Sometimes it’s important to force oneself to see the glass as half full rather than half empty. When looking at the current situation in Sri Lanka, the bigger picture often looks very bleak and hopeless. But on a lesser scale, positive initiatives are being carried out and small steps are slowly being taken forward.

One such step is the story of the Welfare Centre in Maharagama. Located within a stone’s throw from the Maharagama Cancer Hospital, the centre provides patients and their families with free accommodation and facilities, making a very traumatic experience a little easier. The initiative is organised by the Maharagama Buddhist Association who have opened the doors of the temple in order to provide shelter …

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In many countries across the world, peace education is part of the school curriculum. Through this, people are able to acquire an understanding from an early age about the root causes of a conflict, how it escalates and how to face it as a society. The need for peace education in Sri Lanka has been felt for a long time and even though several Government organizations and NGOs have made attempts to make it a compulsory part of the education system, nothing concrete has ever been achieved.

Considerable inequality in access to education between rural and urban areas exists in Sri Lanka, and the decisive factor is often an ethnic or linguistic one. Lack of sufficient training and facilities means …

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Bad news is good news: The notion that disaster and despair are more newsworthy than peace and harmony is widely known. Countries like Columbia, Israel, Northern Ireland and the Philippines have had their fair share of disaster and despair, but this is not what the Peace Counts project is focusing on. The photographic exhibition arrived in Colombo last week for the beginning of an international tour. Peace Counts portrays the work of people from all over the world who have successfully promoted peaceful co-existence in their community, often in unusual and creative ways. One of the images tells the story of how deadly gang warfare in Cape Town prisons has been drastically reduced as a result of a project encouraging …

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For the past three decades, journalism in Sri Lanka has been dominated by men, and as a career it has generally been discouraged amongst women. Things are changing and female journalists are now employed in nearly all newsrooms in print, broadcasting, as well as electronic and online media. Furthermore, the issues covered go far beyond food and fashion: Women are now taking an increasingly active role where issues such as education, conflict and human rights are concerned.

However, the number of female journalists in high ranking, decision making posts is still alarmingly low. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), even though women make up 40 per cent of Sri Lanka’s working journalists, they only make up 3 to 5 …

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Sri Lanka’s current ‘no war no peace’ situation means that it is a country constantly teetering on the edge of a full scale war. As a result, tension is always high amongst the different communities that make up this diverse nation, and even the slightest provocations can cause violence to escalate at an alarming rate.

In September 2006, several journalists and media practitioners began a process of reflection and discussion on their role in easing this tension and building lasting peace on the island. Collectively, they felt that they had a duty to contribute positively towards building national unity in Sri Lanka and subsequently devised the Weligama Declaration. It was accepted and signed in the Southern town of Weligama by ten …

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The portrayal of war and conflict through art is not a new phenomenon. From ancient cave paintings depicting tribal battles, to the Bayeux Tapestry illustrating the Battle of Hastings, right up to the contemporary paintings, sculptures and installations that we see today, each represents war in a particular way, depending on the artist’s viewpoint. Over the years, there has been a general shift in this viewpoint from perceiving war as something heroic to the something horrendous.
 
The conflict that has tainted Sri Lankan history for the last twenty years has been the subject of countless creative expressions by international and local artists. Amongst these are photographic exhibitions focusing on particular issues such as human rights violations, the plight of the displaced …

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Although the tourism industry has invested heavily in improving standards and services after the Ceasefire Agreement was signed in 2002, the number of tourists arriving in Sri Lanka continues to be threatened because of the volatile security situation in the country.

‘The Emerald Isle’, ‘Pearl of the Orient’ and ‘A Taste of Paradise’ are just some of the ways in which Sri Lanka is advertised to holiday makers across the world. But it seems that no amount of catchy slogans and idyllic images of sun, sea and sand can deter some people from the grim reality. 2006 saw a severe escalation of violence on the island between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, causing the …

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When the people of Elpitiya are faced with a problem, they come together to discuss it and find a solution together. They believe that it is this simple concept that holds the key to solving problems and avoiding conflicts within their community.

The concept is called ‘Direct Democracy’, a traditional method that can be applied to any community, but is particularly effective in small rural settlements home to different ethnic groups. The inhabitants of Elpitiya are primarily Singhalese but there is also a large Tamil plantation community. The threat of communal tension is always high, like it is elsewhere on the island - a direct and tragic consequence of the conflict that has been raging on between the Government of Sri …

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