The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) is an autonomous international organisation established by the Parties to the Sri
Lanka Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) of 2002, as an impartial instrument to monitor the agreement. The SLMM was set up as a civilian
mission jointly financed and staffed by the five Nordic countries. The operation ceased in January 2008; the termination of
the organisation is being completed during 2008.
The SLMM was established through the signing of the 22 February 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the Government of the
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It was established as an
independent and impartial instrument assisting the Parties, and tasked specifically to monitor the Parties’ commitment to
and implementation of the CFA.
The SLMM was financed and staffed by the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. All five countries
seconded monitoring personnel to the mission, until monitors from members of the three European Union countries had to leave
in September 2006, after which only personnel from Iceland and Norway participated in the operation. The five Nordic countries
continued, nevertheless, to finance the mission.
The SLMM was established as a result of the CFA, and mandated through it, deployed as a non-military and unarmed observer
group made up by international monitors and national staff, all recruited on an individual basis. The operation was directed
by the Head of Mission (HOM), who reported SLMM’s findings and observations to the Government of Norway, as stipulated in
the CFA.
