A seminar was held in the Vavuniya district for 47 relatives of missing people to help them to understand what was being done to find their relatives and what steps they could take to engage in the process.

The seminar was organized by Rural Women Forum in collaboration with Vavuniya DIRC under the FOKUS programme UNSCR 1325 – Women Building Peace in Sri Lanka. The participants included relatives of missing persons, FOKUS and NPC members, DIRC members and religious leaders.

Director of Local Activities Coordination Unit of the secretariat to Coordinate Reconciliation Mechanisms of the Prime Minister’s Office, SanjeewaWimalaguneratne, explained what the government had done so far to address the issues of war affected people in the North and East including Transitional Justice mechanismsand issuance of Certificates of Absence.

A statement was handed over to Mr Wimalaguneratne highlighting the problems faced by relatives of missing persons and calling for government to take action to address them, and to implement the Office of Missing Persons with immediate effect.

Other speakers included Programme Manager of Rural Women Forum S. Priyatharshini, lawyer K. Aignkaran and NPC Board Member Professor M.S. Mookiah.Five people presented their stories of how they have been looking for their missing their husbands and children.