News

Under NPC’s project Sustainable Peace through Pluralism and Inclusive Service Delivery funded by Freedom House, a meeting was conducted in Ratnapura to draft a questionnaire for research aimed at identifying shortcomings in public services facing the community.

The Global Pluralism Monitor Workshop offered a platform for open dialogue on the state of pluralism in Sri Lanka. By bringing together 47 participants including religious leaders from Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity as well as men and women representing District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) from 17 districts, the workshop highlighted the challenges and opportunities faced in creating a more inclusive and equitable society. The discussion was guided by the Global Pluralism Monitor Framework.

The Negombo Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) organized a meeting for religious leaders, civil society members and government officers under NPC’s project Action for Religious Coexistence (ARC) to highlight the potential of advocacy work.

For the first time, Adam's Peak stood as a testament to unity and peace, decorated with messages in both Sinhala and Tamil, marking a historic moment of collective commitment towards bridging gaps between communities.

NPC’s Welfare Society organised a Lenten event for staff as part of a broader approach to promote understanding and tolerance among its staff members of different faiths.

The National Symposium on Religions to Reconcile: Strengthening Inclusive Reconciliation was held in Colombo under NPC’s Plural Action for Conflict Transformation (PACT) project, marking the conclusion of the project that covered 17 districts.

NPC’s new project, Mobilising University State Engagement for Reconciliation (MUSTER), aims to increase university students’ capacity to research, facilitating cooperation between academics and the state administration with a view to encouraging state entities to take informed decisions based on research.

The lack of service delivery is the cause for many issues faced by the Malaiyaga Tamils. To address them NPC conducted a mobile service in the Sapumalkanda estate in the Kegalle District under its Protecting Civic Space in Sri Lanka Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) project.

NPC’s People Unite for Justice and Accountability (PUJA) project represents a significant step towards reconciliation and peacebuilding in the country. With a focus on independent, credible and transparent transitional justice processes, PUJA aims to redress past grievances and pave the path for a cohesive society.

A three day residential workshop was held for 30 youth community facilitators and human rights defenders in the Malaiyaha community representing 10 estates in the Sabaragamuwa Province. The workshop focused on improving the capacity, skills and leadership of youth facilitators to foster conducive relations between the facilitators and government officers. The facilitators and human rights defenders will be access points when faced with issues related to obtaining government services.

The Sri Lanka Human Rights Foundation collaborated on a workshop under NPC’s Plural Action for Conflict Transformation (PACT) project, which featured sessions designed to educate participants on the country’s political landscape and on their human rights.

The Global Center for Pluralism Canada (GCP) and NPC conducted workshops for NPC staff, Divisional Secretaries (DS) officers and NPC Master Trainers on the Global Pluralism Monitor (GPM) Sri Lanka. The GPM recognises the need to better understand the movement towards, and away from, pluralism in a society through a multidimensional, holistic framework of analysis.

Teldeniya, a town located less than an hour from Kandy, has been facing a lack of water distribution. Although the people pay their bills and taxes, the state has failed to solve the problem. The role of the civil society is to ensure that government carries out its duties responsibly.

An exchange visit to connect the communities of Mawanella and Mannar and promote cultural understanding was organized under NPC’s Action for Religious Coexistence (ARC) project.

In a bid to bring women together, NPC’s Women Organized for Inclusion through Community Engagement (WOICE) project arranged a cultural exchange aimed at empowering women to advocate for policy changes and establishing a network of national women leaders committed to reshaping the state structure.

As we usher in the new year, we share a glimpse of our recent office celebration for the Thai Pongal festival, a Hindu festival of thanksgiving for the bountiful harvest, that was organised by NPC’s Staff Welfare Society.