Support for EP war widows

Suraj A Bandara

Eastern Province widows will be supported in their self-employment ventures or to find jobs, Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan said attending a livelihood training programme for women who became widows due to the war.

The project will be carried out as a joint venture of the Sri Lankan and Indian governments. Eastern Province Provincial Council and Indian NGOs will jointly implement the self-help programme.

Eastern Provincial Council officials are collecting data on widows in the region and will help them, Chandrakanthan said.

It is estimated that nearly 40,000 widows face the task of managing their families after returning to their homes after the war.

Many families in the region are headed by women single-handedly trying to make ends meet. The widows face the task of caring for families in a region devastated by the three-decade war and only now showing signs of permanent recovery with government support.