The PALM Foundation is a committed, a well-recognized community development non-governmental organization exists in the Nuwara Eliya District in Sri Lanka, which served for plantation and rural communities, adopting a participatory holistic development approach and reaped tangible benefits to those deprived discriminated and isolated communities.
The organization was initiated in the eighties , by a group of Dutch volunteers , headed by Ms. Natascha Sennama who were moved by the poor and isolated living conditions of the plantation workers and adjoining village people.
The PALM Foundation was founded in 1985 and registered in 1989 under the relevant government authorities, meeting legal requirements to operate as a community development organization in Sri Lanka.
PALM Foundation works through a systematic process of social mobilization, strengthening civil Society structures. PALM has been implanting an integrated development programme, consisting of infrastructure development, including water and sanitation and community buildings, an early child hood development and child protection, empowerment of women, natural resource management and eco farming, health and nutrition promotion, micro finance schemes, livelihood generation activities, health and wellbeing of elders, legal rights and advocacy work.
According to PALM Foundation's policies they consider the plantation and rural areas as their main target populations. Deciding criteria include support from the government to work, the extent of poverty, gender inequality, natural disasters, poor access to resources and government services, requests from the community and the intervention of other voluntary organizations.
PALM Foundation is registered under the following government authorities meeting all the legal requirements to perform as a non-governmental organization in Sri Lanka.
The organization was initiated in the eighties, by a group of Dutch volunteers who were moved by the poor and isolated living conditions of the plantation workers.
Activities such as the construction of houses, dispensaries & schools, were combined with health & educational programs. Funding was received from individual donors of the Netherlands, simultaneously a small partner NGO was formed, called: stitching PALM, who supported with funding for ten years.
During the beginning of the nineties the organization began to realize that long – term sustainability could only be achieved if more emphasis is put on strengthening the local component both in the organization as well as among the target groups.
A technical coordinator was deployed in 1991 to coordinate & assist in the design & construction of the water supply schemes. Basically this employment became the corner stone for the rapid development in the years to come. An evaluation in 1992 clearly proved that health, sanitation & the supply of pure drinking water was going hand & the health promoters soon became mobilizes who looked in to the total livelihood needs of the target groups, demanding more programs which could sustain them in many ways. The vision & input of the mobilizes, who derived from the target groups added to a new & effective holistic approach of the organization, in which one development aspect could not be seen isolated but in a total context of well being & an uplifted living standard of the target partners.
During 1994 group formation activities evolved as an added mechanism to unite & strengthen the people’s marking as well as for the purpose of the purpose of the purpose of creating small loan schemes by collective saving towards a more sustainable development process.
Organic agricultural programs commenced initially in the walapane villages in 1993/94. in 1995 the organization developed its first log term plan for five years & completed the implementation successfully. This initiated a long– term cooperation with external development partners such as Novib of Netherlands, Helvetas of Switzerland, Norad of Norway etc. this five years plan was a major milestone to the PALM in terms of its institutional development where the organization grew up to a systematic & leading development organization today.
At the organization level a major change happened in year 2000 as the founder member and the first team leader of PALM Foundation, Ms. Natascha Sennema withdrew from her post and subsequently, the Deputy Team Leader was succeeded to her post.
Following to the tsunami devastation which caused in 2004, PALM Foundation expanded it’s services to the Eastern province with the partnership of Mercy corps USA. As this interventions were successful and the development approaches of PALM was well revenant to the north and east provinces, the organization took a policy decision to continue the development activities through the established programme unit giving more autonomy which is functioning as an independent sister organization. This operates as PALM Foundation development service Guaranteed Ltd. Similarly, the infrastructure development services unit was also restructured as a self-supported social enterprise providing engineering services on community infrastructure activities to the like-minded organizations which is called as PALM infrastructure engineering development service Ltd.
Stage 1 – Activity based(up to1990 )
Stage 2 – project based(1991 to 1994)
Stage 3 – Program based (1995 onwards)