News

Two meetings were held in the Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts under NPC’s project, Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic dialogue in Sri Lanka, for DIRC members, local politicians, police officers and government officials to discuss common concerns and issues causing religious and ethnic tension in the areas.

Kandy District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) members travelled to 14 districts across the country sharing their experiences of how they dealt with the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in their district earlier this year.

Newly elected Municipal Council members from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and selected municipal staff members participated in three day workshop that was organized with support from USAID’s Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project and NPC. NPC resource persons provided inputs on the reconciliation process for councillors.

Under the IMPACT project, NPC conducted two Transitional Justice (TJ) workshops for students of Nilwala College of Education in the Matara District. Resources persons were lawyer Jagath Liyana Arachchi and NPC Project Manager Saman Seneviratne. Two hundred participants attended both training programmes.

The Ampara District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC), local politicians and community leaders organized a Peace Conference in Kalmunai under NPC’s Religions to Reconcile (R2R) Project. Over 200 community members from Kalmunai, Irakkamam, Digavapi and Higurana, including differently abled people, attended the conference.

A series of training workshops on Transitional Justice (TJ) was held for university students and youth under NPC’s project Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long Lasting Peace in Sri Lanka, which is funded by the UN Peace Building Fund. The programme for universities was held at the Eastern University for 53 undergraduates and was supported by the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM).

A peace march to promote religious freedom and pluralism was organized by the Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) in Weligama and NPC’s local partner Voice of South under the NPC’s project Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF). The message of the march was creating coexistence through multi religious values, teachings and celebrations.

Under NPC’s project Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic dialogue in Sri Lanka, members of the District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) in Batticaloa and Trincomalee discussed several issues that were contributing to religious and ethnic tension in their districts, and planned activities to alleviate the tension.

In a citizens’ response to the riots that took place in Kandy in March this year, a Citizens’ Truth Commission was set up by the Kandy District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) to find the root causes of the violence.

A joint three day meeting was held in Habarana between the Trincomalee and Batticaloa DIRCs under NPC’s project Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue in Sri Lanka, facilitated by the Asia Foundation (TAF) and NPC. The meeting gave an opportunity for the two DIRCs to exchange experiences and learn from each other.

A workshop on the Local Authorities Act and the Transitional Justiceprocess was held for 38 local politicians in Matara. Thirty eight local level politicians, including opposition leaders and members of local authorities, attended the workshop.

The first workshop for community youth leaders under the UN Peace Building Fund supported “Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long Lasting Peace in Sri Lanka” was held in Kalutara.

A training workshop on Transitional Justice (TJ) for 40 religious leaders from all faiths from the Kandy, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura districts was held in Kandy.

A training workshop on Non-Violent Communication (NVC) was conducted for 26 members of Local Inter Religious Committees (LIRCs) in Vavuniya to provide a conceptual overview of NVC, as well as hands on skills.

Eighty members of DIRCs, sub groups and local partner organizations have formulated a draft Charter on Pluralism based on their understanding of pluralism and building a Sri Lankan identity.

In the wake of the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in Digana and earlier in Ampara, District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) in several districts took immediate steps to ease the conflict situation.