WERC
Recent statistics have shown an alarming increase in violence against children in Sri Lanka in the form of physical and mental torture, sexual assault and abuse. Children are also exposed to the use of illegal drugs and pornographic material which may lead to child prostitution and trafficking. This can be due to the unlimited broadcast of uncensored adult content in TV shows, popularity of mobile phones with internet facilities, increasing substance abuse, access to social media and the lack of sex education. WERC c
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In a bid to help urban female headed households, WERC launched its ‘Care and Share’ project on the 8th of March 2018 as a part of its activities for International Women’s Day 2018. New and nearly new clothes, shoes, stationery, children’s toys and dry rations etc. were collected by the WERC staff and distributed to the needy beneficiaries. WERC identified the immediate needs of four families in the Wellawatte urban area with the help of a volunteer field officer who was a former employee. Three out
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Recent studies have revealed that the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts have the highest statistics of violence against children. Keeping in mind the actions and reactions of the relevant authorities to child abuse in Sri Lanka, it is essential that we as service organizations pay attention to what we can do to minimize child abuse. Therefore, this project title "Awareness Creation among School Children and Mystery Painting for Abused Children in the Western Province" was designed to minimize the physical child ab
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After a visit paid to the nearby slum area in Wellawatte, we identified two families who were below the poverty line and who need immediate attention due to the demolition of their neighborhood by the Government to make apartment complexes. The two families have been relocated to newly built apartments, but to gain ownership, they have to make a down-payment of Rs. 50,000 within 3 months or risk eviction. In addition, they have been asked to pay Rs. 4,000 a month for 20 years or Rs. 3,000 a month for 30 years. The fi
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WERC identified a 37 year old widow from Kompavil in Puthukudiyiruppu who lost her husband due to shelling in the war. In the process of identifying the beneficiary, we received help from Ms. Thayalini who is a Women’s Development Officer in the same area. The needy beneficiary has worked in a tailoring shop in Mullaitivu and has two school going daughters to care for. We gifted her a Zoje Artisan Sewing Machine as she mentioned that she would like to be self-employed and earn a livelihood by sewing from home. F
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A visit by the Executive Director of WERC to a war widow in Jaffna peninsula named Ms. Bavani Kesavan who is 37 years old, made our organization to arrange some fund-raising activities to uplift her life. She is a mother of three children whose ages are 12, 10 and 6 respectively. Ms. Mala Kadar from United States of America gave her a helping hand for a period of one year. However, we found that these funds were not sufficient to provide basic requirements for her children who are showing excellent progress in their
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This project has been designed to develop attitudes and skills and enhance the capacity of youth groups towards being more gender sensitive and responsive to addressing issues especially of violence against women in their respective communities. It also aims to make the young generation more sensitive towards inter-ethnic, religious tolerance and freedom of religion and belief. The project aims to increase awareness and understanding of violence against women/girls and related issues among youth groups. The activitie
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This project is an income generation program implemented as a pilot project in Thirukkovil in the Ampara district. The main goal of the project was to empower women economically and help them lead a dignified life. It further aimed to reduce the social ostracism of widows and create community level, rights based mechanisms that challenge the social norms which they are forced to abide by in Sri Lanka. The process also facilitated mainstreaming of widows into the national economic discourse through the active leadership
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The project promoted concerted public response against rape and sexual violence against women and girls and thereby calling seriously to end entrenched failure of law enforcement and subscription to the principle rule of law. The Objective was to increase public awareness and condemn rape and sexual violence against women and girls. Gender Sensitization programmes and workshops were conducted in Monaragala, Ratnapura and Anuradhapura districts targeting Police Officers, Community Leaders, Trishaw Drivers, School Chil
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Aiming to enable widows to become agents of change and access their entitlements with dignity, a 3 year program was funded jointly by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN), the Swiss National Committee and the Standard Chartered Bank and was implemented in Nepal, India and Sri Lanka.
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