News

NPC has commenced a new project entitled Collective Engagement for Religious Freedom (CERF), aimed at promoting religious freedom within the framework of pluralism and the rule of law, to be implemented in the Vavuniya, Mannar, Kandy, Badulla, Kalutara, Gampaha, Matara and Ampara districts.

Workshops on pluralism and diversity were held in Batticaloa and Trincomalee for DIRC members under NPC’s project Promoting Inter-Faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue in Sri Lanka.

Aspects of the new Constitution were discussed and misconceptions were cleared up at a meeting organized by Kandy DIRC under NPC’s project Initiating Multi Level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT). Around 100 DIRC members, religious leaders and activists, of whom 30 per cent were women, participated.

Badulla DIRC organised a peace walk through Badulla town for raising awareness on building national unity through inter religious harmony. DIRC members met several leaders of the four religions to obtain their support for the walk and to set the agenda.

About 400 people marched through Vavuniya town in support of families of the disappeared. A letter requesting information about missing people and demanding justice was handed over to TNA MP Sivashakthi Anandan, who promised to give it to the President and Prime Minister.

Puravesi Balaya (Citizens Power) brought activists together in Colombo to show solidarity with international efforts to direct the government onto the path of reform promised at the presidential and general elections held in 2015.

Sixty seven young men and women attended a sports and arts session to build understanding among different communities conducted by peace delegates in Divithurawatta in Galle. The weekly sessions are held in eight districts.

Academic Staff of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka attended an introductory session on Transitional Justice (TJ) organized under NPC’s project Initiating Multi Level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT).

Young people in the multi ethnic Trincomalee district were given the opportunity to interact with their peers of different religions and ethnicities to celebrate Youth Day. The activity was organized by Trincomalee District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) under NPC’s Promoting Inter-faith and Inter-ethnic Dialogue project.

The District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) Batticaloa organised a media awareness event with the participation of leading media personnel in district representing newspapers, TV and radio as well as news bloggers and websites.

Batticaloa District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) worked with religious leaders and government officials to end a conflict over burial grounds in the Vaharai area. Pressure and advocacy of the members resulted in government land being allocated for a new graveyard for non Catholics.

Hambantota town in a multi religious and multi ethnic place; although the majority are Sinhalese, there is a sizeable Muslim and Tamil population. For many years people of different ethnicities and religions have lived in harmony without disputes or conflicts.

NPC’s project, Post Conflict Healing: A Women’s Manifesto, was implemented with the support of FOKUS from April 2014 to December 2016 in nine districts across the country that were both directly and indirectly affected by the war: Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee, Ampara, Galle, Hambantota, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, and Puttalam.

At its monthly meeting, Jaffna DIRC discussed ways of persuading Buddhist monks and other Sinhala people to join the committee and decided to make a plan to achieve this. Members agreed that activities could not be effective without the participation of all religious leaders and ethnic communities.

A workshop for 32 youth leaders representing 16 districts on Transitional Justice (TJ) and the proposed new constitution was held in Colombo.

At the request of the Secretariat for the Coordination of Reconciliation Mechanisms of the government, the University Grants Commission has given NPC the green light to conduct programmes on Transitional Justice (TJ) in several universities for faculty members and students.