Andrei Rami Rodan [*]

The ART-Gold Sri Lanka (AGSL) Programme was initiated in the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004 not only to support the immediate recovery phase but also to facilitate a sustainable longer-term development process, by reinforcing the ability of local actors to plan and manage territorial development. Within the Southern Province - one of the hardest hit areas - AGSL supports the creation of an enabling framework, facilitating a multitude of actors to work jointly towards the Millennium Development Goals through an area-based approach to governance and human development. AGSL's interventions concentrate on several aspects of local development: governance, education, health and sanitation, historical and cultural heritage, environmental protection and local economic development (LED).

Through its LED component, AGSL aims at reinforcing the competitive economic potential of the Southern Province through capacity building, skill development and the organization of a comprehensive service system for provincial economic development and sustainable job creation. An important initiative within this component is the construction of a new market place in the Angunukolapallessa Pradesihiya Sabawa in Hambantota. Angunukolapallessa is playing a crucial role in the economic development in the Southern Province by producing and supplying a considerable amount of agricultural products to the provincial market.

This video was filmed in Sri Lanka over a period of 6 weeks in September and October 2008.
It was produced as part of a Masters' thesis in Human Development, Local and International Cooperation and the Culture of Peace, at the University of Florence conducted by the UNESCO Chair at the University. It is a result of a participatory research process, conducted prior to the filming stage, with the main actors in the AGSL programme ( the members and representatives of the local community, AGSL community development officers and project directors, local government officials, representatives of the main international donors and UN organizations). During the period of the actual filming some of the scenes were edited and presented to the main participants in the film for their comments and suggestions, which were then incorporated into the final version.

The film documents some of the processes of development implemented in the south of Sri Lanka among which are: the opening of the New Market Place in Debokawa, the home gardening project in Neluwa region, the establishment of the R.U.E.D.A - the Ruhuna Local Economic Development Agency and the project to solve irrigation problems for agricultural use in the southern regions.