| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Community Peace Councils / Deshodaya Forums for Sri Lanka |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
PCF |
Status: |
Open |
| File Number: |
344
| Region: |
SA |
| Sector: |
Multisector |
Country: |
Sri Lanka |
| FY approved: |
2007 |
Grant Theme : |
Social dev/gender/inclusion |
| Keyword(s): |
Civil society / NGOs;Conflict prevention;Peace and reconciliation dialogue |
Approved Amount: |
$230,113.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangmaya (Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement) |
Grant Purpose:
The objective of this project is the establishment, training and support of Community Peace Councils/Deshodaya Forums (CPCs) in 18 divisions, which will engage in facilitated dialogue to discuss matters of concern to the community. Ties to other communities and CPCs will be fostered. Community Peace strategic plans (Action Plans) elaborated by the Councils will then be implemented to the benefit of the community at large. The involvement of local media will give the Councils a voice beyond their communities, contributing to the momentum of the civil society movement.
The main goals of the program are:
(1) To develop and deepen democratic space and strengthen the peace process by generating a tradition of people’s dialogue at the grassroots level.
(2) To bring people together from key sectors and different lifestyles to discuss our current condition and develop a vision for the future.
(3) To build bonds and bridges throughout various segments of our civil society, making a positive transformation within it, so people can begin to relate to each other as friends instead of as political adversaries.
(4) To support the emergence of a “people’s plan of action” (Community Peace strategic plan) for the development of good governance and peace, and to disseminate this plan and its values, and thereby transform the role of people from passive observers to informed participants.
(5) To strengthen these constituencies for peace to canvass support for the peace process and also bring pressure on the different parties to expedite the process.
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Grant Activities:
These goals will be achieved through the implementation of four main components:
Component 1: The mobilization of 18 inclusive Community Peace Councils meeting regularly at the divisional level
Around 70-80 participants will take part in the Community Peace Council meetings. The group will represent a balanced group in terms of gender, ethnicity, age groups, diverse occupations such as teachers, students, academics, business community, farmers, fisherman’s’ societies, religious leaders, local level political representatives, police and security personnel, civil societies, and civil servants. The Councils will meet once a quarter, while the Community Leaders Committee (Steering Committee) will meet once a month.
Component 2: The empowerment of the 18 Councils through capacity building and training
Capacity building for the participants in the Councils will ensure a lasting impact and improve the ability of the communities to deal with conflict resolution and project implementation. Sarvodaya will provide the initial training on financial management, reporting, and preparation of the Community Peace Strategic Plans (Action Plans) and basic capacities for the Community Leaders Committee. After the Community Leaders Committees are established, Sarvodaya will carry out a training needs assessment to make a training plan to build the capacity of the Community Leaders Committees. Conflict transformation training may be provided by the Institute for Integrative Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding (IICP), which is a Sarvodaya partner based in Vienna, Austria.
Component 3: The development, implementation and support of the 18 Community Peace Council Strategic Plans (Action Plans)
The Community Peace Councils will follow a systematic process that will allow the participants involved to affect national level policy, specifically with regard to the current conflict situation. Based on Sarvodaya’s significant experience in successfully implementing the People’s Forum project throughout Sri Lanka, the project will facilitate the development of Community Peace Councils such that through the meetings of the CPCs, each council will develop its own Action Plans delineating activities that it can pursue beyond dialogue to work toward peace at a local level. Such activities, including peace meditations, emotional Shramadana, community dialogues, exchange programs and inter-religious gatherings, serve to both bring communities together for constructive peacebuilding activities and for positively influencing local level policy.
The Community Leaders Committee will set up a small working group to prepare the Community Peace Strategic Plan (Action Plan) for the chosen activity and get the consensus and feedback of the Council members. The plan will then be used to mobilize funds. The project will support the implementation of the Action Plans, which will be overseen by the respective working group and the Community Leaders Committee.
Component 4: The development and support of horizontal and vertical public communication by the Peace Councils
As the Councils meet, Sarvodaya will utilize its existing resources, contacts, etc. to make horizontal and vertical linkages with other Councils, and with civil society, political and social groups. Provincial and national channels will be contacted to give publicity to the Community Peace Councils and their outcomes. This will disseminate the information not only to the local community but also to other citizens. Likewise, Sarvodaya will make use of its print media contacts to publish the information in the newspapers.
The Council Theatre developed by the Deshodaya network will be used as a vehicle to raise public awareness of the local community. This group will host cultural events in the 18 divisions and by doing so will inculcate a culture of meaningful, participatory discussion of issues in a non-confrontational manner. Sarvodaya will also facilitate and encourage the Council members to participate in other Council meetings of Sarvodaya areas as well as those of other partners. Through these linkages, different CPC Community Leaders Committees will have the opportunity to share their experiences and advise each other on the implementation of components of their action plans. Most importantly however, such linkages will allow for the CPCs to join together and advocate for wider district level policy changes.
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News:
A ceasefire agreement signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2002 raised people’s hope for peace in the country. Hope for peace became further enhanced by political commitment and positive attitudes rooted among the general public. Willingness to build sustainable peace resulted in five projects supported by the World Bank on the island. As a result, peace activities commenced between August and September of 2007. In January 2008, however, dramatic changes in the country provoked by the government’s decision to abolish the ceasefire agreement led to another full-scale armed conflict. Today, almost two years after the commencement of the peace initiatives, all projects are being extended, to provide ground for sustainability of the achieved results and keep up with people’s hope in peace.
A short description of each project below outlines achievements to date, as well as activities planned to contribute to the overall objective of supporting peace in Sri Lanka. The program covers initiatives designed to provide insights on a sustainable peace process and increase the capacity of key stakeholders in preventing violence and contributing to security in the country.
The objective of the Community Peace Councils/Deshodaya Forums for Sri Lanka program has been to mobilize grassroot support for peaceful co-existence through the establishment and empowerment of 18 Community Peace Councils (CPCs) geographically spread across seven districts in Sri Lanka. The goals of the project have been almost fully achieved with 17 functioning CPCs established to date. Other activities have included capacity building, development and implementation of CPCs’ strategic action plans, as well as strengthening of relevant communication and outreach activities. Upcoming initiatives include training courses for CPCs on conflict transformation, IT, and monitoring and evaluation, establishment of seven Peace Resource Centers, implementation of the action plans prepared so far, and production of the Deshodaya newsletter dedicated to peace.
The Human Security Programme: Providing Early Warning and Implementing Rapid Response by Collecting Information on Local Level Conflicts program has aimed at reducing the number of community conflicts resulting in violence in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The project has contributed to upgrading of the computer-based early warning software of the Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE) and building the capacity of its staff. A major achievement presents the establishment of 95 ethnically balanced working committees, with a total membership of 5,200 individuals. Forthcoming activities include upgrades of the early warning software, completion of the process of consolidating the Co-Existence Committees, and further training of FCE field staff.
The objective of the Poverty and Conflict (PAC) includes highlighting core issues in terms of the nexus between poverty and conflict in villages immediately adjacent to areas affected by armed conflict in the North and the East of Sri Lanka. Dissemination of results is expected to contribute to building the capacity of locally-based organizations working on poverty and conflict. Implementation of the project was delayed by flare-up of military confrontations between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE in the North and the East, which spilled over into the villages target for research. Despite the conflict, activities have already commenced and are expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The Program for Enabling Civil Society Organizations to Positively Influence the Process of a Negotiated Settlement focuses on strengthening the voice of religious clergies and other pro-peace civil society organizations in terms of peace and co-existence, building stronger inter-religious linkages, and empowering regional journalists to become active participants in the peace-building process. The project has supported 12 out of a total of 19 planned inter-religious workshops and six training workshops for regional journalists. Main activities to be carried out during the extended implementation period include organizing 50 community-based inter-faith event/activities, and additional inter-religious workshops and training sessions for regional journalists.
Effective and Safe Humanitarian Assistance and Development Corporation in Sri Lanka – Mainstreaming Conflict Sensitivity is another project designed to improve capacity for assistance to the peace process. More specifically, the program aims to increase the capacity of humanitarian and development agencies and their partners to safely plan, implement and monitor projects using conflict sensitive approaches. The project has supported the development of a monthly Rapid Context Assessment (RCA). The RCA provides up-to-date assessments of the conflict situation in seven conflict-affected districts and is circulated electronically to a wide audience. Sixteen RCAs have been produced so far, and four more are expected in the next year. The project also provides conflict sensitivity training to agency staff. Fifty employees of humanitarian and development agencies have received training to date. Furthermore, the project provides conflict sensitivity advisory services to local humanitarian and development agencies, with the aim of integrating conflict sensitivity in their programming and project implementation. Finally, the initiative focuses on developing a code of conduct for conflict sensitive assistance. The first inter-agency workshop to develop the code of conduct took place in January 2009. After its extension, the project will focus on completing the agency code of conduct as well as on providing more trainings and advisory services on conflict sensitivity.
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