Social Development Programme
In order to improve the quality of life for communities living in urban underserved settlements around the island, the Social Development Program is being implemented under 4 key interventions.
Overview
Social development programmes are being implementing to uplift the living conditions of low-income community of their social, economic, cultural through the community development, economic development, educational development and cultural development programmes. These programmes have been executed since year 2011 focusing on communities living in urban underserved settlements in Colombo. Accordingly, the programme is being implementing covering the entire island as per 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. Alos as per the strategic plan of year 2025-2029, the programme has been planned to implement the programmes based on a four-pronged approach designed to promote the participation of the involved community, develop living standards of urban low-income communities and strengthen social mobilization.
Community empowerment programme
The prime objective of the community participatory programme is to empower communities, individuals and community-based organizations with a view to improving their living conditions whilst making the urban underserved communities to understand the importance of cultural diversity. This is executing through four sub-programmes.
- Formation and Functioning of CBOs
- Small Group & Cash Management Programme
- Drug Prevention & Rehabilitation Programme
- Community Health Promotional Programme
- Environmental Programme
Educational Programme
This programme envisions to upgrade skills of children and youth of urban underserved settlements giving them access better employment opportunities through basic education, skills development and vocational training. This programme is implementing under the following main sub-programmes.
- Early Childhood Development
- Youth & Children Development Programmes
- Establishing Libraries & Community Resource Centers
- Educational Awareness Programme
- Vocational Training Programme
Self-employment and Entrepreneurship Development Programme
The objective of this programme is to uplift economic wellbeing of the community through self- employment and entrepreneurship development. This programme can be considered as an important mechanism for developing community based small scale manufacturing economy and unveiling small scale productions confined within isolated marginalized groups. The programme has implementing through sub four programmes.
- Entrepreneurship Awareness Programme
- Entrepreneurship Development Training
- Provision of financial aid facilities for new and existing micro/small scale entrepreneurs, with a maximum amount of Rs. 100,000.00 at minimum interest rates
- Assessment of Entrepreneurship (Market Introduction for Micro and Small-Scale Entrepreneurs) Social Development Programme-2023
Socio-Cultural Programme
This programme is implemented with the aim of promoting coexistence amongst multi-religious and multi-ethnic communities living in urban underserved settlements, ensuring their mental wellbeing as well as promoting their skills. This is implementing under main two sub programmes.
- Cultural & Aesthetic Skills Development Programme
- Religious & Spiritual Enrichment Programme
Empowering urban underserved communities for sustainable development while ensuring their wellbeing...
Improving the competencies of the urban underserved children and youth to access decent employment...
Uplifting economic well-being of the urban underserved communities through self-employment and...
Promoting social cohesion among diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-religious urban underserved communities...
Habitat Day Programme is celebrating annually on the first Monday of October to reflect...
Habitat Day Programme is celebrating annually on the first Monday of October to reflect on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter which was commenced in year 1986. In this year of 2025, the World Habitat Day will be held on Monday, October 6, with the theme focusing on “Addressing urban crises and promoting effective crisis response,” according to UN-Habitat. Accordingly, USDA has planned to celebrate this targeting the low income community of under settlement urban areas.
World Habitat Day 2014 - Inauguration Ceremony
Measures were taken to conduct children’s programmes of World Habitat Day 2014 on the theme of “Children of Colombo” and the inaugural ceremony was held in collaboration with the University of Visual and Performing Arts at the Ape Gama” (Folk Art Centre) on 22nd February 2014 with the participation of 2,500 children.
With the aim of improving artistic skills of children of underserved settlements in and around Colombo, they Were taught basic knowledge on aesthetic subjects such as singing, dancing and sculpting with the involvement of teachers of the University of Visual and Performing Arts.
Arts, Singing, Dancing training programme for children to mark World Habitat Day
Involving all children who were to take part in arts, singing and dancing competitions, training programmes were conducted in public places of urban settlements continuously from April with the participation of lecturers and academics of the Visual Arts Faculty of Aesthetics University
Rehearsing for cultural concert
Rehearsals of the cultural concert held at ‘Nelum Pokuna’ international theatre were conducted with the participation of over 500 children who were guided by the resource personnel from the University of Visual and Performing Arts. This presented an excellent opportunity for these children to showcase their inborn talents.
“Children of Colombo” –Children’s Cultural Show
On October 04, 2014, a children’s cultural show was held at Nelum Pokuna theatre with the participation of nearly 700 children from urban settlements. Many cultural items were on display at the rehearsals were carried out under the supervision of veterans of the field.
The script was written and directed by Mr.Amiththa Weerasinghe and music was composed by Mr. Navaratne Gamage. Make up was handled by Vasanta Vitatchchi and a group led by Mrs Swineetha Perera and Miss Ama Wijesekara were in charge of dress designing.
Commemorating World Habitat Day-2014
As per the provisions of the Urban Settlement Development Authority Act, the responsibilities with regard to the celebration of Word Habitat Day in Sri Lanka have been entrusted to our authority. The presentation of awards, certificates, and cash gifts for the winners of the art and drama competition and cricket tournament was conducted at Habitat Day national ceremony held at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium under the patronage of His Excellency the President on 06th October 2014.
Drawing competition of children of urban settlements –First Round
An art competition with the objective of promoting creative and artistic skills of children of urban settlements was conducted from the first week of August 2914 and the event was organized with the involvement of community activists and community leaders. More than 13,000 of urban settlements in Colombo children were mobilized for the competition held under three age categories to mark World Habitat Day.
Drawing competition of children of urban settlements –Second Round
Five thousand best creations were selected from the first round and a live drawing competition was held on 20th September at Vihara Maha Devi Park. 50 academics from the University of Visual and Performing Arts joined hands with as a support group to conduct the event successfully.
“Swashakthi” –Children’s art exhibition
600 drawings of students excelled in the final round of the drawing competition were displayed in an art exhibition held at the Arts Gallery for three days from 01st to 03rd October 2014. The presentation of awards, certificates, and cash gifts for the winners of the art competition took place at the World Habitat Day national ceremony held at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo on 06th October 2014 under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency the President.
Short Drama competition for developing skills of children of urban settlements
Our Authority also organized a children’s drama festival as part of the events organized for World Habitat Day-2014 to promote artistic skills of the children of urban underserved settlements. For all groups who participated in the drama competition, required training and guidance were offered by lecturers and academics of the University of Visual and Performing Arts. 63 groups staged dramas at the first round covering settlements in Colombo metropolitan area. 27 dramas (400 children) were selected for the second round by an expert panel of judges and a special drama workshop was organized to help improve the quality of these dramas.
A drama festival was organized to stage dramas selected for the second round was held at New Town Hall, Green Path, Colombo on 28th and 29th September 2014. Best dramas and best performers were selected and the awards and certificates were presented to the winners at the World Habitat Day national ceremony held at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo on 06th October 2014 held under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency the President.
Sports skills development 2014 –Six-a-side cricket tournament (Men/ Women)
With the aim of improving sports skills of young men and women of underserved urban settlements, the Urban Settlement Development Authority organized an open six-a-side men and women’s cricket tournament (Men/ Women) to coincide with World Habitat Day-2014. 150 teams representing settlements in Colombo Urban Zone competed in the first round of matches and the number of players participated in this round exceeded 1,200. The matches were played at Shalika Grounds, Bandaranaikepura Grounds, Sri Wickremapura Grounds and Railway Grounds-Baseline Road.
2014 Sports skills promotion - Six-a-side cricket tournament (Men/ Women) Final Round
20 teams (men/women) qualified for the second round and the matchers of this round were played at , Bandaranaikepura Grounds, Rajagiriya and the presentation of certificates and awards to winners took place at the World Habitat Day national ceremony held at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo on 06th October 2014 held under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency the President.
Pre-awareness on street food festival
400 persons engaged in the preparation and sale of street foods were mobilized under the banner of “Association of Street Food Producers and Vendors of Colombo” under the leadership of 26 community activists covering the zones of Colombo North, Colombo Central, Colombo East/West and Borella and a preliminary discussion was held at the Magazine community hall, Borella on 31.10.2014 on devising a street food production and sales promotion programme with the participation of officials of the USDA, community leaders and activists and similar programmes were conducted in 04 zones.
The street food festival for promoting small scale street food producing self employed persons in urban settlements was held at Green Path, Colombo on October 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
Distribution of gas cylinders and gas burners
Distribution of gas cylinders and gas burners among 185 self employed persons engaged in sale of food items took place at Vihara Maha Devi Open Air Theatre on 01st October 2014 with the objective of encouraging and incentivizing these small sale food vendors.
World Habitat Day Celebration – 2015
Theme of 2015 – ‘Public Space for All’
The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day. Accordingly, Habitat Day will be celebrated this year on Monday, 05 October. World Habitat Day was established in 1985 at the annual session of UN Habitat held in Kingston, Jamaica upon the adoption of a resolution moved by Sri Lanka and was first celebrated in 1986. This year marks the 30th anniversary of this important day.
The responsibility for celebrating World Habitat Day as well as National Housing Day declared to be held on June 23 from this year has been entrusted to the Ministry of Housing and Samurdhi and the Urban Settlement Development Authority which is a major institution under this Ministry organized. as in previous years, a host of special programmes parallel to ‘Swashakthi’ Human Development Programme. Most prominent among them were the drama competitions, cricket tournament, essay competitions and art competitions for both children and youths.
Short drama festival of children
‘Swashakthi’ Children’s art competition -2015
A painting competition with the objective of promoting creative and artistic skills of children of urban settlements was conducted on the theme of World Habitat Day 2015 with the intervention of the Social Mobilization Division. This year’s art competition was conducted in three stages for the age groups of 15-18 years, 10-14 years and 6-9 years under different topics. In the first stage, 9000 children’s paintings were submitted for the competition. Of them, the panel of judges selected 600 paintings for the art exhibition with 200 categorized as exceptionally good and another 400 as good.
Art exhibition of Children’s painting competition
The art exhibition of the art competition organized as part of World Habitat Day celebration was held at Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta with the participation of Minister of Housing Construction Hon. Sajith Premadasa and other distinguished invitees.
Programmes for promoting painting skills
Parallel to World Habitat Day programmes of 2016, the first stage of “Swashakthi” children’s painting programme was conducted under 03 age categories with the participation of nearly 15,000 children of the Colombo urban zone and in the districts where which human development programmes are implemented with the objective of promoting creative and artistic skills of children of urban settlements.
Final stage of “Swashakthi Children’s Painting Competition
After evaluating the drawings of children who took part in the first phase by an expert panel of judges, 3,000 paintings were selected from the three age categories of 6-9, 10-14 and 15-18. The children so selected participated in the final competition held at Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo on 29.04.2016.The final stage was held with pomp and pageantry and the occasion was graced by the former first lady Madam Hema Premadasa. A salient feature was the participation of a large number of children not only from the Colombo urban zone but from other districts in which human development programmes are conducted.
Winners of Children’s Painting Competition
Age category 6-9
Age category 10-14
Age category 15-18
“Swashakthi” short drama festival
Though there are children with innate talents in acting in underserved urban settlements, the only avenue available for them to display such talents is the “Swashakthi” children’s drama competition. As in previous Habitat Day progrmmes, a short drama competition was conducted covering Colombo urban zones with the participation of 53 teams in the first round.
In the first round competition, rehearsals were conducted at the settlement level with the assistance of undergraduates of the University of the Visual and Performing Arts. The competition led to strong bonds being formed among children of different settlements.
The preliminary round competitions of the “Swashakthi” short drama festival conducted parallel to World Habitat Day 2016 were held at Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta.
The second round too was held at Pradeepa Hall with the participation of 20 teams.
“Swashakthi” essay competition
Marking World Habitat Day 2016, an essay competition was organized involving children in urban settlements with the objective of enhancing their knowledge and understanding. 617 children took part in the competition and the medals, certificates and cash awards for winners of three categories were presented by His Excellency the President at the national ceremony held to mark World Habitat Day.
Primary category (up to Grade 5)
Junior Category (up to Grade 6 to 9)
Senior Category (up to Grade 13)
World Habitat Day 2016 Celebration
By virtue of powers vested in the Authority in terms of the provisions of the USDA Act, it has to play a pivotal role in the commemoration of World Habitat Day in Sri Lanka. The national ceremony of World Habitat Day-2016 was held under the patronage of His Excellency the President on the theme of “Housing at the Centre” on 03.10.2016 at “Sugaladevi” model village, Nuwaragala, Polonnaruwa. The winners of the drama, essay and arts competitions and the cricket tournament received certificate and cash awards from His Excellency the President.
“Swashakthi Children’s Art Competition
Under the guidance of the Social Mobilization Unit of the USDA, a slew of children’s programmes were organized ‘Swashakthi” human development programme, setting the stage for children of underserved urban settlements to showcase their aesthetic skills. Opening new vistas for children of underserved settlements, the arts festival of children was organized for the seventh consecutive year parallel to coincide with World Habitat Day highlighting the this year’s theme “Affordable Housing for All”.
The competition was held under three age categories of 6-9, 10-14 and 15-18. At the first stage, approximately 15,000 drawings were submitted by children took part in the first phase and after evaluating the drawings by an expert panel of judges of the University of Performing Arts and the Jayawardanapura-Kotte zonal education office, 3,000 paintings were selected for the second round. The final competition held at Vihara Maha Devi Park, Colombo on 23.09.2017.
Age category 6-9
Age category 10-14
Age category 15-18
Children’s art competition- At Ruhuna University on 30.09.2017
Children’s art competition conducted with the participation of schoolchildren of Matara district
Children’s art exhibition – Matara Old Dutch Trade Centre
Swashakthi Short Drama Festival
This short drama festival of children which has been held since year 2010 has set the stage for a large number of children to display their innate artistic talents. In underserved urban settlements, we have come across children of school going age not fortunate enough to receive school education and children with hidden talents who have not had the opportunity to showcase their talents. “Swashakthi” children’s short drama festival stands testimony to the undoubted talents of these budding artistes from underserved settlements. The drama festival was held under two rounds and the dramas selected by an expert panel of experts are referred to the second round.
Finals of the short drama festival
Date – 12.09.2017
Venue – Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta
First Place
Dedimuththuduwa settlement
“Kete Holowapan” children’s short drama
Second Place
Nelson Lane Settlement
“Ape Dekma” children’s short drama
Third Place
102Panchikawatta Settlement
“Marketing” children’s short drama
World Habitat Day National Ceremony
The distribution of awards and certificates of competitions held parallel to World Habitat Day was held with pomp and pageantry on 02.10.2017 at Sanath Jayasuriya Stadium, Matara.
Conducting the first stage of the children’s drawing competition held to mark World Habitat Day 2018
Preliminary round of the drawing competitions were conducted at the settlement level mobilizing children in settlements within the Colombo urban zone and outside of it wherein human development programme is in operation in order to bring out and hone the skills of hidden creative skills of children. The number of children who participated in the first round of the competition was 11,450.
Three thousand children selected from the preliminary stage were selected for the final round of the competition held on 22.09.2018 at Vihara Maha Devi Park. The winning drawings were selected by an expert panel.
Kurunegala- Nikaweratiya children’s drawing competition
In pursuance of a proposal made at a meeting held at the Kurunegala District Secretariat with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction, Indika Bandaranayake and the Secretary to the Ministry, a children’s drawing competition was held on 22.09.2018 at Nika/Wari/ Gnanodaya Central College with the participation of around 500 children from Nikaweratiya Education Zone.
Children’s short drama festival to commemorate World Habitat Day 2018
With a view to improving quality and creativity of the ‘short dramas presented by children of settlements at the ‘Swashakthi’ children’s short drama festival concurrent to World Habitat Day Commemoration 2018, training workshops were conducted in settlements with the involvement of students of the University of Performing Arts.
The first round of the drama competition conducted to mark World Habitat Day 2018 was staged at Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta on 23,24.08.2019with 48 dramas vying for honours. The competition showcased undoubted talent of boys and girls from urban settlements. The second round of the competition for which 20 dramas were selected was held at Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta on 08.09.2018 under the patronage of Mrs. Sajith Premadasa and other distinguished invitees.
First Place
“Surapuraya”
Second Place
“Piya Senehasa”
Third Place
“Dilindukama Pitudakimu”
Gifts, shields and certificates awarded to winners of competitions held to mark World Habitat Day 2018
Awarding gifts, certificates and cups for the first place winners of drawing and short children’s drama competitions of children conducted parallel to World Habitat Day 2018 took place at the national ceremony to mark World Habitat Day 2018 held on Monday the 01st of October 2018 under the auspices of the Minister of Housing and Construction Hon. Sajith Premadasa and other distinguished participants. At a parallel ceremony held in Kotavehera in the Kurunegala District, “Jagath Nivahangama” mode village was vested in the people.
Gifts, shields and certificates awarded to winners of competitions held to mark World Habitat Day-2018
The awarding of gifts, shields and certificates for the second and third place winners of children’s painting, short drama, essay and six-a-side cricket tournament held parallel to World Habitat Day 2017 was held ceremoniously at Pradeepa Hall, Maligawatta on 17.03.2018 under the patronage of Mrs. Jalani Premadasa, the wife of the Minister of Housing and Construction, Hon. Sajith Premadasa and with the participation of the members of the Board of Directors of the USDA and distinguished invitees.
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast
Far far away, behind the word mountains, far from the countries Vokalia and Consonantia, there live the blind texts. Separated they live in Bookmarksgrove right at the coast
usda
The Urban Settlement Development Authority (USDA),which was established in 2008 by Parliament Act No. 36 of 2008, is an institution functioning under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing. The formulation of national policy in relation to urban settlement development and ensuring implementation of such policy, along with the provision of improvements to the living conditions of people in underserved settlements, are the interconnected twin objectives of the establishment of USDA.
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