News

DIRCs in Batticaloa and Trincomalee organized outdoor activities for 33 participants as a bonding and team building exercise under NPC’s project Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue in Sri Lanka. DIRC members felt that these activities were necessary to build trust and acceptance of each other, which would lead to better ways of dealing with conflict and finding inner peace.

A series of dialogues with religious leaders in Beruwela, aimed at bringing together Buddhist and Muslim religious leaders to identify and discuss the root causes of religious tension and to make suggestions for possible solutions, is being held under NPC’s project, Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF).

NPC has launched a project to set up and maintain Human Rights First Aid Centers (HRFACs) where victims of human rights abuses can seek support and redress. The project, Accountability Through Community Engagement and Initiatives for Transition (ACE-IT), is supported by the European Union under its European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights Country Based Support Scheme (CBSS).

Members of the National Inter Religious Committee representing the District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) established in 16 districts under the guidance of NPC handed over a resolution to former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Chairperson of Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR), and Mano Ganesan, Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages, at a National Inter Religious Symposium in Colombo.

Four hundred participants including religious leaders of all faiths, government officials, university academics, students and representatives from youth organizations and civil society organizations attended NPC’s Inter Religious Symposium held in Colombo.

Two workshops on Transitional Justice (TJ) for youth were held in Kurunegala and Jaffna under NPC’s project Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long Lasting Peace, with the participation of the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM).

Several activities for youth were held under NPC’s project, Youth Engagement with Transitional Justice for Long Lasting Peace in Sri Lanka, including a training workshop on Transitional Justice (TJ) for 46 participants in Ratnapura, a stage drama on TJ for 650 new students at the Eastern University students and information sessions in Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

Matara DIRC organized an Ifthar activity during Ramadan in Weligama, in collaboration with the Weligama Municipal Council, to raise awareness in the community about respecting other cultures and religions and to strengthen unity between the Muslim and Sinhala communities.

Executive Director of the National Peace Council, Dr Jehan Perera, was invited to Europe to meet with EU and German parliamentarians, European Commission officials and NGOs.

Despite a plethora of development projects initiated in different parts of the country, there are many small communities that fall between the cracks. One such community is in Deniyaya. It is a Tamil community whose members work on tea plantations.

Two training sessions were held in Colombo for 83 police officers under NPC’s project, Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF). At the first session, NPC Executive Director Dr Jehan Perera explained the objectives of the training to the participants.

DIRC members and other participants from Ampara, Nuwara Eliya and Galle took part in the second inter district exchange visit and experience sharing forum of the USAID Religions to Reconcile Project in Hikkaduwa.

Two meetings were held in the Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts under NPC’s project, Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic dialogue in Sri Lanka, for DIRC members, local politicians, police officers and government officials to discuss common concerns and issues causing religious and ethnic tension in the areas.

Kandy District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) members travelled to 14 districts across the country sharing their experiences of how they dealt with the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in their district earlier this year.

Newly elected Municipal Council members from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and selected municipal staff members participated in three day workshop that was organized with support from USAID’s Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project and NPC. NPC resource persons provided inputs on the reconciliation process for councillors.

Under the IMPACT project, NPC conducted two Transitional Justice (TJ) workshops for students of Nilwala College of Education in the Matara District. Resources persons were lawyer Jagath Liyana Arachchi and NPC Project Manager Saman Seneviratne. Two hundred participants attended both training programmes.