News

A three day experience sharing visit was organized by NPC’s Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF) project for 120 members of the Akurana, Negombo and Vavuniya Local Inter Religious Committees (LIRCs) in Vavuniya with the support of the Social Development Services Foundation (SDSF), Sarvodaya and the Rural Development Foundation.

A series of workshops were conducted in Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Ratnapura and Hambantota on pluralism, Transitional Justice, good governance and missing persons for Local Government Agents (LGAs) in 16 districts under NPC’s project Consolidating Ongoing Multi-Level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT).

Many paintings are coming up in cities and towns across the country but most depict only Sinhala Buddhist culture.

A one day training programme was conducted for 30 local government representatives and staff of the Tellippalai Pradesiya Sabha in the Jaffna District under NPC’s Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) activity. 
Lawyer Karthikadevi Sharma of the Kilinochchi District Court facilitated the programme, which was aimed at creating awareness on the rule of law, understanding of the basics of good governance and delivering non-discriminatory and good quality of service to the people.

The Human Rights First Aid Centre in Galle held a workshop for 40 community leaders under NPC’s project Accountability Through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT) supported by the European Union (EU) to discuss Transitional Justice and the on going reconciliation mechanisms of the government including the Human Rights Commission, Office on Missing Persons (OMP), National Police Commission, and the Right to Information Act (RTI).

Information sessions for government officers on ethics, human rights, the Right To Information (RTI) Act and the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) were held in Jaffna under the National Peace Council’s project Accountability Through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT), funded by the European Union.

A project orientation and progress review meeting for representatives of existing and new partner organizations of NPC’s project Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF) was held in Colombo. Representatives of seven partner organizations who implement Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) activities in seven locations participated in an idea bazaar where they demonstrated their work.

Civil Society Organizations conducted two visits to Galle and Batticaloa to build solidarity among different communities and bridge the rift caused by the Easter Sunday attacks under NPC’s project Actively Countering Extremism (ACE) funded by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CLFI).

Religious leaders and coordinators of District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) convened in Colombo for a National Inter Religious Committee meeting where they agreed to work with the new political leaders and use government mechanisms to promote reconciliation.

Over 540 students from 12 universities and another 400 grassroots level youth activists and leaders in 21 districts were trained on the Transitional Justice (TJ) process, enabling them to be active participants in the country’s reconciliation process under NPC’s two-year project, Youth engagement with Transitional Justice for Long-lasting peace in Sri Lanka, which concluded after two years.

An exchange visit between Addalachenai and Weligama Local Inter Religious Committees (LIRCs) was organized by NPC under its project Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF).

District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) Matara, in collaboration with a number of Community Based Organizations, organized a visit to build solidarity among the Muslim and Sinhala villagers in the village of Gandara. The visit was facilitated by the NPC under its Actively Countering Extremism (ACE) project, funded by Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives (CLFI).

Religious leaders and representatives of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) belonging to District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) from 16 districts participated in a four-day exchange visit to Batticaloa and Kattankudy.

The need to increase awareness among youth about the reconciliation process was a key finding of a research forum in Colombo to discuss issues related to the Transitional Justice (TJ) process that concern young men and women and their opinions on security, freedom and co-existence after the Easter Sunday attacks.

Training programmes on preparedness were held in Galle, Matara and Nuwara Eliya under NPC’s project Religions to Reconcile: Strengthening Inter-Religious People-to-People Community Engagement for Reconciliation and Social Cohesion in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka, which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the U.S. Government’s development agency.

The National Inter Religious Committee (NIRC), comprising religious and civil society leaders from 16 districts, held a meeting and media conference in Colombo under NPC’s project Consolidating Ongoing Multi-level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT).