News

A National Symposium attended by more than 250 members of District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs), NGOs and civil society and trade union representatives was conducted in Colombo to discuss current political issues. It was supported by the Civil Society and Trade Unions Collective under NPC’s project, Consolidating Ongoing Multi-level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT).

NPC organized a seven day training on Community-based Social Cohesion and Reconciliation for Community Facilitators under its project Social Cohesion and Reconciliation (SCORE) for 34 participants from the Jaffna, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Moneragala districts.

About 42 participants, including religious leaders, took part in a two day training on the rule of law in Negombo under NPC’s project Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF).

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya praised civil society members, including three NPC staff members, for opposing the Constitutional coup of October last year when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed former president Mahinda Rajapakse in his place, at a felicitation ceremony organized by the Puttalam District Development Foundation.

NPC’s District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) have conducted several seminars and awareness raising activities around the country since October in the wake of the Constitutional crisis triggered by President Maithripala Sirisena’s sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.

Village level officials and DIRC members in Trincomalee and Batticaloa attended meetings to discuss early warning and early response practices to avoid ethnic and religious conflict in their areas under NPC’s project, Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic dialogue in Sri Lanka.

Three orientation meetings were carried out under NPC’s new project Consolidating Ongoing Multi-level Partnership Actions for Conflict Transformation (COMPACT) funded by Misereor and CAFOD.

Over 200 religious leaders, community leaders, persons with disabilities, local politicians, women, youth and journalists attended a National Inter Religious Symposium in Colombo under NPC’s project Religions to Reconcile.

National Inter Religious Symposium of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka (NPC) is being held at the Lotus Room of the BMICH today (January 28, 2019) from 9 am to 3 pm. This is part of the project "Religions to Reconcile" (R2R), an ongoing initiative supported by USAID.

This symposium is the culmination of a major initiative that will see the launch of a Pluralism Charter embodying the distillation of three years of consultations with multi religious and multi ethnic communities mobilized through our work at the ground level.

Father Benjamin Henry Miller passed away on December 31 as the year 2018 came to its close. This was the end of a long chapter in a single individual’s defense of human rights.

Forty five students from the University of Ruhuna participated in a training programme on Transitional Justice (TJ) with team building activities, lectures, film screenings and participatory discussions under NPC’s project Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long-lasting Peace in Sri Lanka.

Members of the Beruwala Local Inter Religious Committee (LIRC) visited Ampara and shared their experiences with the LIRC members of Addalachenai under NPC’s project Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF), in a bid to promote inter religious and inter ethnic harmony.

A six day training session on befriending for Human Rights First Aid Centres (HRFAC) volunteers under NPC’s project Accountability Through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT) was held in Colombo to help the volunteers to become befrienders in their districts.

NPC’s District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCS) conducted several seminars and awareness raising activities around the country in the wake of the Constitutional crisis triggered by President Maithripala Sirisena’s sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe.

NPC, in collaboration with local civil society organizations, held several activities to explain the current Constitutional crisis to the public and to promote democracy in the country. Initially there was a consultative meeting with 33 District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) coordinators from 21 districts.

Advanced Training programmes for District Human Rights First Aid Centres were held in Matara, Trincomalee, Hambantota and Moneragala under NPC’s project, Accountability Through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT), in collaboration with its partner, Right to Life Human Rights Centre.