- International Projects -
- ASIA -
2009 JBF GRANT FUNDS MICROCREDIT LOANS IN SRI LANKA
This year the grant provided by the Foundation was matched by PEER Servants and a total of 44 loans were given by their Sri Lankan microfinance partner, YGRO-HEED. YGRO-HEED empowers the materially poor of Sri Lanka by transferring capital, skills, knowledge, and ensuring the success of entrepreneurs.
Jaffna Peninsula has been the subject of conflict with war for over twenty five years and the people have suffered much. There are many widows. Nevertheless, the poor have shown resilience and have coped. The poor are engaging in enterprises such as fishing, dairy farming, poultry, and carpentry and are succeeding. Despite the intensity of the conflict, Jaffna Peninsula residents continue to show economic resilience. The Julia Burke Foundation is delighted to play a role in the economic sustainability of those affected by war.
For more information, visit www.peerservants.org
2006 PROJECT WITH THE HALO TRUST IN THE JAFFNA PENINSULA OF SRI LANKA
The Julia Burke Foundation continues its partnership with the One Sri Lanka Foundation and the HALO Trust to eradicate landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Jaffna Peninsula. The U.S. Department of State "matched" our grant and all three organizations are supported two teams of deminers from the HALO Trust to accelerate demining in that area. We greatly
appreciate the assistance of the U.S. State Department in our efforts to save lives and strengthen peace in beautiful Sri Lanka.
In remarks made at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, Richard L. Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State reported after a visit to the Jaffna Peninsula, “It was clear to me at the time that the solution had to start there, in the shattered people and bombed-out villages, in the universal longing for a better life.”
Sri Lanka is emerging from a civil war, which has raged with varying intensity since 1983. Landmines were laid by both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government of Sri Lanka, to protect military bases and defensive areas. Following a ceasefire agreement, the two parties appear to be steering a path towards peaceful co-existence. Both have made commitments to refrain from the use of landmines and have made demining a priority, with the first step being the clearance of areas surrounding schools, public buildings and places of worship. This peace plan is a precursor to the progress that can be made towards clearing mines.
The Julia Burke Foundation, partnering with One Sri Lanka Foundation, supported a team of deminers to clear mines and UXO’s (Unexploded Ordinances) on the Jaffna Peninsula. As a member of a delegation formed by One Sri Lanka Foundation, www.onesrilanka.org, Marilyn Burke, Executive Director of The Julia Burke Foundation, toured the landmine affected areas.
For more information about The HALO Trust, and to see videos, go to www.halousa.org
2007 JBF GRANT PURCHASES RADAR MINE DETECTOR FOR CAMBODIA
The Julia Burke Foundation is very proud to be the first humanitarian organization to purchase a newly developed ground-penetrating radar mine detector which will allow the deminers to better identify buried objects and to cover more ground in less time. The HALO Trust will use this new technology in their continued efforts to save lives and return land to local communities for safe use.
MINES ADVISORY GROUP – 2002 CAMBODIA EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL PROJECT
Co-laureate of the 1997
Nobel Peace Prize |
The project funded by The Julia Burke Foundation provided a trained mobile Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team to work with the local community and other agencies to clear the threat of mines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) from the province(s) of Cambodia most seriously affected by the threat of mines and UXO. The EOD team consisted of five personnel, including one supervisor and one trauma care medic.
During the four months of the project, the highly qualified team members conducted 123 tasks, destroying 227 anti-personal mines, 9 anti-tank mines, and 566 items of unexploded ordnance in the provinces of Battambang and Pursat. The project was completed in April 2003.
Photos reprinted with permission. Copyright MAG 2003.
For more information about MAG and to see online videos and mention of The Julia Burke Foundation
project in Cambodia, go to www.mag.org.uk
