Eight awareness programmes on reconciliation with Community Based Organizations were conducted by NPC in collaboration with partner organizations in Moneragala, Matara, Ratnapura, Kalutara and Vavuniya.

NPC is working with the Conflict Transformation Unit of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) to get people to understand concept of reconciliation and importance of its practice in society at the community level under its programme Creative Dialogue for Reconciliation.

Participants, who included small business people, farmers and community police, learnt to identify key reconciliation initiatives to be implemented at the community level.

During the programmes the participants engaged in a dialogue on reconciliation. They proposed recommendations to promote reconciliation at the national and community levels as well as reconciliation initiatives for implementation in their villages.

Participants prepared a plan for implementation of the reconciliation initiatives, which will be followed up with field officers. Some of the recommendations at the national level included creating a national level network to strengthen the reconciliation process, removing all Ministries of Religious Affairs, implementing one common law in the country, changing the current education system and improving policies, and providing support and justice for the people who had been affected by the Easter Sunday attacks.

At the community level, they recommended youth exchange programmes among villages and communities, identifying marginalized poor people and supporting their livelihood, developing facilities in village school and sharing knowledge on self employment.