About the project
The Northern Province Sustainable Fisheries Development Project was a 600,000 USD project proposed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Communities first heard about this project not from the government or project planners, but from a group of civil society organizations. Since 2018, our CRE partner Sri Lanka Nature Group and other support organisations (International Accountability Project, Accountability Counsel and NGO Forum on ADB) have been working with communities to design ways to hold the ADB accountable for its own social and environmental safeguards and transparency requirements.
- Lack of Meaningful Consultation: Local fisherfolk and communities on Mannar Island and in Jaffna reported that project planners and the government failed to conduct transparent, inclusive public consultations or share basic information about the project’s purpose and funding.
- Livelihood Disruption and Displacement: Traditional fishing communities fear that large-scale infrastructure and zoning changes will lead to natural resource grabbing by powerful entities, displace hundreds of single-day boats, and cause workers—particularly women dependent on fishing-adjacent jobs—to lose their incomes.
- Language and Information Barriers: Critical project documents were not made available in Tamil, the primary language spoken by the majority of residents in the Northern Province, hindering the community’s ability to provide informed feedback.
- Post-Conflict Vulnerabilities: Coming only a decade after a severe 26-year civil war that disproportionately impacted the region’่s infrastructure and marginalized populations (such as war widows and female-headed households), the top-down approach heightened local anxieties over coercion, marginalization, and economic insecurity.
- Health, Safety, and Social Risks: Accountability filings raised additional grievances concerning potential community health and safety impacts, construction-related risks, and gender-based vulnerabilities.
About the community-led struggle
With CRE’s support, SLNG has consulted with affected communities and fisherfolk, provided them with information in their local language, collected relevant materials and evidence for advocacy purposes, and co-designed advocacy strategies with the communities.
As a result of these joint efforts, the Asian Development Bank withdrew its financial support for the Northern Province Sustainable Fisheries Development Project in Sri Lanka, effectively halting the community’s years-long effort to hold funders accountable to community priorities.
Additionally, as part of a community exchange facilitated by the CRE, SLNG shared its experience and lessons learned with another organization facing a port project in Kenya.