Between May and June, 2024, heavy monsoon rains bombarded the communities on the island nation of Sri Lanka and caused severe flooding and mudslides. The country, already experiencing a severe economic crisis, was pushed to the verge of calamity. The disaster was most dramatic in Southern Sri Lanka, where farming and fishing communities were left devastated. With their farmland and boats destroyed, many families—especially those relying on daily wages—were suddenly pushed further into extreme poverty.
While Sri Lanka’s government and local NGOs distributed food supplies to those impacted, many needs went unmet—needs like menstrual hygiene products for women and girls, which weren’t considered critical in this largely patriarchal society.
Deepening this crisis, the floods caused the spread of germs and bacteria; women relying on unhygienic cloth alternatives for sanitary pads found their health at risk.
“In such families, girls were missing school due to the lack of proper sanitary products,” explains Mireka Nageswaran, Project Manager at Aham Humanitarian Resource Centre (AHRC), an organization supported by AJWS. “Girls, especially school-aged ones, are usually hesitant to voice their need for hygiene products, even when they express their need for food. It became clear that while the government was providing essential food supplies, no one was addressing the urgent need for sanitary products.”
AJWS grantees responded quickly, addressing this element of disaster relief that is too often forgotten. AJWS partners AHRC and Trincomalee District Women Network (TDWN) are both human rights organizations that work with the Tamil ethno-religious minority in Sri Lanka, striving towards gender equity and empowerment in Sri Lanka through education, mobilization, and advocacy.
“While natural disasters affect everyone, women and girls are disproportionately impacted, particularly when it comes to health and hygiene needs,” says Mireka.
These two organizations understood how critical menstrual products are to people’s dignity and health, and to girls’ ability to attend school. So, together, they decided to distribute hygiene packs for girls in the southern part of the country, where the impact of the floods was worse.
“This was an urgent and essential need that could not be ignored,” Nageswaran adds.
There was another element to this relief effort that also could not be ignored: Sri Lanka’s history of ethnic conflict.
Sri Lanka is shared by two prominent groups; the majority Sinhalese predominantly based in the southern region and the minority Tamils in the northeast. For generations, the Tamils have been discriminated against, oppressed, violently persecuted, and denied a sustainable political solution by the Sinhalese majority state. A 30-year civil war only ended in 2009.
Despite the history and ongoing tension between the Tamil and Sinhalese, AHRC and TDWN organized their female staff and volunteer activists—all of whom are Tamils—to purchase and pack 4,000 kits containing menstrual pads, undergarments, soap, a comb, and safety pins. AHRC and TDWN staff then transported these kits to school girls, the majority of whom are from Sinhala families, to help them get back to school. “This initiative transcended the majority-minority divide. We approached it with the belief that all people—regardless of ethnicity, language, or region—are equal, and that their well-being is interconnected,” says Kalarani Inthirarasa, Assistant Coordinator at TDWN.
AHRC and TDWN are committed to fostering harmony and peace between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations in Sri Lanka, and they believe their humanitarian work has helped further this goal. For them, the choice to help the Sinhalese girls was simple.
“The southern part of the country was comparatively more affected by the flood,” says Anuja Stanley, Assistant Program Manager at TDWN. “We realized that we have a responsibility and a moral obligation. As activists who want social harmony, we came forward to help the women of Southern Sri Lanka because they were more affected.”
“We are actively creating opportunities to bridge the gap and strengthen the relationship between these communities. Our humanitarian efforts during this natural disaster were one such step toward that goal,” adds Kumari Velan, Project Coordinator at AHRC. “We believe that by working together, especially in times of need, we can lay the foundation for a stable relationship and, ultimately, a lasting political solution. Therefore, it is crucial that we continue to collaborate with the Sinhalese people, building trust and mutual respect through sustained efforts.”
Many Sinhalese teachers and principals expressed gratitude on behalf of their students for the aid.
“You could have easily helped [Tamil] girls in the northeast,” said one school principal. “You came all the way here to help us. This is a true symbol of reconciliation.”