News

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.

A training programme for trainers on Resilient Communities Through Everyday Democracy was conducted to empower village level community platforms under NPC’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) Activity.

Training programmes on pluralism were conducted for Batticaloa and Kuliyapitiya Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) members including religious leaders, state officials, police officers and civil society members under NPC’s Collective Engagement for Religious Coexistence (CERF) project.

Visits were undertaken to Ruhuna, Eastern, Jaffna and Sabaragamuwa Universities under the Creative Youth Engagement for Pluralism (C-YEP) project. The project envisages introducing university students to concepts of pluralism and how to live in a multi ethnic and multi religious society.

Four training programmes on conflict analysis and management for 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 Kandy, Matara and Badulla.

A series of Civil Society Platform meetings took place around the country where hundreds of civil society activists gathered to discuss the current political situation and the challenges facing civil society in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Civil Society Platform is an initiation of NPC’s project Consolidating Ongoing Multi-level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) funded by Misereor.

Under the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) Activity, NPC organized a Training for Trainers (TOT) on resilient communities through everyday democracy, a module SCORE compiled for the purpose of empowering the village level community platforms.

Twelve training programmes on conflict analysis and management for youth community leaders were conducted by master trainers under NPC’s project Technical Assistance to Justice Institutions in Sri Lanka in Kalutara, Matara, Kandy, Kurunegala, Ratnapura, Monaragala and Polonnaruwa districts.

Religious leaders, government officers and civil society activists at the Kuliyapitiya and Panduwasnuwara Local Inter Religious Committees’ (LIRCs) monthly meetings identified prevailing ethnic issues in the area and recommended a series of activities to address the issues. The meetings were held under NPC’s project Collective Engagement for Religious Coexistence (CERF).

District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) in eight districts - Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Nuwara Eliya, Matara, Kurunagala, Batticaloa, Hambantota and Galle - held their monthly meetings with necessary health regulations and social distancing rules in place to ensure the safety of its members, limiting numbers to between 20 to 25. Public Health Inspectors outlined precautions necessary to curtail the spread of Covid-19.

A training programme for marginalised groups on leadership and good governance was held on Delft Island in the Jaffna District with the participation of 60 people under NPC’s project Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT), which in funded by the European Union.

Several media conferences were held in several districts organized by District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to promote an election free of hate speech and fake news in order to protect democracy and strengthen the ongoing peace and reconciliation process in the country.

An online course on Peace Building and Pluralism for Academics was conducted as part of NPC’s Creative Youth Engagement for Pluralism (C-YEP) project.

A meeting to raise awareness on the rights of marginalised people was held in Gampaha. A total of 65 participants attended the meeting, the first to be held after restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were eased.