News

The Citizens Peace Award for 2015 was posthumously granted to the Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero for his fearless approach to minority rights and inter religious coexistence, and for providing skillful leadership in promoting humane values and democratic governance.

Fifty war affected women from five districts got together in Matara for two days to share experiences, exchange ideas and understand the process of healing under NPC’s project Post Conflict Healing: A Women's Manifesto, funded by FOKUS.

NPC and its partners visited Timor Leste to learn from the experiments of Transitional Justice (TJ) there. Timor Leste, then known as East Timor, was invaded by the Indonesian army who ruled from 1975 to 1999.

An introductory meeting was held in Polonnaruwa for the establishment of a new District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) under the Initiating Multi-level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT) project supported by Misereor.

As part of its project Promoting Accountability and Preventing Torture by Strengthening Survivors of Torture in Asia, NPC and its partners Right to Life (R2L), Committee for Investigation of Disappeared (CID) and Human Rights Office Kandy (HRO Kandy) participated in a workshop, regional conference and exchange visit in Indonesia.

NPC initiated a discussion with civil society organisations from several districts of the country on strengthening the Transitional Justice (TJ) and reconciliation process, especially at the community and grassroots level focusing on district and community-based organisations.

Under NPC’s project Initiating Multi-level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT), introductory meetings were held in Kalutara, Ratnapura and Kurunegala for religious leaders and civil society leaders to explain the concept of Transitional Justice (TJ).

Under its project Post Conflict Healing: A Women's Manifesto funded by FOKUS, NPC organised a two day exchange visit for women from Hambantota and Galle to visit others in Trincomalee and Ampara.

NPC made three submissions to the Public Representations Committee on Constitutional Reforms. The Committee was mandated to seek oral and written submissions from the public on constitutional reforms. The process of public consultations began on January 18 and ended on March 15. The Committee will now prepare a report based on the public submissions and propose recommendations to be considered by the Cabinet Sub Committee on Constitutional Reforms.

NPC conducted a series of training workshops on Transitional Justice (TJ) for policy makers, civil society leaders, security forces personnel and government officials in Colombo, Jaffna and Trincomalee.

Under its project Post-Conflict Healing: A Women’s Manifesto, NPC held a healing workshop in the Hambantota district for widows, mothers and sisters of soldiers who died in the war.

Under its project Initiating Multi-level Partnership Action for Conflict Transformation (IMPACT) supported by Misereor, NPC established a new District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) in the Hambantota District.

Under its project Promoting Accountability and Preventing Torture by Strengthening Survivors of Torture in Asia, NPC purchased equipment for local partners to upgrade their services to torture victims and their families. The project is funded Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) and the EU.

NPC’s expansion of its inter-religious engagement with the support of Misereor to promote reconciliation through the transitional justice process took it to Badulla to meet with community leaders of the area.

Phase Two of NPC’s Reconciling Inter-religious and Inter-ethnic Differences (RIID) project was completed, resulting in the strengthening of nine District Inter Religious Committees (DIRCs) in Matara, Jaffna, Mannar, Puttalam, Kandy, NuwaraEliya, Galle, Ampara and Batticaloa. They were capacitated to address different issues that could threaten inter-religious and inter-ethnic harmony in their districts, building on lessons learned during Phase I. The projected is funded by USAID through its SPICE project.

The Citizens Peace Award for 2015 was posthumously granted to the Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero for his fearless approach to minority rights and inter religious coexistence, and for providing skilful leadership in promoting humane values and democratic governance.