Thirty participants attended two online training sessions held under NPC’s Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) project from the districts of Kandy, Kurunegala, Mannar, Vavuniya, Batticaloa and Ampara where the project is being implemented jointly with Helvitas Sri Lanka and funded by the EU.

Four online discussions were conducted Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya under NPC’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) activity with the participation of Co-Existence Society (CES) members, District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) members and Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) members.

An online training programme on facilitation skills development was held under NPC’s Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF) project for 61 representatives of 12 regional partners. An online poll identified facilitation as the primary requirement for training as it would benefit them as community level change agents.

An online workshop on countering hate speech for youth in Polonnaruwa was conducted by NPC’s Technical Assistance to Justice Institutions in Sri Lanka project. Project coordinator Nirosha Anthony spoke on the social background of hate speech and the objectives of the workshop. She explained that hate speech is often used in society to create an enemy of the other while consolidating one’s own group. Modern technology and social media made this task easier and more harmful.