The 16 year long ethnic conflict in the North-East has taken an enormous toll on the country's human, financial and physical resources. It has cost the lives of over 70,000 people, displaced close to 500,000 men & women and children, and deteriorated the ethnic harmony and social cohesion within the country.

The objective of NEIAP is to help the conflict affected communities in the North-East province and adjoining areas to re-establish at least a subsistence level of production and basic community services, through assistance with jump starting agricultural and Livelihood Support Activities, and to build their capacity for sustainable social and economic reintegration.

The Project design is to reach about 24,000 families living in about 400 focal villages, which are centred around 400 small irrigation schemes, with a combined command area of 16,000 ha.

The project covers eight districts of the North-East province, namely Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavunia, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Killinochchi and Jaffna and neighbouring villages of the four districts in the adjoining three provinces, namely; Monaragala, (Uva), Puttlam (North West), and Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, North Central). The Jaffna district in the North was not covered in the original plan due to restricted access to the area, but later included in 2002.