This project is designed for the youth and women affected by war in the North and East of the country. It aims to identify and strengthen the skills of the youth enabling them to cope with problems that have resulted from the protracted war over thirty years.

Of the problems faced by the them gender-based violence is widespread and teenage pregnancies become more evident in the region. It is revealed that conflict related frustrations, hopelessness, lack of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health, poverty, underage marriage and early pregnancy are some of the reasons for early school drop outs. This project identified a group of youth and women who displayed interest and commitment in preventing gender-based violence and worked towards formulating a group to give voice the implementation of relevant laws to safeguard their rights.

Most trainees were identified according to a certain criteria, such as display of interest, availability and commitment to learn more about Gender Based Violence (GBV) and about work to prevent GBV issues in their communities. The sessions included lectures on five modules, group activities, discussions and field visits. The modules were: social construction of gender & its implication in the social formation, violence against women – strategies for minimizing violence; available legal structure, religious & cultural impediments to gender equality, exploitative & discriminative patterns & the legal & social dimensions of women’s labor and, UN instruments – their applications and implementation at the state level & civil society level. The participants were taken to Women in Need (WIN), Dabindu Collective and National Engineering Research and Development (NERD Technology Park).

This programme has been conducted from past three decades with the help of donor agencies. Some are listed below.

  • American Centre (2011)
  • High Commission of Canada, Sri Lanka (2011)