European MPs Experience Tsunami Effects First Hand

On 26 December 2004, the world became all too familiar with the word Tsunami – a natural disaster which caused death and destruction in Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka alone 31,000 people perished. Hundreds of thousands of women were left without access to medical treatment, including obstetric care.

On 1 August 2005, an all-woman team of European Parliamentarians went to Sri Lanka to find out first hand how the country was coping with the impact of the disaster.

“I saw that in times of crisis, solidarity among people, together with international aid, allows populations in pain to start a new life,'' said Portuguese MP Teresa Caeiro after the five-day visit. “I learned how important female participation in society is. We have to continue all efforts to reinforce gender quality and development.”

The trip was organized by the IEPFPD (Inter-European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development) in partnership with the UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund and AFPPD (Asian Forum on Parliamentarians on Population and Development). The parliamentarians were also in Sri Lanka to take part in the AFPPD Third Asian Women Parliamentarians' and Ministers' Conference, focusing on “Engendering the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). All members of the delegation concluded that the trip was “very useful and enlightening''.

“The programme of the visit allowed for direct communication with people during field visits,” said Jadvyga Zinkeviciute, an MP from Lithuania. “Participation in the AFPPD Conference gave us an opportunity to meet women from far away corners of the world as well as food for thought to organize a similar meeting at the European level,” she added.

The Scottish MP Susan Deacon also appreciated field visits as “highly valuable'', adding that she experienced two extremes of emotions: “On the one hand you meet lovely, open people while on the other hand you see the horrendous extent of devastation. It is very difficult to imagine what it must have been like before the tsunami.''

The IEPFPD delegation was particularly impressed by the visit to the Mahamodera Hospital in Galle, a maternity hospital that was devastated by the Tsunami. Women were evacuated to a general hospital in the same district which did not have a maternity ward or labour room facilities. But now, thanks to UNFPA support, the Mahamodera hospital has been reopened.

“I was really touched to see the reconstruction of health care infrastructure,” said Teresa Caeiro. “It is tremendously important for parliamentarians to talk to the people who lost everything except their own lives. It gives you an idea of what has to be done.''

Other parliamentarians agreed that there is no substitute for well-organized field visits because one sees and understands so much more than is possible through following the international media.

“I would certainly recommend that colleagues go and see for themselves,” said Lithuanian MP Birute Vesaite. “The MDG goals are very distant and hard to visualize, but after having visited Sri Lanka, I am more than ever convinced we have to change both the EU Common Agricultural Policy and the WTO (World Trade Organization) rules.''

For some parliamentarians the field visit was a completely new experience. “We used to concentrate on our own problems first,” said Katrin Saks, an MP from Estonia. “Now that my country has joined the EU we have become a donor country. This opens our eyes to a wider world. Global issues like a Tsunami need to be addressed and we have to shape policies accordingly. Our budget for development co-operation is not big but I feel we can make a difference.''

While July was a good month for a field visit to Sri Lanka, creating media interest after the trip was not easy because end of July is generally the start of the summer holiday. Nevertheless, some members took immediate action after their return, writing articles for newspapers and preparing reports for their parliaments and country Family Planning Associations, helping to push the issue of Tsunami relief efforts up the agenda again.

“I contacted members of the North South Committee in my party,” said Belgian MP Céline Delforge. “Reconstruction efforts in the Tsunami-struck areas should be higher on the political agenda.”

More effort is needed to increase the financial means of UNFPA, particularly in the area of psycho-social counselling, where UNFPA is leading the other UN agencies in helping the survivors to overcome the trauma of their experiences. Scottish MP, Susan Deacon said, “The UNFPA is doing a very important job. I was really impressed by the way they work, all projects are deeply rooted in local communities. They do make a difference.”

The parliamentarians concluded that the field visit to the District Secretariat in Hambantota, the conversations with the largest community development organization Sarvodaya, and the long but worthwhile trip to the Mahamodera hospital in Galle have focused their views on the need to raise awareness of issues related to reproductive health.

“I have seen how uneven the path to prosperity is,” said Portuguese MP Teresa Caeiro. “There are no easy roads to improving gender equality and reproductive health. But we, as parliamentarians, have to continue. We have to see the problems with our own eyes and shape adequate policies at home in order to promote sustainable development in the developing world.''

Visit to Sri-Lanka took place from 31 July – 5 August and was organized by the IEPFPD in partnership with UNFPA and AFPPD. Participants included:

• Céline Delforge, MBP, Brussels Parliament, Belgium,
• Katrin Saks, MP Estonia, former Population Minister
• Ingrida Circene, MP Latvia
• Milda Petrauskiene, MP Lithuania
• Birute Vesaite, MP Lithuania, IEPFPD Executive Committee Member
• Jadvyga Zinkeviciute, MP Lithuania
• Teresa Caeiro, MP Portugal
• Susan Deacon, MSP, Scotland – UK, Co-Chair of the Scottish Cross-Party Group on Sexual Health
• Neil Datta, Secretary of the IEPFPD
• Alejandro Garrido, Programme Associate, IEPFPD