Sri Lanka
Featured Publications & Tools
Recognizing the need to promote peace and minority rights in this conflict-ridden country, on March 23rd and 25th the Institute hosted a group of 17 young Sri Lankan professionals as part of a State Department professional exchange program in conjunction with NGO Relief International. Relief International’s Sri Lanka office selected the participants.
The Invention of Enmity
Latest from USIP on Sri Lanka
- January 4, 2012 | Publication
Gender and Peacebuilding Center Director, Kathleen Kuehnast, discusses USIP's focus on women's equality in 2011 and looks ahead at the gender projects USIP will work on in 2012.
- November 10, 2011 | In the Field
Religion is often seen as the cause of strife around the globe, but in reality, it can provide the foundation for what helps to end conflict. USIP’s work, from Indonesia to Pakistan, demonstrates that religion can play a positive role in managing conflict. USIP’s David Smock, senior vice president for the Centers of Innovation, explores the issue in this brief question-and-answer.
- May 19, 2011 | Event
This event will feature a film documentary produced by the USIP 2010 Youth Diaspora Conference which brought together youth originally from Haiti, Nigeria, Iraq and Sri Lanka, now living in the Washington, D.C. area to share their stories and learn creative ways to engage in positive social change. After the screening, participants from the 2010 conference will discuss the film, their own experiences as youth in the diaspora and will take on the challenges facing diaspora in the U.S. as well as opportunities for engagement in peacebuilding.
- June 7, 2010 | Event
To better understand the experiences of young diaspora in the United States, integrate their voices into policy dialogues, and encourage youth engagement in peacebuilding, the United States Institute of Peace in partnership with Search for Common Ground and Nomadic Wax, organized the 2010 Youth Diaspora Conference. The Conference was an opportunity for young diaspora from different countries of origin to share their experiences and learn how they can creatively engage in peacebuilding. An evening reception celebrated the conclusion of the 2010 Youth Diaspora Conferece, featuring a keynote address by Grace Akallo.
The Current Situation
After twenty-six years of civil war, in May 2009, the Government of Sri Lanka announced it had defeated the separatist group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). With the war over, Sri Lanka now faces several hurdles to achieving sustainable peace, including the need to address grievances of the Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil and Muslim communities that led to the outbreak of war. Additional post-conflict needs include reintegration of demobilized combatants, conflict-sensitive development in the war battered North and East of the island, and political and social reconciliation. USIP is working to address these needs with local partners and members of the international community.
The United States Institute of Peace's work in Sri Lanka supports peacebuilding projects that:
- Help Sri Lanka achieve sustainable peace through supporting political reconciliation processes to addresses the root causes of Sri Lanka’s conflict.
- Support a coordinated international effort to assist Sri Lanka in its period of transition out of war and into sustained peace.
- Support inter-communal reconciliation by strengthening relationships and mutual understanding between Sri Lanka’s diverse ethnic and religious communities.