The Sustainable Livelihood Development Fund (SLD Fund) was created by service-minded expatriates and Sri Lankans who met through similar missions to promote sustainable livelihood development projects to empower women head of household, with disabled spouse and abandon with children or to physically challenged individuals. Also to provide educational assistance and training to ensure children’s and young adult’s successful livelihood in the future and to support conservation initiatives.
A Note from the Chairman
We are happy to introduce you to the Sustainable Livelihood Development Fund (SLD Fund), a non-political, not-for-profit Company registered in U.S.A.. It was created to support and promote sustainable livelihood training and projects so as to empower especially women heads-of-households and physically challenged individuals while also supporting environmental conservation initiatives.
As you know, the political transformation during the early part of 2015 economically benefited Sri Lanka as a whole but unfortunately, these advances did not trickle down to the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Also, many of the nongovernmental organization operations that were initiated in these provinces in 2009 have either stopped completely or have been reduced significantly, which is no doubt due in part to current financial investment opportunities.
On March 8, 2016, Mr. Niroshan Perera, the State Minister of National Policies and Economic Development of Sri Lanka, said: The Northern and Eastern Provinces in particular suffered the most severe disruption and devastation as a resulted of the 30-year civil war. Thousands of minority Tamils in those areas were displaced, livelihoods shattered, and community infrastructures destroyed. Most of this population continues to languish without jobs or a stable income. There continues to be a need of both technical and financial assistance for redevelopment.
Therefore, the SLD Fund was established to assist in program development and teaching skills in the poorest rural communities of the Northern and Eastern Province, particularly for the most vulnerable groups and especially for women heads-of-households with disabled spouses, abandoned women with dependent children, and disabled individuals. Their struggle to survive is constant and they are in dire need of financial assistance and continuous guidance to establish and sustain a livelihood.
The poem written by William Ross Wallace in 1865, entitled, “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World”, demonstrates that society throughout history understood and acknowledged the respectable social status of women. Through the SLD Fund, we aim to create opportunities and funding to empower these women to develop and maintain sustainable livelihoods in these disadvantaged communities while also supporting environmental conservation initiatives.
As you read through the following pages, you will realize the value of this concept and that there are many additional areas in which this Organization can grow. Please join us! And together we can make positive, lasting changes.
We look forward to you contacting us with any questions, thoughts, ideas, and/or comments. Thank you for your interest and we hope you will support and contribute to our activities.
R.S. (Jay) Jeyendran, BVSc, MS, PhD, HCLD, ALD
Chairman