Location: Sri Lanka

B M Jayasekera visiting farmers in Badulla A small stream- like river has divided communities in B M Jayasekara’s hometown. Not geographically, but ethnically. “There is a water-related problem in the area.” Farmers from one ethnic community living downstream think that the water problem is caused by farmers from a…

Fifteen years since the end of the civil war, Sri Lanka is still recovering from collective trauma, mistrust, and violence. The majority-minority divide affects how each group looks back on the war, how they see each other, and what they expect from their government. New and emerging intercommunal tensions erode…

Context and Background:  Along with government mismanagement, Sri Lanka has also been wracked by other recent crises with serious economic implications, including the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and the COVID-19 pandemic.  With the government’s poor handling of the economy considered to be the cause, the country has also experienced widespread…

Peace Rewards is a five-year project funded by KinderNothilfee (KNH.) Commencing in July 2022, the overall goal of this project is to strengthen the contribution of women’s civil society groups to foster a more peaceful Sri Lanka for children. This objective will be achieved through empowering women’s civil society groups…

Context and Background:  Female politicians face structural barriers that limit their ability to meaningfully contribute to local and national politics in Sri Lanka. They face overwhelming resistance from male candidates within and outside of their political parties, as well as from men in their communities and families. For example, many…

The pervasive issue of Cyber Sexual and Women-Targeted Violence (CSWTV) has emerged in Sri Lanka alongside the increase in digital penetration and internet accessibility. This study, conducted in 2023 as part of the project “Caught in the Web – Tackling Gendered Drivers of the Conflict and Exclusion in Cyberspace”, commissioned…

Search for Common Ground (Search) was awarded funding to build Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) Roundtables in Search for Common Ground (Search) was awarded funding to build Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) Roundtables in Lebanon, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan from 2020-2023. Built into the model was a plan…

It’s About Time: a mobile museum project in Sri Lanka. Through interactive exhibits, site visits, walking tours, storytelling sessions, performances, and other scheduled events that reflect the history and identity of each locale, it aims to encourage critical thinking and deeper understanding of history’s implications in Sri Lanka. This approach…

The project primarily focuses on addressing the root causes of conflict and preventing the escalation of local disputes by enhancing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) capacity to mediate community-level grievances. It aims to support the development and implementation of inclusive, culturally sensitive, and accessible local mediation systems. The significance of this…

This report undertakes a thorough examination of the legal landscape in Sri Lanka, specifically honing in on the critical issue of Cyber Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (CSGBV). The primary objective of this investigation is to evaluate the effectiveness of the current legal framework in addressing CSGBV and pinpoint areas where…