A session on learning about and sharing of cultural and religious values for supporting peace and reconciliation was held in Thambala and Oonagama areas in the Polonnaruwa district.

Around 50 people including representatives of Community Based Organizations, Kattankudy community leaders and DIRC members took part in an Ifthar organized by the Batticaloa DIRC under NPC’s Promoting Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue project.

The NPC carried out training on Transitional Justice (TJ) for a group of local level politicians and community leaders from the Galle and Matara Districts under its USAID-funded Religions to Reconcile project, which is implemented with a Jordan based partner organization, Generations For Peace.

Unless the government shows that it is capable of delivering results soon, the slow progress of problem solving at the ground level will continue to erode public support for the government. The weak performance of the economy is on the minds of most people. The expected job creation through industrial growth has not materialized nor has there been technological improvement that could raise the level of incomes of agricultural and fishing families. Instead of rising standards of living they experience the rising cost of living. In the case of the North and East where the bulk of the war affected people live, the discontent is even greater. They bear a double burden. In addition to not partaking of the fruits of nationwide development along with their compatriots in the rest of the country, they also suffer from the slow return of lands taken over by the military.