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This document reports on achievements in many critical areas including child protection, education, health, livelihoods and disaster risk reduction by Save the Children as a result of their planned five-year response and recovery program in five countries: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Somalia.
http://www.preventionweb.net/files/12547_tsunamireport20091.pdf
Keywords: India, Indonesia, Natural disasters, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tsunamis,

100 dager med krigen på Sri Lanka : en analyse av dekningen i Aftenposten, Dagens Nyheter og Daily Mirror / Ole Kåre Eide. - Oslo : Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon, Universitetet i Oslo, 2010. - 125 s. (Master's thesis) Hvordan dekker vi en krig som er langt borte og som tar lang tid? Hva er det som gjør den relevant for oss? I denne oppgaven ser jeg nærmere på dekningen av konflikten på Sri Lanka – i én norsk (Aftenposten), én svensk (Dagens Nyheter) og én srilankisk papiravis. Ved å anvende Johan Galtungs modell for fredsjournalistikk – i tillegg til å gjennomføre en kvantitativ innholdsanalyse – viser denne oppgaven at det er store forskjeller i dekningen. Mens Aftenposten på lederplass i stor grad er opptatt av at partene må finne en fredelig løsning, vil også Dagens Nyheter ha fred, men tar i mindre grad stilling til partene. Dekningen i Daily Mirror er derimot i stor grad krigsorientert. Oppgaven viser også at dekningen er mer omfattende i Aftenposten (ut i fra antall tekster, størrelsen på tekstene og forsidehenvisninger) enn i Dagens Nyheter. En stor del av dekningen i Aftenposten handler om tamilske demonstrasjoner i Norge. Til tross for at disse tekstene tar for seg hjemlige forhold, bidrar de til å gi oppmerksomhet til konflikten. Problemene oppstår i kortere tekster. Da usynliggjøres i stor grad konflikten og alle partene blir sjelden identifisert.
http://www.duo.uio.no/publ/mediekomm/2010/107691/masteroppgave-eide.pdf
Keywords: Conflicts. Terrorism, Ethnic conflict, Mass media, News. Media, Newspapers, Nordic Perspective, Norway, Publications, South Asia, Sri Lanka,

14 Challenges when shaping capabilities for research : Swedish support to bilateral research cooperation with Sri Lanka and Vietnam, 1976–2006, and a look ahead / Jan Annerstedt, Shantha Liyanage. - Stockholm : Sida, 2008. - 114 p. (Sida evaluation ; 2008:14) The study summarizes challenges, experiences and achievements during 30 years of bilateral research collaboration between Sweden and Sri Lanka and between Sweden and Vietnam, respectively. The two collaborations both started in 1976 and has since then been financed from Swedish international development cooperation resources. The study shows several types of long-term impacts of the collaboration. A number of suggestions are made on how to reorient and change focus of possible future research collaboration between Sweden and the two countries after the Swedish bilateral development cooperation has been phased out in 2011.
http://www2.sida.se/shared/jsp/download.jsp?f=Utv2008-14_SIDA44696en.pdf&a=39696
Keywords: Bilateral aid, Development, Development. Poverty, Education, Nordic Perspective, Publications, Research, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Vietnam,

The 20th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS), is to be held in Manchester from 8-11 July 2008. The ECMSAS is the largest gathering of South Asia oriented researchers in Europe, covering all fields from the humanities and social sciences to technology, natural sciences and medicine. The conference is held biannually under the aegis of the European Association of South Asian Studies (EASAS), a professional, non-profit organisation of scholars engaged in research and teaching concerning South Asia with regard to all periods and fields of study. The objectives of EASAS are to support and promote South Asian Studies in all countries of Europe.
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/ecmsas/
Keywords: Afghanistan, Asian area studies, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, South Asia, Sri Lanka,

A ripple in development? : long term perspectives on the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 : a joint follow-up evaluation of the links between relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD) / Emery Brusset ... [et al.]. - Stockholm : Sida. - 2009 (164 p.) This report is a follow-up evaluation of linkages between immediate relief, rehabilitation (or reconstruction) and development (LRRD) related to the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. The first LRRD evaluation was carried as part of the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition (TEC) set of evaluations in 2005-06. The LRRD2 evaluation report covers experiences up to the end of 2008 in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, i.e. from the four years after the disaster. A number of organisations and government agencies have supported this evaluation in various ways, with the aim to provide conclusions and lessons learned that are useful for mitigating the consequences of possible future disasters.
http://www2.sida.se/shared/jsp/download.jsp?f=SIDA52010en_web_A-ripple-in-develo...
Keywords: Development, Development. Poverty, In Focus, In Focus 2009, In Focus 2009 Week 52, Indonesia, Maldives, Natural disasters, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Tsunamis,

An assessment of the Samurdhi (prosperity) development programme : a case study from the Ratnapura district, Sri Lanka / Chandika Senani Gunasinghe. - Kristiansand : Centre for Development Studies, Universitetet i Agder. - 2009. - 126 p. (Master's thesis) This thesis assesses the impact of the Samurdhi (prosperity) development programme (SDP) on the livelihoods of its beneficiaries in the Ratnapura district of Sri Lanka. The assessment covers three main aspects; development, environment and management. First I identify a main research problem and three sub problems that are directly related to the success of the SDP. Second, based on the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA), I develop a theoretical framework where a poverty level of a household is directly and indirectly affected by the activities of the SDP through two channels; promotional and protective channels. From the theoretical framework I derive four hypotheses that underlie answers for the identified research problems of the study. Third, to test the validity of these four hypotheses, I employ both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative techniques include the use of various figures, tables, graphs, a transition matrix, univariate analysis of variance test, a Post Hoc test and estimation of multinomial logistic regressions (MNLRs). A total of six MNLRs are run for two models to verify the validity of the first and third hypotheses. Two models were developed to capture the relationship between the poverty level of a household and the development of its capital assets. The dependent variable of the first model has four poverty categories: extreme poor, vulnerable, viable and sustainable households. The households are categorised into those four groups for 1995 and 2009 based on a range of income differences around two official poverty lines for each respective year. The dependent variable of the second model also has four poverty household categories: unsuccessful, struggling, successful and most successful which are categorised based on the direction of the movement between the two poverty categories identified in the first model during this time period. The independent variables of each model are the five categorical variables for the development of capital assets, one categorical variable for the gender and another three continuous variables: education, age and number of dependents in the family. Households are randomly selected covering 17 Divisional Secretariat divisions in Ratnapura district to obtain data for the quantitative study. In the qualitative study, semi-structured interviews are conducted for randomly selected 17 beneficiaries of the SDP with a view to find evidence supporting the second and fourth hypotheses of the study. The results of MNLRs of two models confirmed that development of natural, physical, human and financial capital assets are significant determinants of ‘vulnerable poverty’ and of ‘struggling poverty position’ of a household. More than two thirds of households of the SDP are at a higher risk of being in ‘vulnerable poverty’ or ‘struggling poverty position’. The poverty level of a household has declined with the increase of number of capital assets developed. The results of the qualitative study confirmed that the SDP has not very much concerned about the link between ecosystem degradation and poverty. The ‘leakage’ and ‘undercoverage’ errors of the SDP are at a considerable level.
http://brage.bibsys.no/hia/bitstream/URN:NBN:no-bibsys_brage_10410/1/Chandika+Gu...
Keywords: Development, Development. Poverty, Nordic Perspective, Norway, Publications, South Asia, Sri Lanka,

Sri Lanka is an island civilization with a long, rich and colourful history. Its pivotal position in the ancient Silk Road, that functioned as a cultural highway between the East and West, has given this island a cosmopolitan character since pre-Christian times. In the inscriptions of a Mauryan Emperor of India in the 3rd century BC, Sri Lanka was referred to as Tambapani. He names it as one of the countries to which he had extended his benevolent services. Onesicritus of Astipalacia who was among the convoy of Alexander the Great in his eastern campaigns (326 to 323BC) referred to Sri Lanka as Taprobana. The writings and cartography of the Greek geographer Ptolemy or Claudes Ptolomeus of Alexandria of 2nd century AD presents us with an account of Sri Lanka, its topography, economy and culture, showing the extent of contacts that existed between Sri Lanka and the west in the ancient times. An epigraphic record of this name has been found in an inscription of Asoka, in the Tinnevely district of Tamilnadu in South India. In an inscription of the 4th century Gupta Emperor Samudragupta, Sri Lanka is referred to as Sainhalaka, the Land of the Sinhalas...
http://www.artsrilanka.org/history/static.html
Keywords: Arts, Culture, South Asia, Sri Lanka,

Asian Affairs is produced and published by by Larkincil International Ltd, a private consulting company based in Hong Kong providing policy makers, transnational group executives and major think-tanks with a strategic perspective of Asian affairs through specific research studies and confidential reports. asian affairs is dedicated to regular studies and analysis of Asia, South, Southeast and East Asia, particularly in the field of international relations, economics and financial affairs.The purpose of Asian Affairs is to strengthen communication and understanding and to offer a platform of exchange of information between Asia and Europe in the field of regulations, policies and economic trends and business cooperation.
http://www.asian-affairs.com/Frametop/think-tank.html
Keywords: Bangladesh, Central Asia, China, East Asia, General references, In Focus, In Focus 2010, In Focus 2010 Week 08, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, North Korea, Philippines, Research, Singapore, South Asia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam,

The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) is a network of civil society organisations which was founded in 1997 and seeks to promote democracy and free elections in Asian nations. Its website provides information on the aims of the organisation, its membership and recent activities. It includes press releases about recent and forthcoming Asian parliamentary and presidential elections, plus access to a growing collection of full text election monitoring reports. Other useful features include summaries of the constitutions, electoral laws and election codes of individual nations.Countries covered include: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
http://www.anfrel.org/
Keywords: Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Asia, Elections, In Focus, In Focus 2009, In Focus 2009 Week 17, India, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Politics and society, South Asia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Thailand,

Assessing vulnerability before, during and after a natural disaster in fragile regions : case study of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia / Jörn Birkmann. - Helsinki: UNU/WIDER, 2008. - 22 p. (Research paper / United Nations University. World Institute for Development Economics Research ; 2008/50) Current approaches of measuring vulnerability to natural hazards generally use a rather static perspective that focuses on a single point in time—often before a hazardous event occurs. In contrast, the paper argues that vulnerability assessment should also take into account the changing dynamics during and after a disaster. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the situation in Sri Lanka and Indonesia within the context of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The author presents concepts for measuring revealed vulnerabilities and methods of assessing the recovery process, and highlights the differing ways in which the tsunami affected the ongoing civil conflicts in both regions.
http://www.niaslinc.dk/gateway_to_asia/nordic_webpublications/x506037346.pdf
Keywords: Finland, In Focus, In Focus 2009, In Focus 2009 Week 52, Indonesia, Natural disasters, Nordic Perspective, Publications, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, Tsunamis,