MORE than £40,000 was donated by the Overseas Aid Committee in March to help the victims of flooding in Sri Lanka.

Over one million people were affected by the flooding and more than 320,000 were forced into temporary shelters.
  
The Overseas Aid Committee donated £41,360 to two charities seeking to help those most affected by the crisis - Y Care International, the YMCA's international relief and development agency, and Care International UK.
 
Together the projects aimed to help more than 20,000 people by providing food and other essential items such as bedding, soap and mosquito nets and they support the cleanup of affected areas to protect against waterborne diseases.
 
The Overseas Aid Committee also donated £8,640 to UNICEF to support refugees from the Ivory Coast where political turmoil has led to more than 38,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Liberia which is itself recovering from years of conflict.
 
UNICEF's objectives included providing food and treatment for malnutrition to children in both the refugee and host communities, reaching vulnerable populations with water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and services and re-establishing schooling.
 
Overseas Aid Committee chairman Phil Gawne MHK said: "The emergency aid donated by the overseas aid committee will have a real effect on the ground in Sri Lanka and in Liberia and we are pleased to support the work of these three charities."
 
Update: In November it was revealed that the Overseas Aid Committee has provided direct financial support to more than 4.3 million people around the world since 2008. For more on this click here.

This story is part of isleofman.com's Review of the Year 2011.