Skip Navigation
You Are In: About Us > Latest Embassy News > Press Releases 2005 > June28-2
Skip Left Section Navigation

June 2005 Press Releases

USAID Opens Field Office In Matara

Colombo, June 28, 2005: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) inaugurated a new field office on June 27, 2005 to expand the reach of a peace-building program promoting community partnership, collaboration, and information sharing.

The new office is the fourth in Sri Lanka for USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), which also has bureaus in Ampara, Colombo and Trincomalee. Since March 2003, OTI has worked to increase public support for a non-violent, negotiated settlement of the country's pressing issues through short-term, high-impact activities that often forge relationships amongst unlikely partners.

“Our presence in Matara will permit us to help communities better identify their unique needs and interact in a spirit of consultation and cooperation,” US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jeffrey J. Lunstead said Monday at a ceremony inaugurating the new office. “Our goal for the program is to help all Sri Lankans put conflict behind them and work toward a peaceful, prosperous future.”

The OTI program works through an innovative direct supply system, which enables the program to provide support and assistance to smaller groups overlooked by other grants, by providing tools and materials for livelihood rather than financial assistance. The program also allows partners to focus on activities identified as priorities by communities ranging from rehabilitation of small-scale infrastructure, economic assistance, to training in technical and conflict-management skills. It is the only USAID program to maintain field offices.

“The nature of this program is helping communities from the ground up,” USAID Mission Director Dr. Carol Becker said. “The new office permits us to work with partners who may be too small or lack the capacity to come in contact with international development organizations. OTI works directly with partners, it doesn't write checks.”

Since the tsunami, OTI played a key role in the US government's team approach to relief and recovery, mobilizing thousands of Sri Lankans – including volunteers from non-affected communities – to collaborate on cleanup projects in the South and East.

Throughout Sri Lanka, OTI has sponsored more 400 such small grant activities involving goods and services valued at more than $11 million. In the Southern Province alone, the program has issued 130 grants valued at $5.6 million, including 29 in Galle for $1.6 million, 55 in Hambantota for $2.4 million, and 46 in Matara for $1.6 million.