News

Under the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) Activity, NPC organized five training programmes on Resilient Communities Through Everyday Democracy to enhance the participants' basic understanding of democratic values, review lessons from past training and identify key issues for creating a values-based democratic society.

NPC’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) engagement held an online facilitation training for its local partners as part of its strategy to adapt to the new normal that has arisen with the spread of Covid-19. This was supplemented by a survey on Digital Literacy among target groups – 291 members of Coexistence Societies across four districts (Ampara, Monaragala, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya) and 10 Grama Niladari divisions.

A national workshop for 62 Local Government Authority (LGA) members from different political parties on building a pluralistic society was organized by the Consolidating Ongoing Multi-Level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) project via a hybrid Zoom and face-to-face interaction.

NPC carried out a series of training programmes on Non Violent Communication (NVC) for Human Rights First Aid Centre (HRFAC) volunteers in nine districts through its Accountability through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT) project, which is supported by the European Union (EU) and the Open Society Foundation (OSF). Right to Life Human Rights Centre is the local partner.

The Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF) project conducted a training session on religious freedom and rule of law for the 48 members of the Religious Freedom Network using an online communication platform, which was both a challenge and a novel experience for the project team as well as the regional partners of the network.

Six training programmes on conflict analysis and management for local government authorities, state officials, religious leaders, women community leaders and youth were conducted by master trainers under NPC’s project Technical Assistance to Justice Institutions in Sri Lanka in Kegalle, Kandy, Kurunegala, Polonnaruwa and Badulla.

NPC’s Creative Youth Engagement for Pluralism (C-YEP) project held an online lecture for 45 academics from the Ruhuna, Jaffna, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Universities as well as National Peace Council staff on the subject of constitutional reform in relation to pluralism.

Capacity building for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is an initiative implemented in Sri Lanka by NPC with support from Helvetas Sri Lanka and funded by the European Union (EU). The intervention is part of EU’s support to civil society actors in promoting confidence building and preventing radicalisation in South Asia.

An inter faith dialogue was conducted between Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders in Ampara to create a consensus on value of a pluralistic in Sri Lanka under NPC’s Collective Engagement for Religious Coexistence (CERF) project, organized by the Addalaichchenai Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC). The dialogue was supported by NPC’s local partner, Addalaichchenai Development Society, and the District Secretariat of Ampara.

The Creative Youth Engagement for Pluralism (C-YEP) project held a project planning meeting with the participation of 12 academics from the Jaffna, Eastern, Ruhuna and Sabaragamuwa Universities.

Need Assessment meetings were held Kurunegala, Kegalle, Kandy, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Ratnapura, Puttalam, Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Vavuniya and Badulla for members of District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) to collect suggestions for the next phase of NPC’s Consolidating Ongoing Multi-Level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) project.

NPC conducted a training programme on leadership, skill building and information on available state mechanisms for 38 marginalised community members in Galle as part of the European Union
supported intervention, Accountability through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT) implemented by NPC and Right to Life (R2L).

Eight training programmes on conflict analysis and management for government officers, religious leaders, media personnel, women community leaders and youth were conducted by master trainers under NPC’s project Technical Assistance to Justice Institutions in Sri Lanka in Kalutara, Monaragala, Ratnapura, Matara, Polonnaruwa, Kebithigollewa and Kegalle.

Matara, Galle, Monaragala and Hambantota District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) held needs assessment meetings to collect ideas and suggestions for the next phase of NPC’s Consolidating Ongoing Multi-Level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) project funded by Misereor.

Thirty-six government officials including Kegalle District Divisional Secretaries and District Secretary Mahinda Weerasooriya participated in a workshop on Reconciliation and National Integration Within a Pluralistic Framework under NPC’s Consolidating Ongoing Multi-Level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) project.

A new one year project to promote language equality for the advancement of the reconciliation process will be launched by NPC focussing on Akurana in the Kandy District, Beruwala in the Kalutara District and Trincomalee in the Trincomalee District.