NPC commenced a new project titled Building Safe and Effective HRDs in Estate Sector Communities supported through the Carter Center’s ACCELERATE initiative. The project will be implemented in the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Badulla, two areas with large concentrations of Malaiyaha Tamil estate sector communities who continue to face long-standing barriers in accessing documentation, welfare, schooling, housing, disaster-related support and administrative services.
The project seeks to strengthen community-based Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) who are already working closely with estate communities and are often the first point of contact for families facing difficulties in dealing with state institutions. In many estate sector communities, HRDs and community facilitators play a quiet but essential role in helping people understand procedures, prepare documents, approach government offices and follow up on unresolved issues. Their role became even more important following Cyclone Ditwah in November 2025, which worsened existing vulnerabilities in the hill country areas through landslides, housing damage, loss of personal documents, mobility difficulties, disrupted schooling and challenges in accessing compensation and welfare assistance.
The objective of the project is to advance equitable access to services, documentation and disaster-related support for marginalised Malaiyaha Tamil communities in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla by strengthening HRDs who can safely and constructively reduce routine and post-cyclone access barriers. Through the project, NPC will identify and strengthen a core group of 60 HRDs, with 30 HRDs from each district. A further 60 community facilitators will also be mapped to support local level identification, referral and follow up.
A key component of the project is practical case navigation. With mentoring support, HRDs will help identify urgent community access issues and guide affected families through relevant administrative processes. The project aims to resolve or substantially advance approximately 30 priority cases, with at least 15 cases per district. These cases will include issues relating to lost or damaged identity documents, birth certificates, school records, welfare access, disaster compensation, housing support and disrupted schooling.
During May and June 2026, NPC focused on the start up phase of the project. This included preparing the groundwork for district level implementation, selecting local partners, developing selection criteria for HRDs and beginning initial engagement with communities and stakeholders. NPC updated its existing partner selection criteria to reflect the specific needs of the project, including the ability of partners to work with Malaiyaha Tamil communities, identify suitable HRDs from within the community and engage constructively with district and divisional level state institutions.
NPC will work with two competent district-based organizations that have existing working relationships with NPC and have demonstrated experience working with Malaiyaha Tamil communities. During Cyclone Ditwah, both organisations worked closely with state structures to respond to issues faced by estate communities and showed an understanding of the marginalisation and access barriers experienced by these communities. NPC also conducted an online pre-orientation meeting with the selected district partners to introduce the project, clarify expectations and discuss the next steps for implementation.
The HRD selection process began during May and June. NPC developed HRD selection criteria in consultation with the district partners. The criteria focus on community trust, existing engagement with estate sector communities, ability to support documentation and service access, language capacity, ethical conduct, confidentiality, conflict sensitivity, availability and ability to engage constructively with officials. The selection process is currently ongoing in both districts.
As part of the pre-activity phase, NPC conducted an initial community meeting in Hatton, bringing together potential HRDs including estate workers, community leaders, youth, university students, women’s group members, school principals and local government representatives. The discussion provided valuable insight into the types of community-based actors who could serve as HRDs under the project and the practical access barriers faced by estate families.
The next phase of the project will include finalising the HRD cadre, conducting a post-Ditwah access scan, identifying priority cases and documenting access routes to compensation and services. Through this work, NPC aims to strengthen the capacity, safety and legitimacy of HRDs while helping estate sector communities secure more equitable access to essential services and disaster-related support.