Social Development Programme

At fisheries social development activities the main target groups had been set as destitute women, Needy mothers and under age five children and idle youth of the fishing community. 

A fishery sector is contributes 4 percent to GNP.  88 percent of this contribution is coming from small-scale fishing community. Female partners are claimed for 52 percent of this contribution. They are engage in  fish processing and  fishery business. But this community is socially disorganized and is suffering from lack of basic needs, social depressions and cast discrimination. Therefore there is no sustainable fisheries productivity and social cohesion. Major root causes had been identified and provided the remedies focusing three target groups as follows. In the fishing community one of six women (1: 6) is  a destitute due to lost of their husband during the  fishing, alcohol addict, insurgency during 1988-1999 in South and on going war in North and Eastern part of the country. Most of the widows are at the age group of 22-45. This is the productive life age for any women in the society. These widows are the breadwinners of the family and must be fed 3-4 mouths and no proper skills and therefore they have engaged in odd labor jobs such as mending nets, dry fish making, fish selling, road cleaning, working as domestic servants under laborious work condition in the middle class families in the cities. Their earning is do not sufficient to maintain the family. There is no job security for them and at most of the work places these destitute women are faced sexual harassments. Malnutrition is very high among these widows because they are satisfied one meal per day. 83 % of destitute women are suffering from vitamin A deficiency and anemia. Focusing destitute women and their families- 6000 women had been selected for first phase by small fishers Federation from 4 fishing districts - Matara, Hambanthota, Monaragala and Puttalam and organized them in to groups, build up their skills for appropriate jobs  and provided them credits for sustainable livelihood and organized social security and socialization activities to alleviate social stress, cast discrimination and social negligence.  

The second group that the Federation activities have focused is needy women and children. 82 percent of fisher folk are living in poverty. Family poverty is directly affected to the women and the small children. Breadwinner's low earning capacity is the main root course .It resulted malnutrition and lack of basic needs. To eradicate malnutrition and to provide basic needs the main requirements are job modification and new skills to women for additional income process and nutritional meal for children.  In 108 villages in South, Northwestern and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka, the Federation has implementing a major activity of skills development for women and provides nutritional meal for under age five children. Under this scheme and  at first phase, more than 4000 women are deployed in self-employment activities and 1200 children are getting nutritional meal every day.  

The third activity under the fisheries social development is socialization and modern self-employment for youth. The youth in the fishing community are badly neglected. One of every eight ( 1:8 )  school age children are do not going to school due to lack of food, text books and cloth. The youth who completed the secondary education are lack of jobs and social opportunities. Only 0 .1% of youth is getting for higher education in the fishing community. They do not have alternative job opportunities. But young generation is considered as future proprietors of the resources and leaders of the country. In 1971 and in 1998-1989 more than 60,000 young people were died in Sri Lanka, because of the youth uprising. The root causes for these two youth uprising were misdirection by politicians and lack of opportunities to build up their future. 14 percent of the youth who diet in these two youth uprising were youth of the fisher folk community.  

The Federation is fully concerned of this situation and considering youth as major production group in the fishing community, the activity has workout and implementing on socialization and provides modern job skills for the youth. Under these activities  "Youth Development education and Vocational Training centers" had been set up in three provinces as one center for each province basis. At present these centers are operating In South, Northwestern and Uva provinces in Sri Lanka. Near future another 6 centers will be set up in other 6 provinces. The idea to set up these centers is to provide new attitudes in sustainable development, provide modern knowledge for good governance and democracy and skills for modern jobs in a modern society.  At present  "vocational training in information technology, Food processing and food technology, Eco-tourism, business development non residential and residential three months and 6 months courses are conducting for male and female youths. 

Under the fisheries social development Programme, The Small Fishers Federation is try to develop women and youth in the fishing community as main production forces in the sustainable fisheries development process. One of the most important factors in sustainability is " women and youth participation and gender equity in society and also in the production process. Key elements in these regards are organizations, healthy physical life, social recognition, new attitudes, new knowledge, new skills and common decision-making. Federation is incorporated these key elements with its social development activities to harness the women and youth as main production forces in sustainable development process in fisheries. This Programme is supported by Terre des Hommes, The Netherlands.