News

The National Peace Council was pleased to congratulate Ven Prof Pallekanda Ratanasara Thero and Ven Dr Madampagama Assaji Thero on the international recognition they received for their contributions to peace and justice in the world. Both of these reverend monks are sources of strength to the peace movement in Sri Lanka. Their presence at any civil society meeting adds stature to it. Ven Prof Ratansara was a member of the presidium of NPC at its inception in 1995. Ven Dr Assaji is chair of the Colombo District Inter Religious Committee that is supported by NPC.

The decision taken by the Government in 2021 under Ex-President Goatabhaya Rajapakse, to ban organic fertilizer saw how it directly brought about a crisis in our agricultural sector, that adversely affected the entire country, the effects of which still lingers today. This decision is but one of many taken by the government that has paved the way to the crisis that we are confronted with today.

Lectures and course work for the advanced certificate course, Sustainable Peace Through Inclusive Service Delivery, are ongoing in the four state universities of Ruhuna, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Jaffna.

Buddhists hear pirith in the early morning. Muslims hear adhan. Pirith means protection. The ceremonial recital of pirith is regarded as warding off all forms of evil and danger. Adhan means calling Muslims to prayer. Both pirith and adhan encourage people to engage in religious activity.

In the heart of Weligama, the Shrine of Christ the Healer Church Hall set the scene for taking participants on a reflective journey on past ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka.

An awareness programme on women’s participation in politics was held under NPC’s Women Organized for Inclusion Through Community Engagement project (WOICE).

The Plural Action for Conflict Transformation (PACT) project focuses on different sectors every month. The month of November focused on the estate sector namely Bathalagoda, Kurunegala Badulla and Kegalle.

Sharing an enriching experience of our recent workshop on Ethics in Communications, NPC staff enhanced their own capacity for peacebuilding. The two day internal workshop was a significant step in our ongoing commitment to fostering ethical communication within NPC and our work with partners and in the field.

In South Asian culture, cultural identity has the power to unite or divide people. In Sri Lanka, mutual understanding of other people’s culture, religion and language are key for peace building.

Super Group women leaders and peer group leaders under NPC’s Women Organized for Inclusion through Community Engagement (WOICE) project organized an awareness programme in the Kandy District on women’s political participation for over 100 local women leaders.

A three day training programme was organized by NPC’s Action for Religious Coexistence (ARC) project for 79 youth participants from 14 districts to raise awareness of the concepts of coexistence and religious freedom.

Empowering communities: Building a civic space through education

Using beneficiary driven approaches directly help identify the daily needs of communities. One prominent example is the Kebethikollawa Divisional Secretariat in Anuradhapura District where people both protect and then enjoy their civic space. Under the LAW (Legal Action Worldwide) project, NPC conducted a facilitation meeting which resulted in the construction of a road between the village to Kebethikollawa Model Primary School.

A panel discussion followed by a book launch on Fake News, Dis-Information and Propaganda in International Relations was organized by NPC in cooperation with the Nepal-based Consortium of South Asian Think-Tanks (COSATT) with funding from Konrad Adenaur Stiftung (KAS) in Colombo.

Over 50 children representing Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim schools put peace into practice on International Peace Day under the theme of Actions for Peace in Kandy by creating works of art depicting peace during an event organised by Kandy DIRC and supported by the Plural Action for Conflict Transformation (PACT) project.

According to the International Convention to Civic and Political Rights Article 25(c) “Every citizen has all the rights and opportunities without any of the distinction and without unreasonable restriction to have access, on general terms of equality to public service in his country”. One particular service accessed by “all” citizens in Sri Lanka is the state postal service. However, people living in the plantation sector do not fall under “all”.

The Action for Religious Coexistence (ARC) project implemented by NPC conducted a residential training programme for 43 CBOs and NGOs from 13 districts focused on developing the capacity and the understanding of the participants on the importance of establishing pluralism and the rule of law to bring about religious coexistence.