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On May 19th, 2009, the President of Sri Lanka declared a military victory of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an insurgency group that had been fighting the Government for over 26 years, seeking an independent state on the island for its ethnic Tamil minority community.  In the aftermath of this defeat, those interested in securing a sustainable peace in the country are working to highlight and address the underlying factors that led to the outbreak to war, attend to reconciliation amidst communities recovering from decades of civil war, and address post-war reconstruction, relief, and security needs.  Listen to the event audio to hear from two prominent individuals from Sri Lanka's civil society who are working to secure a lasting peace in the country.

USIP’s Peter Weinberger in July 2009 provides background on Sri Lanka’s internal conflict and the army’s victory against the rebel Tamil Tiger force, and then discusses post-conflict reconciliation and rebuilding efforts in a country with different ethnic, religious and minority groups.