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BRITISH CABINET MINISTER TO VISIT SRI LANKABRITISH HIGH COMMISSION PRESS RELEASEBritish Cabinet Minister, The Right Honourable Tessa Jowell MP, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, will visit Sri Lanka on 8 and 9 December as part of a five-day visit which also included India and Thailand. During her visit, the Minister will look at reconstruction work that has taken place since the tsunami and meet those working on rehabilitation. In her role as the Minister responsible for the long-term aftercare of UK victims of the tsunami, Ms Jowell will report back to the Prime Minister on progress when she returns to the UK. Ms Jowell will be the first British Minister to visit Sri Lanka since President Rajapakse was elected. On 8 December, she will hold talks with senior members of the Sri Lankan government. She will also attend a lunch with leading Sri Lankan women in her role as British Minister for Women. The Minister will meet a group of children who will be helped by a British-funded project called "Youth Rehabilitation & Reconciliation through Community Cricket". This aims to bring youth from different communities together, including those from conflict-affected areas and build trust through a shared experience of sport. Ms Jowell will see an excerpt of the Edinburgh Festival award-winning theatre production, The Children of the Sea, performed by tsunami-affected children. This will also be an opportunity to meet leading members of the Sri Lankan artistic community. On 9 December, the Minister will travel to Galle and Hikkaduwa to visit
British volunteers helping in tsunami reconstruction and meet with representatives
of the local tourism industry. The British Government has provided £56.7
million (approximately $102 million) worth of post-tsunami assistance
to Sri Lanka through grants to the UN and NGOs and in the form of debt
relief to the Sri Lankan Government. The British public donated at least
£400 million (approximately $720 million) of aid to those affected
by the tsunami across the region. Many British NGOs and volunteers are
currently in Sri Lanka involved in post-tsunami reconstruction activities.
"It is less than a year since the tsunami devastated so much of South East Asia, and claimed so many lives. No one will ever forget the horror of that time, nor should they. But nothing stays still, and other needs arise. "Earlier this year, however, the Prime Minister asked me to co-ordinate support for those UK families that were affected by the tsunami and that's why I'm making this visit. Not just to see - on behalf of the UK Government - that relief work and reconstruction is going ahead as we all would want it to. But also to ensure that the memory of those UK citizens who lost their lives is protected."
Tessa Jowell has been the MP for Dulwich and West Norwood since 1992. Following the 2005 General Election, Tessa Jowell returned as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. She was born in London and was educated at St Margaret's School in Aberdeen and the universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Goldsmith's, London. She is also a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford. Before her election to Parliament in 1992, Tessa had a career in psychiatric social work, social policy and public sector management. She is married with a daughter, a son and three stepchildren. Ministerial Responsibilities
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