic attitude towards their use of credit services. We believe that this attitude
has been encouraged through the utilisation of relief-based approaches to
microfinance.