A workshop on understanding language rights and language policies was held in the Gampaha District for government officials, journalists, religious leaders, community police officers, community organisations and Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) members under NPC’s Language to Reconciliation (L2R) project funded by the Canadian government.

The workshop helped participants to identify issues related to language rights in public and state offices where services were essential for the public to access. Participants were told about the institutions that they could approach to redress language right violations. Through group activities, they learnt how to handle language right violations and issues they may encounter.

The participants highlighted the need to educate the public on laws and rights related to language, which would help in obtaining a better service from the state institutions. The language rights workshop was conducted by Mr. Jagath Liyana Arachchi.

Also under the ARC project, a language audit training was held for 20 religious leaders, LIRC members, youth and community leaders, who were taught how to conduct language audits at four state offices. The group will be conducting audits at the Divisional Secretariat Office, the District Hospital and the Urban Council in Negombo and at the police station in Katunayake.

They will identify language right gaps and issues and make recommendations for solutions for a better service delivery to the public. The language audit training was conducted by Mr. Jagath Liyana Arachchi. Both the programmes were coordinated by the district partner, Community Brotherhood Organization Gampaha.