News

NPC commenced a new project titled Building Safe and Effective HRDs in Estate Sector Communities supported through the Carter Center’s ACCELERATE initiative. The project will be implemented in the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, two areas with large concentrations of Malaiyaha Tamil estate sector communities who continue to face long-standing barriers in accessing documentation, welfare, schooling, housing, disaster-related support and administrative services.

NPC expresses its profound sorrow at the passing of Dr. Devanesan Nesiah, one of Sri Lanka's most respected public intellectuals, civil servants and advocates of peace and reconciliation. His life of public service, moral courage and intellectual integrity has left an enduring mark on Sri Lanka's search for a just and inclusive peace.

NPC took Sri Lanka's experience in responding to climate change and disaster recovery to the regional stage when Executive Director Dr. Jehan Perera, board member Mrs. Visaka Dharmadasa and Senior Project Officer Arafaath Rahby participated in the Climate, Peace and Security Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal.

For many years the residents of Palu Wewa, a small rural village in the Polonnaruwa District, lived with a challenge that many communities take for granted - access to safe drinking water. Every night, long after most people had gone to sleep, families in the village would wake up to collect water whenever it finally flowed through the taps.

Under its Plural Action for Inclusion, Reconciliation, and Social Justice (PAIRS) project NPC, in collaboration with the Nuwara Eliya District Secretariat, the Walapane and Nildandahinna Divisional Secretariats, the Nuwara Eliya District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) and the Cultural and Environment Society, organised a special mobile service programme on delivering effective services for communities affected by the Ditwah cyclone.

NPC brought together over 300 religious leaders, government officials, women and youth representatives, civil society actors and community members from 16 districts for the Religions to Reconcile: Advancing Ethical and Inclusive Reconciliation National Symposium, which served as the closing ceremony of the Plural Action for Inclusion, Reconciliation, and Social Justice (PAIRS) project implemented across the country from July 2024 to June 2026 with the support from Misereor/KZE and CAFOD.

NPC hosted a short term study abroad programme for eight students from Wake Forest University in the US on pluralism across religious and cultural differences led by Dr. Eranda Jayawickreme, the Harold W. Tribble Professor of Psychology at Wake Forest University, designed as an immersive learning journey through Sri Lanka’s complex social, religious, ethnic and cultural landscape.

Under NPC’s Women Organized for Inclusion through Community Engagement (WOICE) project, a youth awareness programme on vocational education was conducted at Welipitiya in the Matara District, bringing together 24 participants with the objective of enhancing their awareness of vocational education opportunities, skills development and future career pathways.

The Women Organized for Inclusion through Community Engagement (WOICE) National Symposium was held in Colombo, bringing together women leaders from Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Nuwara Eliya, Matara, Monaragala and Polonnaruwa, where the project was implemented in its second phase.

The European Union funded Active Citizens for Elections and Democracy (ACED) project continued its efforts to promote inclusive governance and democratic participation in Sri Lanka. Three activities were implemented - a television interview series to counter negative narratives on devolution, a youth targetted social media campaign to promote youth political participation and a series of local level advocacy campaigns on youth participation in politics.

The Plural Action for Inclusion, Reconciliation, and Social Justice (PAIRS) project funded by Misereor, co-funded by CAFOD and implemented by NPC with a wide network of partners, responded to Ditwah affected communities across several districts. From distributing essential items to elders' homes and children with autism to restoring documentation for families and rebuilding a school library, the actualisation activities and relief efforts demonstrated the project's tangible impact on the ground.

The appointment of former minister Eran Wickremaratne to chair the Sri Lanka Cricket Transformation Committee is significant for more than the future of cricket. It signals a possible shift in the culture of governance even as it offers Sri Lankan cricket a fighting possibility to get out of the doldrums of failure. There have been glorious patches for the national cricket team since the epochal 1996 World Cup triumph. But these patches of brightness have been few and far between and virtually non existent over the past decade. At the centre of this disaster has been the failures of governance within Sri Lanka Cricket which are not unlike the larger failures of governance within the country itself. The appointment of a new reform oriented committee therefore carries significance beyond cricket. It reflects the wider challenge facing the country which is to restore trust in public institutions for better management.

NPC, in collaboration with its partner organization Future in Our Hands Development Fund, conducted an actualisation activity in Passara in the Badulla District focussing on supporting women affected by cyclone Ditwah who were residing in temporary camps. The women, most of whom were from the Malaiyaha Tamil community, were facing economic hardship and have been physically and emotionally affected by the losses, which caused significant disruption to their livelihoods. Through a series of focus group discussions facilitated by Local Government Authority leaders, participants highlighted the urgent need for sustainable economic empowerment opportunities.

A seminar to advance the reconciliation process through inclusive dialogue and collective action was held in Kandy, bringing together over 100 civil society representatives from diverse sectors alongside partners including the Kandy District Inter Religious Committee, Kandy Civil Society Coalition, Youth Democracy Congress, Social Solidarity Foundation, Lanka Teachers' Union and the Association of LGA members.

NPC, in collaboration with its partner organization Future in Our Hands Development Fund, conducted an actualisation activity in Passara in the Badulla District focussing on supporting women affected by cyclone Ditwah who were residing in temporary camps. The women, most of whom were from the Malaiyaha Tamil community, were facing economic hardship and have been physically and emotionally affected by the losses, which caused significant disruption to their livelihoods. Through a series of focus group discussions facilitated by Local Government Authority leaders, participants highlighted the urgent need for sustainable economic empowerment opportunities.

Several meetings and actualisation activities were held under NPC’s Plural Action for Inclusion, Reconciliation, and Social Justice (PAIRS) project funded by Misereor and co-funded by CAFOD in collaboration with partner organizations.