Peace Agreements Database

Country/entity

Sri Lanka

Region

Asia and Pacific

Agreement name

Memorandum of Understanding for the Establishment of a Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS)

Date

27/06/2005

Agreement status

Multiparty signed/agreed

Interim arrangement

No

Agreement/conflict level

Intrastate/intrastate conflict (Sri Lankan Civil War (1983 - 2009)

The roots of the Sri Lanka conflict lay in British colonial policy which controlled the island from 1802 until 1948. During the early 1800s, the British brought Tamils from mainland India to work on the various plantations for tea, coffee and rubber, changing Sri Lanka's the demographic make-up. Upon independence, Sinhalese nationalism dominated the political sphere and introduced discriminatory policies against the Tamil minority straining relations and sparking protests. Armed Tamil resistance first came in the form of assassinations of moderate Tamils and opposition politicians in the mid-1970s. However, it was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's (LTTE) attack on checkpoint Four Four Bravo, which marked the turning point, sparking pogroms against Tamils in Sinhalese majority areas. This incident, known as Black July, is widely considered to the beginning of the civil war.

The first round of peace talks were backed by India, which had deployed the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in 1987, and led to the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. The Accord was successful in persuading the majority of insurgency groups to lay down arms. However, the strongest Tamil insurgency group, the LTTE, was not party to the talks and refused to disarm, sparking direct conflict between the IPKF and the LTTE until IPKF withdrawal 1990. Following the withdrawal, the LTTE consolidated their power in the North and East sparking another intense and bloody war with the central government that lasted until 2002 when another peace process was launched under the auspices of Norwegian negotiators. The second round of peace talks, however, only continued until April 2003 and in March 2004, a large faction of LTTE cadres split from the main organization damaging LTTE unity. The LTTE were defeated militarily by a large-scale government assault in 2009, however, the conditions for peace remain uncertain.

Sri Lankan Civil War (1983 - 2009) )

Stage

Framework/substantive - partial (Core issue)

Conflict nature

Government/territory

Peace process

114: Sri Lanka LTTE 2002 onward process

Parties

Government of Sri Lanka and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Third parties

Description

Following the 2004 Tsunami, the LTTE and Sri Lankan Government formulated the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS) to ensure humanitarian relief and reconstruction in affected areas. P-TOMS consists of district and regional level offices.

Agreement document

LK_050627_P-TOMS.pdf []

Main category

Page 2, NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
1. Structure
... b. The High-Level Committee, the Regional Committee and the District Committees shall discharge of their functions in such a manner as to address the concerns of all persons in the Tsunami Disaster Zone (the “TDZ”, as defined below) and shall do so without discrimination against any person on grounds such as ethnic origin, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, birth or other status.

Page 4, NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
6. Regional Committee
... c. Composition. The Regional Committee shall consist of the following members:
... iv. The Regional Committee shall have a proper gender balance.

Page 6, NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
8. District Committees
... c. ... The District Committee shall also have a proper gender balance.

Women, girls and gender

Participation

Effective participation

Page 4
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
6. Regional Committee
... c. Composition. The Regional Committee shall consist of the following members:
... iv. The Regional Committee shall have a proper gender balance.

Page 6
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
8. District Committees
...
c. The District Committee shall also have a proper gender balance.

Equality

Equality (general)

Page 2
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing the Parties have entered into this MOU and agreed as follows:
1. Structure
...
b. The High-Level Committee, the Regional Committee and the District Committees shall discharge of their functions in such a manner as to address the concerns of all persons in the Tsunami Disaster Zone (the “TDZ”, as defined below) and shall do so without discrimination against any person on grounds such as ethnic origin, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, social origin, birth or other status.

Particular groups of women

No specific mention.

International law

No specific mention.

New institutions

No specific mention.

Violence against women

No specific mention.

Transitional justice

No specific mention.

Institutional reform

No specific mention.

Development

No specific mention.

Implementation

No specific mention.

Other

No specific mention.