Support for Professional and Institutional Capacity Enhancement (SPICE) July – September 2015 Quarterly Report Submitted to USAID/Sri Lanka This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Management Systems International.
Grantee: Counterpart International
Associates:
Management Systems International (MSI)
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Cooperative Agreement Number: AID 383-LA-13-00001
GCSS Associate Cooperative Agreement Number: DFD-A-00-09-00141-00
Alex Sardar, Vice President, Programs
Counterpart International 2345 Crystal Drive, Suite 301 Arlington, VA 22202 Telephone: 703.236.1200
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CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 5 Operational Context ...... 5 Achievements ...... 5 Programming Priorities in the Next Quarter ...... 6 POLITICAL CONTEXT...... 8 Summary ...... 8 Civil Society Space ...... 9 ANALYSIS ...... 10 SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES ...... 11 Program Administration and Management ...... 11 Component 1: Support National Targeted Indigenous Organizations ...... 12 Component 2. Support Regional Indigenous Organizations to Promote Responsive Citizenship and Inclusive Participation ...... 22 Component 3. Strengthen Internal Management Capacity of Indigenous Organizations ...... 61 Key Highlights and Outcomes ...... 63 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING ...... 69 Sub-Awards – Grants ...... 72 Sub-Awards – Subcontracts...... 80 ACHIEVEMENTS ...... 82 Direct USAID Grantees ...... 83 BEST PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES ...... 85 EXPENDITURES ...... 86 PROGRAMMING PRIORITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER ...... 87 ANNEX 1: Performance Monitoring Plan Update...... 89
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ACRONYMS AND OTHER ABBREVIATION
DGP Development Grants Program DIRC District Inter-Religious Reconciliation Committees ACJU All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama DOJF Disability Organizations Joint Front ASNN Ampara Social Needs Network DPO Disabled persons Organizations ATM Active Theatre Movement DPTC District Pre-school Teachers AWF Affected Women’s Forum Committee BDS Berendina Development Services DPTC District Pre-school Teachers (Gte) Ltd. Committee BHC British High Commission DS Divisional Secretariat CAFFE Campaign for Free and Fair Election DSD Divisional Secretariat Divisions CAMID Center for Accessibility, Monitoring ECCD Early Childhood Care and and Information on Disability Development CBDRM Community Based Disaster Risk EG Equal Ground Management EHED Caritas – Eastern Human and CBO Community-based Organizations Economic Development CBPs Capacity Building Partners EPF Employees Provident Fund CDO Community Development EPPTA Eastern Province Preschool Teachers Organization Association CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all EPPTA Eastern Province Preschool Teachers forms of Discrimination Against Association Women EPZ Export Processing Zones CHR Center for Human Rights and ETF Employees Trust Fund Research EU European Union CHRD Center for Human Rights and EVI Extremely Vulnerable Individuals Development EVI Extremely vulnerable individuals CMEV Center for Monitoring Election EVSDOW Eastern Voluntary Social Violence Development Organization for CMT Community Monitoring Teams Women COC Code of Conduct FORB Freedom of Religious Belief CPA Center for Policy Alternative FOSDOO Federation of Social Development CPBR Center for Peace building and Organizations Reconciliation FPA Family Planning Association CPPHR Center for the Protection and FRC Family Rehabilitation Center Promotion of Human Rights FTZ Free Trade Zones CRPC Community Resources Protection FY Fiscal Year Center GBV Gender-Based Violence CSN Civil Society Network GN Grama Niladhari CSO Civil Society Organization GP General Practitioners CSR Corporate Social Responsibility GSP+ Generalized System of Preferences CWD Children and Women Development plus Unit H2H Heart to Heart DAC District Action Group HRDG Human Right Defenders Group DDF Divisional Deshodaya Forum HUDEC Human Development Center
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ICCPR International Convention on Civil and NPFPU Northern Province Fisher People’s Political Rights Unity ICES International Center for Ethnic ODF Organizational Development Studies Facilitators ICNL International Center for Not-for- OIP Organizational Improvement Plans Profit Law ORHAN Organization for Rehabilitation of ICS Institute for Constitutional Studies the Handicapped IDP Internally displaced persons PALTRA Partners in Alternative Training IFES International Foundation for Electoral PC Provincial Council Systems PCM Project Cycle Management IFGEJ Islamic Framework on Gender PMC Pre-school Management Committees Equality and Justice PMC Pre-school Management Committees JSAC Jaffna Social Action Center PMP Performance Management Plan JVP Janatha Vimukthi Peramuṇa PWD Persons with disabilities KV Kinniya Vision R2L Right to Life LLRC Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation RBA Rights Based Approach Commission RDS Rural Development Society LST Law and Society Trust RIID Reconciling Inter-Religious and Inter- LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Ethnic Differences MARDAP Mannar Association for RPK Rajarata Praja Kendaraya Rehabilitation for Differently RPR Resources for Peace and Abled Persons Reconciliation MCC Mannar Citizens’ Committee SACLS South Asian Center for Legal Studies MOH Medical Officer of Health Sama Vimarshi Peace Monitor MOU Memorandum of Understanding SDJF Sri Lanka Development Journalist MOV means of Verification Forum MPL Muslim Personal Law SEED Social Economical and Environmental MREA Ministry of Rural and Economic Developers Affairs SFM Secretariat for Muslims MSI Management Systems International SGBV Sex- and Gender-Based Violence MWDRF Mullaitivu Women’s Development SIP Shelter for Integrity and Participation and Rehabilitation Federation SIPL Strategic Inspirations (Pvt.) Ltd MWDT Muslim Women’s Development SLCDF Sri Lanka Center for Development Trust Facilitation NAFSO National Fisheries Solidarity SLFP Sri Lanka Freedom Party Movement SLMC Sri Lanka Muslim Congress NECASL National Evangelical Christian SLTB Sri Lanka Transport Board Association Sri Lanka SOP Standard Operating Procedure NewAROW Network for Advocating SPICE Support for Professional and Requirements of Women Institutional Capacity Enhancement NGO Nongovernmental Organizations SPIDER Strengthening Pluralism, Integrity, NHRAP National Human Rights Action Plan Diversity, and Equality toward NIC National Identity Cards Reconciliation NIRC National Inter Religious Committee SRH Sexual Reproductive Health NNAF NGO National Action Front SSO Social Service Officers NPC National Peace Council STTA Short-Term Technical Assistant NPCODA Northern Province Consortium of SuRG Supporting Regional Governance Organizations for Differently-Abled Program
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SWDC Suriya Women’s Development Center TAF The Asia Foundation TEC Technical Evaluation Committee TISL Transparency International Sri Lanka TISL Transparency International, Sri Lanka TJ Transitional Justice TNA Tamil National Alliance TOT Training of Trainers TUL Trade Union Leaders UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UN United Nations UNCAT United Nations Convention Against Torture UNHRC United Nations Human Rights Council UPFA United People’s Freedom Alliance USAID United States Assistance for International Development VAT Value Added Tax VAW Violence against women VCRMCs Village Child Rights Monitoring Committees VGGT Voluntary Guideline of Governance of Tenure VGSSF Voluntary Guidelines to Secure Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries WANT Women Action Network WAY War-Affected Youth WC Women’s Center WDF Women’s Development Foundation WRDS Women’s Rural Development Society WRDS Women’s Rural Development Societies YCW Young Christian Workers Movement – Sri Lanka YCWM Young Christian Workers Movement
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Operational Context
The August general election victory of the United National Front for Good Governance, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, coincided with the political transition that followed the presidential election in January. The ground situation for civil society work has improved with the government moving toward creation independent commissions, mandated by the recently approved 19th Amendment, which will ensure a less-politicized environment. The National Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO Secretariat), responsible for overseeing and liaising with NGOs, has been vested by the Ministry of National Dialogue with a minister who is favorable to civil society. The government has also shown confidence in and appreciation for civil society, calling them for a meeting at the highest level after the release of the draft United Nations Human Rights Council UNHRC resolution to meet the challenges of the Geneva Process. The release of the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s report calling for the implementation numerous government recommendations, including a judicial accountability mechanism with international participation, gives scope to civil society activism. The draft resolution specifies many of the demands made by human rights organizations over the past decade, including the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and strengthened witness protection. It also refers to the strengthening of devolution of power and constitutional reform. This Geneva Process also has the potential to strengthen Sinhalese nationalism either directly or through the leadership of Mahindra Rajapaksa or his allies. This could slow or even derail the pace of reforms. The government is calling on civil society to address this challenge. Achievements
This quarter, SPICE focused on several achievements:
- Revised program description and budgets, in line with USAID’s directive for an extension. The project will now run until March 2017 with a budget of a little more than $15 million. - Continued support for grant implementation and monitoring from the Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Colombo offices. - Awarded grants to the Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR), the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCWM), Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) and ZOA Relief, Hope, Recovery (ZOA) during this quarter through the APS process. - Successfully processed and awarded grants under the voter education RFA to the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), CHANGE, Puttlam and HUDEC – CARITAS Jaffna. - Provided support to civil society organization (CSO) initiatives like the March 12 declaration for clean politics under the direct activities budget line. - Continued capacity-building initiatives for SPICE and USAID direct grantees, including group trainings on financial management, rights-based approach and media and communication. - Providing legal aid or victims’ assistance to 105 people. This includes gender-based violence (GBV) assistance, support to obtain legal documents and other assistance.
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- 71 percent of SPICE grantees are part of or engaged in at least one network, contributing to a strengthened and more cohesive civil society. This is a significant rise from 45 percent in September 2014. - SPICE grantees facilitated completion of 53 community projects. - Trained 57 people on skills development during the reporting period, totaling 410 from the beginning of the project. - 92 percent of organizations receiving capacity-building support on the basis of an organizational improvement plan are meeting improvement benchmarks. Challenges The government has announced a four-component mechanism to deal with human rights issues. It will include a Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation; an Office of Missing Persons; a judicial mechanism with special counsel to be set up by statute; and an Office of Reparations. However, the issue of a judicial mechanism on accountability and the involvement of international judges, lawyers, prosecutors and investigators, as recommended in the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s report and by the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council, remains a contentious issue on which divergent points of view are being expressed. It will be necessary to let the people weigh in. The election of the new government in January, confirmed by the general election verdict in August, opened up space for a genuine dialogue on the past. This space must be utilized to prevent those with vested political and other interests from discrediting the report and its recommendations. Although the voice of the nationalists within the opposition is still muted, this is likely to change and even erupt by volcanic proportions after the resolution in Geneva passes with the Sri Lankan government’s co-sponsorship. Even though the climate of fear has considerably reduced for CSOs in general, surveillance by the military — particularly in the Northern Province — continues, constraining civil society activism. Programming Priorities in the Next Quarter
- Plan programming priorities and the organizational structure required to deliver the program, once USAID approves the requested modification for extending the project. - Ensure that a staff restructuring plan is put in place, in keeping with Sri Lankan laws and best practices in the sector. - Support and monitor ongoing grants. - Design and issue another RFA/APS to commit subgrant allocations under SPICE for remaining funds, as well as for any additional funds resulting from the pending modification. - Complete the following grants: New ARROW II, WDF II, AWF II, CAMID, CRPC, Kinniya Vision, MWDT II, MWDRF II, RPK, ATM, MCC II, MARDAP, FOSDO II, ZOA II, CHANGE II, BDS, NPC II, NAFSO II, R2L II, Savisthri, FPA, H2H, WC, Dabindu, YCW, CMEV, ICES II - Continue to facilitate capacity-building initiatives identified and agreed upon in the OIPs. - Follow up on all provided capacity-building support and ensure the institutionalization of changes. - Complete the review of benchmarks, the sixth and final step in the SPICE capacity-building cycle. - Conduct a quarterly review with ODFs and CBPs.
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- Finalize sessions on gender and the capstone modules in the CORE Values training and finalize documentation of the component. - Prepare for the next cycle of CORE Values training in line with the SPICE project extension.
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POLITICAL CONTEXT
Summary
This quarter saw momentous developments, starting with the general elections in August, which yielded salutary features. The first was a decrease in the level of violence and generally low profile of the election campaigning, resulting from the election authorities and police strictly implementing laws without interference from the government. Civil society organizations played an active and visible role in the election-monitoring process. The Election Commissioner and police were strict in implementing the law. The second salutary feature was the relative absence of inter-ethnic and inter-religious tension or the inculcation of fear among ethnic and religious minorities.
The election results closely paralleled the presidential election results. The United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won in the predominantly Sinhalese rural and suburban areas, where the luster of victory over the LTTE remains high. It lost heavily among ethnically mixed populations, mainly due to the sense of insecurity among ethnic and religious minorities during the final period of the UPFA government. The former president’s ability to win the presidential election in 2010 on a nationalist Sinhalese platform was possible only because the victory over the LTTE in the war in 2009 unified the Sinhalese electorate to vote for him. But that was shown to be an exception in a country where the ethnic and religious minorities amount to 30 percent of the population.
The outcome of the general election led to the consolidation of the change in government that took place in January of this year. The UNP, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, scored a narrow win over the UPFA. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa led the opposition campaign. The UNP obtained 106 seats compared to UPFA’s 95. The narrow victory meant the UNP was unable to secure an independent working majority in Parliament. This encouraged the formation of a national government. The slim majority that Prime Minister Wickremesinghe’s alliance obtained made it politically pragmatic for the two main parties to work together in Parliament. If the UNP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) had entered into an agreement to work together, a danger of political instability would have loomed, due to the prospect of crossovers from one side of Parliament to the other.
The two parties agreed to work together for two years on several identified areas of good governance, including corruption issues, fast-tracking economic development, safeguarding fundamental freedoms and protecting the rights of women and children. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) reflects the societal consensus regarding good governance. However, the formation of the national government has necessitated political compromises that have considerably eroded the new government’s good governance claims. This included President Sirisena using his powers as chairman of the UPFA to appoint defeated UPFA candidates, who were loyal to him, to take parliamentary seats on the party’s national list entitlement. He followed up on this compromise by appointing several UPFA parliamentarians with dubious reputations regarding corruption and violence to be ministers in the new government. Supporters of the president said this was necessary to detract support from former President Rajapaksa.
Recent positive signs include the election of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan as the leader of the opposition and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as chief opposition whip. Both represent political parties that have remained outside the national government, yet they now have an important and independent role as part of the checks and balances in governance.
The release of the UN report on war crimes in early September was another major development. Originally scheduled to be released in March, the report was postponed following a request by the
8 new Sri Lankan government in view of the forthcoming general elections. The report affirmed earlier findings of gross human rights violations by security forces and LTTE, and recommended that the government should adopt a hybrid special court, integrating international judges, prosecutors, lawyers and investigators, with a mandate to preside over trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity. While the Tamil polity has insisted on an international mechanism for accountability, both the previous and present governments have proposed domestic mechanisms.
The decision of the UN Human Rights Council — through the recently adopted joint resolution to call for a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, which includes commonwealth and foreign judges — has disappointed those sections of the Tamil polity and civil society who chafe at the repeated failures of Sri Lankan commissions of inquiry and committees to deliver justice. Their expectation was an international investigation that would compel the Sri Lankan government to implement findings or possibly face sanctions imposed by the international community. On the other hand, an international investigation may have generated a backlash of Sinhalese nationalism, which would have benefited the electorally defeated nationalists, who have now been relegated to the opposition to stage a political comeback.
So far, response to the UN war crimes report and the resolution and recommendations of the UN Human Rights Council has been muted, reflecting a reduction in overt nationalism in the polity. One of the salient features of the general election was the lack of success of extremist political parties both in the Tamil-majority North and Sinhalese-majority South. In the North, voters favored political moderation, with the mainstream Tami National Alliance prevailing. In the South, however, although the nationalist parties were defeated, nationalist politicians who ran for office under the UPFA umbrella performed well. The previous decade saw the power of ethnic nationalism, which highlights the possibility of the defeated ethno-populist politicians to stage a comeback. The nationalists are expected to fight when the government takes steps to implement the recommendations of the Geneva resolution. Civil Society Space
Civil society was active during this quarter. It made a major input toward defusing a focus on ethnic nationalism and refocusing the electorate’s attention on voting for uncorrupt candidates. Civil society activists mounted the political stages on behalf of good governance. The March 12 Movement comprising election monitoring, civil society, business organizations and trade unions, contributed significantly to the electorate’s perception that identifying suitable candidates should be the priority.
In the North, the withdrawal of the Omanthai checkpoint on the A9 highway to Jaffna demonstrated the further relaxation of military control. This checkpoint was the only significant one remaining in the country, a symbol of the war and its continuation in the memory of the country. Its removal, therefore, was equally symbolic of the government’s recognition that the North has transitioned to normalcy. However, surveillance of civil society activities continued, albeit with a reduced intensity. The number of crimes against women and children increased. In the East, President Sirisena and former President Chandrika Kumaratunga visited Sampur shortly after the election to give back land taken over by the military, indicating that the government is on the conflict-resolution track.
Discussion on resettlement assistance, shelters and other basic needs are ongoing at different levels with USAID, the European Union and the Indian High Commission openly pledging support. The security environment has improved and a signature campaign to call for an international inquiry into war crimes took place in several parts of the North and Eastern Province; civil society
9 organizations, religious leaders, minority political parties and general public took part in the campaign. One SPICE partner from the East and two from Colombo also participated in the Human Rights conference in Geneva, along with some witnesses for the disappearance cases who shared their views.
At the national level, civil society received positive recognition when Parliament approved, without debate, the three members who had been nominated to the Constitutional Council. The three civil society representatives are Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, the founding president of the largest NGO, the Sarvodaya Movement; Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, a former UN special rapporteur and former head of the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo; and Shibly Aziz, former attorney general. They will now be part of the 10-member body that selects chair and members to eight independent commissions including the judiciary, public service, police, human rights commission, audit commission, bribery and corruption commission, among others. It is also responsible for approving presidential appointments to a number of leadership positions including Chief justice and judges of the supreme court, Attorney General, and Auditor General among others.
ANALYSIS
The project continued its momentum from last quarter, moderated to some extent by the mid- quarter elections. The change in emphasis on the nature and scope of the program, following a review the previous quarter, was gradually unveiled to the grantees. This formed the basis of engagement with USAID as it worked on a SPICE extension through March 2017. Some grantees that were treading carefully in areas of human rights and advocacy were able to be more open and expressive. They demonstrated greater ability to mobilize constituents and be more public with their activities.
To date, SPICE has awarded 77 sub-grants to 56 national and regional civil society organizations. In addition, SPICE has granted sub-awards to six local capacity development organizations to assist in the delivery of organizational capacity enhancement services for 14 Mission Direct grantees and 26 SPICE grantees. Through sub-grants:
- SPICE has reached 3,355 people through gender-based violence (GBV) services; - SPICE grantees provided at least one legal document, such as a birth certificate or identity card, to 36,603 people; - The project’s activities to raise awareness of human rights issues (including GBV) reached 55,954 people; - 1,348 people received training to be human rights defenders (HRDs); and - The project completed 230 activities, including inter-religious group discussions and peer group discussions, in support of peace and reconciliation.
Notwithstanding the individual project achievements and their contribution to the overall SPICE outcomes, SPICE now has completed or put in motion a critical mass of projects and is poised to consolidate outcomes and learning. Until December 2014, SPICE promoted the overarching objective of strengthening civil society in Sri Lanka by providing critical support to organizations to sustain themselves and carry out activities. The emphasis was on holding the line, preventing regression and keeping critical voices and activities alive. This was in addition to structured capacity-building interventions for individual organizations. Now it is possible to deepen the engagement by focusing learning and networking in specific subsectors. The aim as many grants
10 draw to a close in the coming months is to look at each cluster and discern lessons and priorities in terms of policy, advocacy and strategy. In most cases, the issues and attendant causes and required responses are long-term in nature, and the SPICE intervention is for a two-year period at most. Therefore, partners hope that SPICE will consolidate some lessons and identify strategic priorities and approaches for the sector going forward. Ideally, this would occur in a participatory manner, with involvement from the agencies working in that particular civil society subsector. Some areas of focus would be gender-based violence, Muslim women’s rights, the rights of people with disabilities, inclusion of vulnerable Women Head of Household (WHH), subsistence livelihoods for the most vulnerable populations and transitional justice (TJ).
The contextual change has made it possible for SPICE to focus on issues facing civil society as a whole. The change in the NGO Secretariat, with the appointment of civil society advisers and recognition of the legitimate role of civil society in a democratic set-up, provides an opportunity for initiatives that aim to advocate for the sector as a whole. With its rich network of partners, SPICE could play a catalyzing role in this regard.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
Program Administration and Management
Office Lease Agreements The staff quarters house in the East closed in the middle of August this quarter and lease agreements for other premises that ended were extended, taking into consideration the no-cost extension being processed by USAID. Staffing Staffing has not changed significantly during this quarter; the project retained some administrative short-term technical assistance (STTA). At a meeting, the country management team discussed potential restructuring of staff during the extended phase. This discussion will move forward, and communications and messaging to staff will follow once the extension is finalized. Interaction with the Mission Regular interaction with the Mission continued this quarter, mostly centering on program design in relation to the funding extension and modification request. Under USAID’s direction, the SPICE project team revised the program description, incorporating requested changes and made corresponding changes to the budget. These were finalized with USAID this quarter and the contract between Counterpart International (prime) and MSI is in process. During this quarter SPICE facilitated more field visits by USAID staff to project partners. SPICE also provided required information via USAID to the Ministry of Rural and Economic Affairs (MREA) regarding project progress. Government Approval and Taxation As the implementing partner for SPICE in Sri Lanka, MSI followed advice from professional tax consultants and filed a “nil” tax return, as required by the Sri Lankan law. The due waivers and exemptions can be worked only out once a formal MOU with the counterpart ministry is finalized. The government has notified USAID that the Ministry of Rural and Economic Affairs would be the
11 counterpart ministry. But this arrangement will change in light of the reallocation of subjects to ministries after the recent general election. SPICE will work with USAID to resolve any tax issues. Security The security situation has improved considerably for operations, although remains some surveillance and interference by military and intelligence units remain in the North. intelligence officers are still pursuing some HRDs, although their activities are not restrained. Component 1: Support National Targeted Indigenous Organizations
Grantee Activities (Please note that the cut-off date for activity reports is Sept. 15, 2015, for the purpose of this quarterly report.)
Center for Human Rights and Development (CHRD) commenced the grant “Defending Citizens’ Rights in Sri Lanka” in August 2014; it will continue through November 2015 following a no-cost extension from August 2015. This grant builds on the initiatives of the first grant to provide continued support to victims of human rights abuses and their families, and continues to strengthen a network of human rights defenders and activists. Activities for the quarter include:
Legal Cases: The center supported 70 ongoing legal cases of 45 clients (3 female) during this quarter. Eleven (11) new cases of 10 clients were filed this year from January; one is a Court of Appeal case and the others are before the High Court. These new cases were verified by SPICE during the reporting period, so the numbers have been included in this report.
Relatives Receive Assistance to Visit Detained Family Members in Prison and Provide Care Packs: Two families received support to visit a detained relative this quarter. CHRD pays families’ travel, food, and accommodation costs as well as supports families to purchase items like towels, soap and clothes to give the detainee. The families also receive support for legal consultations on behalf of the detainee.
Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) commenced the grant “Bridging the Democratic Deficit through Civil Society Research and Advocacy” in September 2014; it will continue through September 2015. The intervention is addressing the critical need to bridge the country’s democratic deficit by strengthening civil society’s contribution to public policy (an objective in the organization’s mandate) through a targeted program of research and advocacy on democratic governance. The program engages key institutions and constituencies and helps set agendas through public interest litigation, opinion surveys and publications. The grant enables CPA to carry out its core research, advocacy and coordination function while preserving the organization’s management capacity.
Activities for the quarter include:
Democracy Survey: The center conducted an island-wide survey on public expectations of democratic governance and government and published a report with results online this quarter. The research unit of CPA, Social Indicator, conducted the survey. The report is available at http://www.cpalanka.org/democracy-in-post-war-sri-lanka/.
Monitoring Proceedings of Missing Persons Commission: CPA continued monitoring and recording proceedings of the Missing Persons Commission. This activity aims to highlight shortcomings and
12 make recommendations to the commission. During the reporting period, CPA monitored sittings in Batticaloa from Aug. 22-25. CPA investigated 599 complaints and received 770 new complaints, of which CPA investigated 90.
The Voter Education Grant received USAID approval this quarter and commenced activities. This four-month grant focuses on streamlining the service delivery process of Grama Niladharis (GNs), who are duty bearers at the grassroots level, by providing clear and accurate information on the electoral process aimed at minimizing the percentage of rejected votes. The project also focuses on voter education with a special focus on youth and the visually impaired. Activities this quarter include:
Training: Youth election monitors took part in awareness sessions for groups of differently abled persons on the election voting process. Participants’ disaggregated data is being verified and will be reported in the next quarterly report.
Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka (FPA) commenced activities in April 2015. The main aim of the grant is to increase the understanding and commitment of general practitioners (GPs) in Puttlam and Anuradhapura districts in responding to gender-based violence (GBV). Grant activities this quarter include:
Finalizing, Printing and Sharing Copies of Training Module and Field Handbook to Be Shared with GPs and Trainers: The training module developed by four GBV experts (including a training plan, session layout and content of fundamental issues surrounding GBV) was developed and 10 copies were printed and shared among the trainers. The association finalized, printed and shared 65 copies of the field handbook on GBV with the GPs who will be trained next quarter.
Updating Existing GBV Screening Tool: The association updated the tool based on the findings of the pre-testing assessment and questionnaire. The questionnaire went to 250 general practitioners in Puttlam and Anuradhapura districts, and 90 of them responded. Despite the limited responses to the questionnaire, assessing the existing knowledge and attitudes relating to GBV among GPs in Puttlam and Anuradhapura helped FPA to develop a training plan.
Updating and Reprinting of Available Information, Education and Communication Materials (Posters and Leaflets) for the GPs to Display at Their GP Practice and Give out to Patients: Participating GPs received posters conveying critical information to survivors and victims of GBV to post in their clinics. GPs will also receive leaflets containing information on support services to distribute to patients/GBV survivors.
Booklet/Inventory to Map GBV Service Providers in Puttlam and Anuradhapura: FPA finalized and printed a compilation of contact information on existing service providers in the two districts. The range of service providers includes district secretariat offices, police stations, the Women and Children’s Bureau desks and legal aid providers in Puttlam and Anuradhapura districts and nationally.
Training for GPs in Anuradhapura District: Five doctors and consultants trained 22 GPs (13 male and nine female) to increase their understanding of, and thereby enhance their commitment to respond to, GBV issues. The training included sessions on gender, gender stereotyping and gender attitudes; GBV, health and non-health consequences; response of the Ministry of Health (MOH) for GBV prevention; barriers to seeking and providing care screening for GBV; GPs’ role in providing GBV services; providing emotional support for GBV survivors and human rights and international conventions on GBV and available legal options; and collaborating with other stakeholders. The training involved interactive discussions on various types of community interventions in responding GBV survivors’ needs.
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Workshop for GBV Service Providers in Anuradhapura District: Thirty-four (34) GBV service providers (14 male and 24 female) from private, public and nongovernmental organizations received training with the objective of improving multi-sectoral networking among the health professionals and other GBV service providers in the district. The workshop discussed topics such as working with general practitioners to address GBV, updates of GBV and health and services to support survivors of GBV in Anuradhapura District.
Heart to Heart Lanka (H2H) commenced activities in April 2015. The main objective of the grant is to train and educate members of the lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning (LGBTIQ) community on their rights. This will occur through support, coaching and mentoring by five activists on LGBTIQ in Sri Lanka. H2H will develop a pool of eight trainers to educate the community on basic human rights of LGBTIQ persons. They will also receive support to develop a basic training module to conduct awareness among community members. Grant activities during the quarter include:
Training of Trainers (ToT) and Finalizing Training Manual and a Leaflet on LGBTIQ Rights: With the support of three experts (one female, two male), eight trainers (two female, six male) received training on rights, laws, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and responses to challenges faced by the LGBTIQ community. The aim of the trainings were to give participants skills and resources to conduct awareness sessions for the community. The ToT participants and the experts decided to continue for an extra day, inviting activists, lawyers, academics and doctors to develop a support network and provide H2H and its peer educators greater space for advocacy and dialogue. Eight individuals, including activists, lawyers and representatives from other organizations working on similar interventions, attended the event. A leaflet outlining rights and essential laws affecting the LGBTIQ community was finalized, printed and shared among H2H peer educators. A basic training module for the trainees to use as a tool in their own trainings was finalized and 10 copies were shared among the ToT recipients to guide them through their trainings.
Awareness among Peer Educators on Rights: Three two-day trainings took place to raise awareness of LGBTIQ rights among selected H2H field supervisors and peer educators from Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts. The trained resource persons facilitated or co-facilitated sessions on gender identity and sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS awareness-raising, mental health and rights and laws. Twenty-one (21) participants attended (20 male and one transgender) the Colombo Peer Educator training; 26 males and one transgender Peer Educators Training in Colombo participated in the Kalutara training; and 27 peer educators (one transgender, one undisclosed and 25 males) from Gampaha attended the last training. All of the trainings were held in Colombo.
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International Center for Ethnic Studies The TJ Dialogues (ICES) commenced activities under its grant in May 2015 and expects to conclude in November The dialogues were a first effort to hold a 2015. ICES expects the grant, “Truth and Justice national discussion on key transitional justice in Sri Lanka,” to contribute to the generation of issues facing Sri Lanka. The majority of an organic and relevant transitional justice (TJ) participants were members of civil society and representatives of political parties. process in the country. It seeks to do this by Participants voiced a strong demand to see a providing space for key decision-makers from truth-telling and an accountability mechanism, different communities to discuss and debate the as well as a number of legal, policy and different options that may be available, to forge a institutional reforms with reparative transitional justice process that is sensitive to the components. peculiarities of the Sri Lankan conflict. Civil society stakeholders who participated in Activities this quarter include: discussions expressed strong support for a truth-telling mechanism with a broad Dialogues in North, East, South and West on How mandate that covers historical as well as ongoing human rights abuses. There is a Claims around Justice are Pursued in Other Post-War desire to see a clean break from the past, Societies: During the grant period, ICES conducted and have the government engage in a genuine three dialogues, in North, East and Western transitional justice process that is (Colombo) provinces. International experts on independent and impartial, as well as has the transitional justices facilitated the dialogues and confidence and trust of victims’ communities. reconciliation and civil and political actors and Participants expressed concerns about the community leaders participated. Three of five government’s ability to deliver a successful planned dialogue forums took place last quarter. mechanism without strong participation from A meeting between the international resource international stakeholders. persons and higher-level policymakers/political In addition to the strong support for truth leaders was a key outcome of this activity. Two telling, clear indications emerged that more dialogues will take place in the coming acknowledgment and apologies are not quarter. sufficient. Stakeholders expressed a desire to hold perpetrators accountable via a judicial ICES is doing preparatory work to conduct its process. Here, too, was concern about the final phase of dialogues in the South. A dialogue capacity and ability of a purely domestic will also take place in Nuwara Eliya for the mechanism to conduct independent, impartial and effective legal proceedings. upcountry Tamil community. Bina D’Costa, an expert in international relations and transitional justice, was identified as the resource person.
An informal Transitional Justice Working Group formed, consisting of civil actors including the South Asian Center for Legal Studies (SACLS), another SPICE grantee. The members of this fluid group held several technical sessions and developed alternate draft proposals on the truth commission, the Office of Missing Persons, special courts and the independent prosecutors’ office. These were prepared with the goal of eventually influencing government proposals on transitional justice.
Report on the North, East and Colombo Dialogues: A draft report capturing the three dialogues in North, East and Colombo was prepared. The report calls for political parties to engage actively with their constituents to discuss appropriate options for transitional justice that could be adopted in Sri Lanka; it recommends that the government consult with civil society and victims to design and implement credible transitional justice measures. These should include a truth commission and an accountability mechanism. The report states the importance of ensuring that the adopted mechanism is credible, independent and impartial, consequently requiring special attention to
15 individuals who will lead and administer any transitional justice policy measures. It observes that these individuals should represent ethnic minorities and gain approval from victims’ communities.
Documentary to Stimulate TJ Discussions: Ten victims, including four women, were interviewed for a proposed documentary film. The film will be screened in all three languages (English, Sinhala and Tamil) and will form the basis for discussions on transitional justice in Sri Lanka.
National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) commenced the grant “Protection and promotion of rights of fishing and agriculture communities through regaining and retaining their right to land and livelihoods” in January 2015; it will continue through December 2015. This is the organization’s second grant under SPICE. NAFSO continues to focus its efforts on fisher communities in the North to address post-war issues of intrusion by South Indian fishermen and unfair competition by migrant fishermen from the south of Sri Lanka. It supports members of the Northern and Southern communities to address land rights issues.
Activities for the quarter include: Northern Province Fisher People’s Unity (NPFPU) Meetings: The NPFPU general body met this quarter in Mannar, the fourth meeting under the grant. The meeting centered on lobbying against Indian trawlers, illegal fishing by fishermen from the South in the Northern seas, common fisheries issues of the Northern Province and military land-grabbing and interference in the North.
Three village-level follow-up meetings took place in Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi to finalize draft district development plans, which were shaped at district-level meetings. The drafts were presented to village leaders and discussed in detail. The total number of participants was 37 at Jaffna (six youth); 28 at Mullaitivu (three youth); and 22 at Kilinochchi (three youth). All participants were male.
Voluntary Guidelines for Governance of Tenure (VGGT) and Voluntary Guidelines on Small-Scale Fisheries (VGSSF): NAFSO held two VGGT awareness and mobilization workshops in Polpithigama, Kurunegala District, and Lahugala, Ampara District. The purpose of the workshop in Polpithigama was to form a youth group to work on the Irudeniyaya issue and to develop knowledge on VGGT guidelines. Forty-two (42) participated; 40 were youth and 23 were female. The Irudeniyaya issue concerns the struggle of inhabitants of villages in the area to secure the release of 2,800 acres of village land annexed to a wildlife sanctuary, after the villagers settled in the area. The state continued to build up the area even after it was declared to be a part of a wildlife sanctuary. The land on which the villages are situated is tenured. The government is agreeable to the release of the land if the villagers allow a corridor for elephants leading up to a nearby water source. However, the corridor would bisect the village up to the water tank and is likely to lead to a human-elephant conflict. The villagers are also convinced that government is doing this for tourism purposes. Six of nine village societies in the area court have filed a case. NAFSO training helps youth in the village get a better understanding of land tenure and associated rights.
The purpose of the workshop in Lahugala was to strengthen the Panama campaign via the Panama Paththu Protection Organization. The Panama issue relates to the acquisition of village land by the previous government. It was released after villagers campaigned through the Panama Paththu Protection Organization against the acquisition. The VGGT /VGSSF awareness and mobilizing workshop was organized to strengthen the campaign by using VGGT as a tool to mobilize community members, including religious leaders. At end of this workshop, a group formed to lead the Panama campaign. There were 21 participants (including 12 females and four youth).
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National Seminar on Land Grabbing and Land Rights Issues: NAFSO held a seminar in Colombo to build awareness on illegal land appropriation (land grabbing), land issues faced by female heads of households in the north of the country and land rights issues of Internal Displaced People (IDP) in the North and East districts while advocating for their immediate resettlement. Political representatives, journalists, members of civil society organizations and victims of land grabbing participated. 180 (including 60 female adults, three female youth and one male youth) participated. A survey-based report on the issues was also released.
National Peace Council (NPC) commenced the grant “Reconciling Inter-Religious and Inter- Ethnic Differences (RIID)” under the second round of grant activities in November 2014. The project will continue through Nov. 31, 2015, following a one-month no-cost extension. The present phase of the project builds on the achievements of the previous project with religious collectives – District Inter-Religious Committees (DIRCs) to improve linkages with provincial religious leaders. The DIRCs will identify emerging local-level conflicts and take steps to mitigate or resolve them. The DIRC network expands from eight districts to nine under the new grant. NPC will also revitalize the National Inter-Religious Committee (NIRC), comprising representatives of DIRCs, under the grant. Activities this quarter include:
District-Level Meetings and Activities: Eight DIRC meetings took place during this quarter. DIRCs continued to foster better relationships with government officials during the period. On a few occasions, government officials worked with DIRC members and participated at their meetings. DIRCs in Ampara, Jaffna, Puttlam, Matara and Galle districts engaged with provincial-level decision-makers and implementers to address inter-religious and inter-ethnic issues; 140 people participated, including 39 women and six youth. A DIRC member and other civil society advocates, shown in the studio of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, participated in a discussion on“Inter- Ethics over Politics: Resilience of a religious and Inter-ethnic harmony through good DIRC Member/Religious Leader governance”
Ven. Ranmuthugala Sangarathanathera, an Community Voter Education Meetings on Democracy and active member of the Ampara DIRC and a Good Governance ahead of the General Elections: DIRCs, longstanding volunteer in his community, recognizing their role and the timely need for was approached by the Ultra Sinhala advocating democracy and good governance nationalist group BoduBalaSena (BBS) to concomitant to the general election of 2015, held 10 contest the general election of August meetings to mobilize community leaders and educate 2015, under its banner – the Bodu Jana them to guide their constituencies to vote for parties Peramuna. BBS members urged the and candidates who advocate and reflect values of Buddhist monk to contest “on behalf of Sinhalese Buddhists in the Ampara District.” good governance to Parliament. The meetings were He declined their offer, declaring that he carried out in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, supported “inter-religious harmony and a Kandy, Mannar, Anuradhapura, Puttlam, Galle and pluralistic society.” Matara within a period of two weeks. A total of 609 participated, including 330 females. This activity was funded by the British High Commission to Sri Lanka and USAID, which provided a direct grant. RIID’s specific contribution to the activity was
17 facilitating religious leaders and mobilizing other Religiously Making a Difference: DIRC community leaders to share their views with the Interventions This Quarter public. Ampara: The DIRC continued its advocacy Moreover, the DIRCs extended their efforts to find a solution to a land issue that engagement through other social outreach arose in 2013. This was due to the acquisition of land for a government-sponsored exhibition - activities like distributing wristbands with slogans “Dayata Kirula” 2013, which the military promoting candidates committed to “transitional retained thereafter. The DIRC facilitated justice, human rights, ethnic and religious rights and discussions on the matter between the victims, peace” and carrying out poster campaigns at the the government and military officials. The DIRC local level with messaging developed by the lobbied with the authorities to return the land members. A total of 7,000 posters, 9,000 to the original landowners. Following the efforts handbills, 12,000 wristbands and 52 quarter-page of the DIRC, the government is willing to return newspaper advertisements were produced; the the land. content of the ads was developed with the Matara: Tension arose between Sinhala and participation of DIRCs. Muslim inhabitants of Issadeen Town in Matara District in the South, following a dispute relating As a result of the funding from BHC and USAID, to the building of a mosque. The tension NPC also broadcast 12 dialogues on “Inter- extended to the religious leaders of the two religious and Inter-ethnic harmony through good communities. The DIRC for the district governance” over national radio, coinciding with organized an Ifthar – a fast-breaking ceremony – the recent general election. Eleven (11) inter- to restore relations between the communities. religious leaders and four civil society leaders/ Participants included 110 people of all ethnicities DIRC members attended the program, along and comprised religious leaders, local politicians and the principal central government official for with recognized national-level resource persons. the district, the district secretary, also participated. RIID’s Facebook page is www.facebook.com/nationalpeacecouncil Nuwara Eliya: The DIRC continued its ofsrilanka. engagement with authorities to advocate on land issues faced by estate Tamil communities for Right to Life Human Rights Center over 20 years. The lack of ownership is a key commenced the grant “Sensitize and Strengthen problem faced by the estate sector. The DIRC, which first held a protest in a key town in the Communities to Reform Mechanisms for the district, followed up by writing to the Sri Lankan Protection of Civic Rights” in November 2014; it president and prime minister about the issue. It will continue through October 2015. This is is also trying to organize a meeting between the R2L’s second grant under SPICE. The group minister in charge and the victims’ communities anticipates capitalizing on the networks built to find solutions to the problem. through the first grant. Current grant activities aim to strengthen the network of civil society stakeholders, trade unions, religious groups and other actors engaged in advocacy efforts to facilitate broad-based public discussions on torture. R2L would serve as a civil society watchdog by actively participating in discussions, lobbying, monitoring and submitting shadow reports to the United Nations, with the goal of convincing the government to implement Sri Lanka’s National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) and the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) and the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). Grant activities for the quarter include: People’s Tribunals: A second people’s tribunal – an advocacy mechanism for talking about torture, human rights and good governance issues – took place in Colombo. The discussion was titled “19: Is it a reality or an illusion?” and focused on the implications of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which restored the independence of key institutions of governance. Fifty-eight (58) people participated (17 female, five youth).
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Outreach on Issues of Torture: The fifth and sixth editions of the newsletter Aithiya (The Right) were published in Sinhala and Tamil. The fifth edition highlighted the role and need for solidarity among civil society groups to consolidate the democratic change brought about through the presidential election and the general election, and the need for a stronger civic movement to advocate for an independent judiciary in the country. The sixth edition focused on the role of the attorney general and the Geneva / UNHRC report. R2L also uploaded news on the same issues and on the war crimes investigation and the increase of crimes, etc., to its websites Aithiya and Reforms. See news report on a government decision to issue "missing" certificates to families of persons who disappeared during the war, as a provisional step to help the families claim their dues. http://www.aithiya.lk/news_view.php?id=636 , a brief outline of civil society's contribution to change the presidency and government in January 2015 http://www.aithiya.lk/news_view.php?id=631, and a notice about a people's tribunal, a discussion platform for rights issues scheduled for end September http://www.aithiya.lk/news_view.php?id=629.
Publication of Booklets: A second booklet on “Reforms in Remedial Mechanisms for Human Rights Protection Including Police” was published in Sinhala and Tamil languages, with 1,000 copies of each distributed. Copies were available at various events organized by R2L, including the People’s Tribunal and district meetings.
Human Right Defenders Group (HRDG) Coordinators’ Meetings: A second meeting of HRDG coordinators in Gampaha took place at NAFSO. A total of 37 (including five women and three youth) participated in the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was to talk about their human rights work in the district and to brief them about the reforms introduced by the new government. Two other (3rd and 4th) district meetings took place in Mannar and Hambantota districts; 77 people (50 women) participated in the Mannar meeting and 86 people (20 women) participated in the meeting in Walawa, Ambalantota. The key issue discussed at the meeting in Mannar was political reform and the role of civil society as a network working to preserve democratic space. In Hambantota, reforms introduced by the new government were discussed.
Building a Community Monitoring System: Two community monitoring committee meetings (fifth and sixth) took place. Eleven people (including three females and one youth) participated in the fifth meeting with the Municipal Commissioner of Negombo. The issues discussed were taxation, garbage disposal and road construction. Seven people (including two females and one youth) attended the sixth meeting, where the discussion centered on police and torture prevention reforms.
Supporting Torture Survivors to Access Remedial Measures: A fourth meeting in the series to support torture survivors was held at the Right to Life office. A total of 36 (including 10 women and five youth) participated. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the role of the attorney general and identify solutions to delays in cases.
Legal Action Against Delay in Legal Proceedings in Custodial Deaths: After sending a letter of demand to the attorney general seeking legal action against willful negligence, inaction and avoidance of legal obligation in delaying legal proceedings on the Meegahakiwula case, R2L also sent a letter of demand to the inspector general of police seeking expeditious action on another case: the torture and custodial death of Nimal Chandrasiri (Wadduwa).
Sarvodaya (Lanka Jathika Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya) commenced activities on its second grant in November 2014. This grant builds on work carried out through the previous grant to enhance citizen engagement in local governance and decision-making processes. The community-monitoring exercise conceived through the grant allows citizens to engage with local
19 government officials and participate in local governance through demands for space and change. More participatory decision-making at the local level will result from the collaborative efforts of trained and organized rights-based citizens’ pressure groups and community monitoring teams (CMTs) supported by the grant. Activities during the quarter include:
Meetings: Twelve forum meetings were held in Nuwara Eliya (1), Moneragala (1), Galle (3), Matara (1), Kegalle (2), Kandy (2) and Padaviya (2) with the participation of 218 CMT members (104 females, 114 males) to discuss and plan activities centered on identified Some of the activities conducted in the reporting community issues affecting citizens. period Nine stakeholders meetings were held Badulla: Initiative to clean up a local river. Following a in Badulla (2), Moneragala (1), Galle petition to the president on environmental pollution in the (1), Matara (1), Polonnaruwa (2) and Badulu-Oya, the CMT received a copy of a referral letter Padaviya (2) with the participation of made by the president secretariat to the Central 95 people (62 females and 33 males). Environmental Authority for speedy action. Meanwhile, the During these meetings, CMT members CMT and DDF engaged with the district secretary, divisional secretaries and relevant high-ranking officials to educate identified and met them on the state of pollution in the river. As a result, the responders/stakeholders relevant to district secretary has taken the lead in addressing the issue by the community issues. calling status reports from 22 Grama Niladharis in the district. Skill Training: Three skills trainings were conducted for CMTs: Human rights Kegalle: Public complaints day. At this event in and legal remedies for the violation of Ruwanwella, citizens recorded their complaints relating to service-delivery public institutions and police, pradeshiya human rights in Nuwara Eliya, sabha (local government), hospital, divisional secretariats and environmental law in Badulla and the Housing Development Authority. 279 citizens prevailing rules and regulations on participated. coastal protection in Sri Lanka in Galle. 89 members (including 47 females) Moneragala: Stopping encroachment of catchment areas. Encroachment of vital tank reservations that act as participated. catchments of water bodies is the issue taken up by the CMT Trouble Shooting Workshop: CMTs in for the district. The reservations are built up with commercial buildings, houses and hotels. The CMT carried each district attended a out a poster campaign to create awareness among the public troubleshooting workshop with the on the issue. Three citizens’ juries on this environmental participation of 496 persons (including issue were conducted by the police in Thanamalwila, Bibile 312 females). Many of the legal and and Kataragama. The CMT is working with the officials of the technical issues relating to community Agrarian Services Department, Irrigation Department, three project activities were addressed at divisional secretariats and phe Police to raise awareness on the workshop. the issue. Members of farmers organizations participated in the citizens’ juries. Central Communication Hub: Social Padaviya: Exploitation of Farmers. The CMT/DDF for media platforms have been regularly the district organized a peaceful walk to protest the expanding. The Sarvodaya Facebook exploitation of farmers over the purchase of the paddy page reached 2,500 “likes,” the harvest. One of the principal problems that Sri Lankan Deshodaya website reached 200 farmers face is the inability to get a fair price for their “likes,” and the Sarvodaya Twitter produce. The farmers get exploited by middlemen as a result. account has more than 600 followers The CMT sought to highlight this issue and advocate for a fair with an increase in comments relating solution. to the posts. Horowpothana: Asking for water. Nearly 300 villagers and community leaders participated in a public protest on the The Women’s Center (WC) grant lack of clean drinking water in Morakawa. commenced activities in June 2015 and
20 will continue through November 2015. The grant aims to empower young female workers to claim and enjoy their rights to live with respect and dignity as human beings. The grant will focus on female workers in the free trade zones (FTZs) of Biyagama and Wathupitiwala. The proposed intervention constitutes activities that support developing knowledge about labor rights of workers, their sexual reproductive health rights and the proposed GSP Plus concessions and its implications for workers. The proposed activities include creating space for interaction, dialogue and partnership between female workers from the Northeast and the South, enabling solidarity among workers of different ethnicities. The Women's Center will also advocate on sector-wide issues identified through its engagement with women workers. The organization will function as a referral point for young women workers who need guidance/support (particularly migrant workers) on labor issues. Grant activities during the quarter include: Awareness on Labor Rights: Two trainings in Biyagama and Wathupitiwala sought to raise awareness among workers on labor rights and laws. The sessions were facilitated and conducted in Sinhala; 25 workers (two males and 23 females) from factories in the apparel sector in the FTZ in Biyagama attended that training, while 25 workers (four males and 21 females) attended the training in Wathupitiwala. Participants were selected from the membership of the Women’s Center, and those displaying leadership qualities were given preference as participants were expected to disseminate the knowledge acquired through the workshops among their fellow colleagues. 2,000 copies of leaflets in Sinhala and Tamil were distributed among workers. Two more trainings for Tamil-speaking workers on labor rights will take place next quarter.
Networking with the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) and Women and Children’s Bureau: Grant outcomes include providing awareness on sexual reproductive health rights and the right of women to be free from violence and available mechanisms for redress. In preparation for these trainings (scheduled for next quarter), the Women’s Center met representatives of the MOH and Women and Children’s Bureau at the police stations in Biyagama and Wathupitiwala. The aim was to network and ensure that these institutions are aware of the challenges and issues garment workers face so that they are responsive to workers’ concerns.
Panel Discussion on the Impact of Generalized System of Preferences plus (GSP+): A panel discussion addressed how the GSP+ system will impact workers. Women representatives of trade unions and members of women’s organization participated. The discussion also focused on steps to collectively advocate for the restoration of the concession. Forty-four participants (eight males and 36 females) included activists, representatives of civil society organizations, academics and garment factory workers. To access the news publications highlighting this event, see http://lakdana.lk/si/node/34310 and http://www.mawbima.lk/thumb/epaper-images/55573.jpg
Outcome Two: Expanded civil society support for more inclusive, active citizen participation in development, reconciliation, and governance
To contribute to the achievement of outcome 2, “Expanded civil society support for more inclusive and active citizen participation in development, coexistence and governance,” SPICE supported a couple of activities through its activity budget line directly. They included facilitating meetings between civil society and political actors on the electoral reforms constitutional amendment, as well as supporting a civil society network working for cleaner politics.
Campaign for Free and Fair Election (CAFFE) held a discussion on the dual ballot proposal to accommodate the minor party request. A closed-door discussion with technical experts, civil society representatives and representatives of minor political parties took place June 22. The discussion focused on possible outcomes of introducing a dual ballot system, which would be favorable for minor political parties. Political party representatives and members of drafting
21 committee attended. A press conference highlighted the concerns of minor and minority parties. SPICE contributed to the costs of venue rental refreshments.
12th March Movement: During 2014, Paffrel had dialogues with different sectors, namely: civil society organizations, youth, religious dignitaries, trade unions, politicians, business community, professionals, media, academics and university academics on the topic of transforming the existing political culture in Sri Lanka. The dialogues helped identify six root causes for the existing political culture. As a result, a document identified eight criteria that the political parties should use to select their nominees. Paffrel and likeminded citizens brought leaders of political parties to the BMICH on March 12, 2015, to sign and endorse this document; this movement is titled the March 12th Movement. Although the leaders of the political parties had endorsed the document containing the eight criteria, some felt the need to pressure political parties to ensure that they fulfill these commitments. Therefore, a series of events were identified before the lists of nominees were prepared by the political parties for the parliamentary general elections on Aug. 17.
Numerous activities were identified to pressure the political parties and leaders to fulfill their commitment. Several SPICE partners were already involved in this initiative including Sarvdaya, Transparency International, CMEV and PALTRA. The following specific activities were supported by SPICE under this initiative.
1. Carrying out civic campaigns: An island-wide signature campaign by the civil society network members sought to pressure the political parties. The campaign ran from June 25 to July 5, 2015. During these 11 days, a six-day campaign from June 30 to July 5 took place with the support of SPICE in Batticaloa, Ampara, Monaragala, Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Ratnapura, Hambantota, Matara, Galle, Kalutara and Colombo districts. Accommodations, food, 200 T-shirts and caps with the campaign logos were funded by SPICE. 2. Leaflet and poster campaign to create civic conscience: The leaflets and poster campaign on the 12th March Declaration was carried out in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara, Monaragala, Badulla, Kandy, Kegalle, Rathnapura, Hambantota, Matara, Galle, Kalutara and Colombo with the support of SPICE. 3. Final rally at Vihara Maha Devi Park. SPICE supported a portion of the logistical and equipment costs for the final event (a mass rally) at Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo on July 6. During this event, the signed document was given to political party leaders. Representatives from the United Peoples Freedom Alliance, Sri Lanka Freedom Party, United National Party, Sri Lanka Muslim Cognress, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Tamil National Alliance and the Jathika Hela Urumaya attended and received the declaration from key civil society leaders. Component 2. Support Regional Indigenous Organizations to Promote Responsive Citizenship and Inclusive Participation
Grantee Activities (Please note that the cut-off date for activity reports is Sept. 15, 2015, for the purpose of this quarterly report.)
Grantee activities are reported under the categories of multi-region, Eastern and Northern. Multi- region grants include those implemented in more than one province or region, and those that fall outside of the North, East and adjoining border areas. Eastern and Northern grants are implemented in the respective provinces and adjoining districts.
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Multi-Region Grants Berendina Development Services (Gte) Ltd. (BDS) commenced work on its grant in January 2015. Through this grant, BDS aims to address issues faced by plantation sector workers when applying for and receiving their statutory social security dues, including EPF and ETF payments and pensions. The intervention seeks to address the underlying causes of these issues, which include lack knowledge on civil, political, economic and social rights of workers. While the grant will attempt to enhance citizen activism through awareness-raising and capacity-building activities, it will also initiate multi-stakeholder action by creating or strengthening networks and relationships between the authorities and the estate workers. BDS’s activities during the reporting period include:
Process of Claiming Statutory Dues Standardized through Documentation of Guidelines and Best Practices for Estate Management Officers: Three training-of-trainers (ToT) workshops took place during this quarter with 47 officers (18 females and 29 males) participating.
Guidebook on Obtaining EPF and ETF Funds: BDS produced 3,400 copies of the guidebook and commenced dissemination during this quarter. A total of 2,128 copies were distributed across 16 estates.
Awareness-Raising Workshops for Retired Workers/Workers Approaching Retirement Age: During this quarter, 31 of the 85 scheduled workshops took place and 1,129 (644 females and 485 males) participated.
Training to Mobilize Elders’ Club Representatives as Agents of Change: BDS supported 76 regular meetings to facilitate dialogue between community representatives of elders’ clubs. Furthermore, BDS commenced training of selected representatives of elders’ clubs to mobilize them to support their community by providing information on the rights and entitlements of workers and the process of claiming these statutory dues. Two of the five planned sessions took place, with 73 participants (21 females, 52 males). In addition, 76 periodic meetings between mobilizers and the network of elders' club representatives updated and assessed progress of the intervention.
Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR) commenced work on its grant in August 2015. It focuses on empowering youth and their inter- and intra-community engagement in the post-war context in Sri Lanka. This intervention, “Voice of image: represent your presence (VOI),” focused on youth empowerment and is based on the organization’s previous experience in peace building and reconciliation through artistic expression. The intervention uses creativity, visual literacy and peace-building tools for young people to express their views to be heard and understood. Through engagement with each other, the youth learn to recognize diversity as an asset rather than a liability. During the reporting period, the center developed a revised work plan and completed procurement and recruitment.
Dabindu Collective commenced activities under its grant during this quarter. The intervention seeks to empower and enable young women workers of free trade zones (FTZs, also called “export processing zones,” or EPZs) to enjoy their rights and be treated with respect and dignity. Activities include creating awareness on sexual reproductive health rights among 450 targeted female workers, enhancing awareness on workers’ rights through the publication of 2,000 copies of the “Dabindu” newsletter and working with civil society organizations to commemorate activists who have died fighting for FTZ workers’ rights. Dabindu collective’s activities during the quarter include:
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Create Awareness on Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) Rights and Available Services among 450 Female Workers from Katunayake EPZ: Dabindu carried out two half-day awareness sessions. The first had 67 participants (37 females and 30 males). Of them, 13 females and 23 males were between the ages of 16 and 29. At the second session, 47 participated (33 females and 14 males); 28 females and nine males were between the ages of 16 and 29.
Print and Distribute 2,000 Booklets on SRH among Target Workers: The booklet on SRH rights in Remembering Rights: One of the Sinhala was produced with support from a key activities carried out by Dabindu consultant, and its Tamil translation was so far is the commemoration of the completed during this quarter. Distribution of labor rights activist Roshen Chanaka, 2000 copies among target groups is continuing. who was killed a few years ago. The So far, more than 100 copies were distributed, event was a focal point for bringing workers together on the issue of including at the two half-day SRH awareness rights and accountability, specifically sessions. demanding the government to release the report on the killing of Distribution of 2,000 Monthly Newsletters on Labor Chanaka and to act on its findings. Rights and Issues in EPZs: Dabindu printed and distributed two monthly newsletters among target groups with support from 83 organizations and individuals.
Institute for Constitutional Studies (ICS) commenced work on its grant “Building Capacities of Provincial Councils” in May 2014. The grant seeks to improve governance structures at the provincial level through greater understanding of constitutional provisions and by building capacity and skills of members to enable them draft statutes to exercise devolved powers. There were delays in implementation due to te volatile political situation in the North. ICS’s activities during the reporting period include:
Workshop on Drafting Statutes for the Eastern Provincial Council: The third phase of the training was completed during this quarter with 35 participants (eight females and 27 males). Three draft statutes prepared by the Eastern Provincial Council were discussed during the two-day workshop. Based on feedback by participants on issues of consistency with Constitution and other legal aspects, some sections of the draft statutes were amended.
Workshop on Provincial Administration and Finance for the Northern Provincial Council (PC): A second training took place for 42 participants (16 females and 26 males) who are senior provincial councilors of the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils. The three-day workshop focused on powers and functions of PCs, with special reference to administration and financial management. Principles of devolution of power were also discussed. Sustainability of Change: The change in the political climate following the Expert Assessment on Statutes of Provincial presidential election and its consolidation Councils and Providing Advisory Services: Six draft after the general election will enable statutes, four from Eastern Provincial Council receptive and improved engagement with and two from Northern Provincial Council, provincial councils. The space that has were completed with feedback given by an opened up for civil society engagement with expert panel. The draft statutes include governance structures will greatly aid in (Eastern Province) Business Names, Eastern building PCs’ capacity, as envisioned by the Printing Corporation, Agricultural Research grant. and Solid Waste Management and (Northern
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Province) Animal Husbandry and Indigenous Medicine.
The Law and Society Trust (LST) will complete work on this grant in September 2015 after receiving a no-cost extension award in August 2015. The intervention seeks to integrate communities through support or active citizenship, social cohesion and gender empowerment in Sri Lanka, focusing on media freedom. This grant seeks to empower journalists and bloggers with increased understanding of their rights and improve networking among them. The focus areas are the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Northwestern provinces. Disaggregated data of meetings and trainings in the last quarter, which could not be verified, are included in this quarterly report. LST’s activities during the reporting period include:
Follow-up Meetings for District-Level Journalists: Three district-level follow-up meetings took place in Jaffna, Puttlam and Ampara districts with district journalist associations and provincial bar associations participating. These meetings were a follow-up to training programs for provincial journalists on legal awareness, which strengthened the journalists’ knowledge. District-level journalist associations and a pool of voluntary lawyers through the regional bar associations came together to a common platform to discuss the possibilities of working together in the future. Nineteen people attended the Jaffna follow-up meeting, including 13 lawyers, one of whom was a retired High Court judge. Of this group, four were youth (three females and one male). Sixteen participants, including 10 lawyers, (six females and four youth) participated in the Puttlam meeting. Fifteen people (including one female) consisting of three lawyers, including the president of the Ampara Bar Association, participated in the Ampara meeting.
Two-day Trainings on Economic, Social, Cultural and Religious Rights: Five trainings took place in Galle, Matara, Ampara, Puttlam and Batticaloa on the importance of highlighting provincial issues from a rights-based perspective (the objective of the training). The training in Batticaloa was in Tamil and the rest were in Sinhala. A panel discussion with social activists from the provinces was part of the program. The panel discussion gave journalists an opportunity to build contacts with these activists and highlight the importance of reporting on local rights and conflict issues. The total number of participants at these trainings was 87 (17 females and 70 males); two youth were among the 17 female participants. The participants at these trainings included provincial journalists representing state and private electronic and print media institutions and activists in the locale.
National Evangelical Christian Association Sri Lanka (NECASL) commenced work on its grant in January 2015. The grant seeks to protect constitutionally upheld religious freedom in Sri Lanka, particularly of minority religious faiths, and will work to educate members of the media, legal professionals, academics and young human rights defenders on religious freedom in the country. The grant will foster a climate of religious tolerance, coexistence and harmony. NECASL will carry out research and collate information on trends in religious rights violations and use generated reports for advocacy and awareness-raising purposes.
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Establishing a Lawyers’ Network to Protect the Right to Relief: Inter-religious lawyers for Freedom of Religious Belief (FORB), a lawyers’ network consisting 17 lawyers (five females and 12 males, including one youth), support victims of religious violence in the North, Central and Southern provinces. During the reporting period, three similar networks formed in Western, Southern and Northwestern provinces with 42 lawyers (15 females).
Training for Lawyers on Freedom of Belief and Understanding Attitudes toward Religion: A group of 17 lawyers from the North Minority Religions: NCEASL Central and Southern networks were commissioned a case study and two trained/sensitized on legal strategies to address research papers on religious freedom in Sri breach of religious freedom cases. Topics Lanka. A case study on an attack on a discussed included constitutionally guaranteed religious leader of a minor Christian group right to belief and administrative and legal concludes: “While minority religions and challenges therein; combatting police particularly missionary Christian churches victimization of minority faith groups; and a with an objective of converting followers 2008 circular of the Ministry of Buddha Sasana face antipathy and sometimes strong on permission procedures to build non-Buddhist oppositions, it is not always immediate and places of worship. Constitutional and human outright denial of the freedom of worship. rights and lawyer J.C. Weliamuna and attorney- Those viewed as ‘already Christians’ in at-law Lakshan Dias facilitated the sessions. A particular face less resistance from the local training for lawyers took place in Colombo in temple and communities. The main the Western Province and 18 lawyers (eight resistance is to conversion. Here, too such females and 10 males, including four youth) resistance does not always manifest in participated. Topics discussed included violence, and can be contained, unless the constitutional law and its restrictions, the Anti- effectiveness of law enforcement is (or Conversion Bill and practical problems faced by perceived to be) nullified by political religious minorities. protection to those inciting or actively taking part in religious violence”. Forming Advocacy Group with Youth Civil Society Judicial Responses to Religious Freedom, Leaders: Building on the previous quarter’s work the analysis of the judicial framework, says with youth, an advocacy group was formed at that Sri Lanka’s case law displays a the grassroots level to strengthen freedom of conservative trend in the protection and religious belief in Sri Lanka. A group of 63 youth promotion of religious rights of minority (23 females and 40 males) from different parts religious communities. of the country joined this group. The youth group created a Facebook page to help The lower courts, according to the research members to stay in touch. paper, demonstrate a reluctance to mediate community-level tension to protect Training for Media: Two training sessions to minority religious communities. sensitize media personnel to report on religiously motivated violence took place for journalists from traditional and alternate media. Eighteen journalists (five females and 13 males, including a visually handicapped male) representing print and electronic media participated in a two-day training where they learned about the basic precepts of FORB, related local and international legal mechanisms, ethics, best practices and responsible reporting. A training session also served 13 journalists representing “nontraditional” media. Topics discussed included international and local legislation that influence reporting on religious and communal tension, perspectives of media coverage on religious and communal tension and managing religious and communal tension in the digital age.
Handbook on Good Practices: During the trainings, journalists were consulted to develop a handbook on good practices in reporting religiously motivated violence. Thirty-one journalists from
26 traditional and alternate media institutions provided input. The handbook will be finalized in the coming quarter.
Research on Religiously Motivated Violence: During the reporting period, NCEASL finalized three research papers on religiously motivated violence in Sri Lanka. They include an analysis of Sri Lanka’s judicial framework on religious freedom, analysis of trends in violence against minority religious groups over the last 20 years and a draft case study from an attack in a rural area in the Southern Province against the pastor of an evangelical church and church property.
NGO National Action Front (NNAF) commenced work under its grant in October 2014. The grant supports the NNAF, made up of voluntary services organizations in Sri Lanka, to establish a code of conduct (CoC) for local NGOs and grassroots-level organizations to help govern their activities. The existing CoC was developed after consulting South-based NGOs and largely reflects their interests; it therefore is not fully accepted by NGOs in the North and East. Through the grant, the NNAF will be restructured and improved as a secretariat and five district groups will be set up in the North, East and Central provinces to strengthen its coordinating role. The second phase of activities will be dedicated to developing the CoC and building the capacity of member NGOs to adhere to the CoC. The CoC should improve the organizations’ standards and quality of work. NNAF’s was granted a one-and-a-half-month, no-cost extension to finalize two activities that could not be completed: completing the Code of Conduct for NGOs and developing a CoC compliance measurement tool. NNAF’s activities during the reporting period include:
Extension: During the reporting period, a one-and-a-half-month, no-cost extension was granted through Sept. 15, 2015, to carry out two activities that could not be completed during the grant period. The activities include finalizing the Code of Conduct for NGOs and developing a CoC compliance measurement tool.
Savisthri commenced work on its grant in the last quarter. The grant focuses on fostering the active participation of women in lobbying and advocating for issues faced by them. Simultaneously, the project also attempts to address the negative attitude of some duty bearers toward women actively taking on the role of advocates for their rights. The grant is supporting women to develop their knowledge and confidence to interact better with duty bearers of local authorities and local government entities through a series of workshops. The grant is also providing core support to Savisthri as a key civil society women’s organization working with different progressive collectives seeking to expand the democratic space. Savisthri’s activities during this quarter include:
Workshop on the Importance and Ways of Identifying Community-level Women’s Issues and the Role of Women’s Groups: Two-day awareness workshops were carried out on the role of community leaders to facilitate and identify issues in their constituencies. Community-appraisal instruments to help identify and prioritize these issues were also introduced during the workshops. The training in the Matale District was held in two locations, in Yatawatte with 31 participants (30 females including nine youth, and one male) and Rattota with 32 participants (all females, including 11 youth).
Workshop to Develop Village-level Action Plans and Advocacy Tools to Address Issues Faced by Women at the Community Level: One-day workshops guided participants to help community members identify and prioritize issues. The workshops in the Matale District took place in two locations: Yatawatte with 32 participants (31 females, including 10 youth, and one male) and Rattota with 33 participants (33 females, including six youth). The issues highlighted at these workshops included unemployment among young females in the community and the lack of viable livelihood opportunities.
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Booklet on Women’s Mission in Securing Citizen’s Rights in Sinhala: The booklet printed in Sinhala was distributed through Savisthri’s national women’s network in Anuradhapura (300 copies), Matale (300 copies), Galle (200 copies), Nuwara Eliya (25 copies), Moneragala (200 copies), Matara (200 copies). Another 36 copies were distributed among civil society organizations. The booklet focuses on women’s role in active citizen participation and promoting democracy.
Secretariat for Muslims (SFM) commenced activities under its grant in September 2014. The grant, “Promote Religious Tolerance and Dialogue among Different Religious Communities and within the Muslim Community,” aims to create awareness among policymakers at different levels on ethnic and religiously motivated incidents and attacks against members of the Muslim community, and to create awareness among the Muslim community on the need for inter- and intra-communal coexistence and harmony. The grant was designed in the backdrop of attacks against Muslims by extremist Sinhala-Buddhist groups. Activities during the quarter include:
Monitoring Religiously Motivated Violence: SFM monitored 35 Tamil, English and Sinhala newspapers and more than 50 websites to identify and report incidents of religiously motivated violence against the Muslims. SFM recorded 25 incidents, including verbal threats, derogatory statements against Muslims and one case of physical attack against a Muslim youth. More than 10 incidents were cross-checked through phone calls to the police, victims and neighbors.
Research on Areas of Ethnic Tension: SFM is conducting follow-up research into the Dambulla and Digawapiya historic Buddhist religious sites, where tension is rising over the resettlement of Muslim families. The existence of an old mosque near this site is also fueling tension. Working for Rights-Based This is the second research project in a series Coexistence: SFM finalized a revision of titled “Of Sacred Sites and Profane Politics: the Madrasa and Arabic College curriculum Tensions over Religious Sites and Ethnic and is currently in discussions with the All Relations.” The first round focused on two Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), villages in the Sabaragamuwa and Central Federation of Sri Lanka Arabic Colleges and provinces. These reports can feed into policy the Department of Muslim Religious and discussions and help the general public Cultural Affairs to promote the curriculum. understand the dynamics in areas of tension, SFM’s approach to resolving religious so that effective solutions can be found. tension is both rights-based and introspective. It is engaging in monitoring to Revising the Curriculum for Madrasas and Arabic keep a formal record of incidents of Colleges: SFM conducted a three-day follow-up religious hate against Muslims, in effect the workshop to revise and improve the violation of their rights, and conducting curriculum with the participation of 18 research on locations where tension is on teachers and educators. The participating the rise, with the aim of urging proactive teachers are testing the revised curriculum in solutions. It is also trying to revise the their madrasas and colleges. The workshop curriculum in Muslim religious schools to sessions included human rights, session emphasize the need for coexistence, both planning, personal productivity and self- within the community and with other development, improving teaching skills and communities. challenges faced in testing the revised curriculum.
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South Asia Center for Legal Studies (SACLS) administers the grant “Promoting informed participation in Transitional Justice (TJ) and Reconciliation,” which focuses on raising awareness and building capacity. The grant commenced in October 2014 and conducts activities in three major outcome areas: dispelling public misconception on the TJ process, increasing public awareness of different country experiences in TJ and training social activists and community leaders from the North and East to dispel misconceptions and increase public awareness of the TJ process. Grant activities this quarter include:
Discussion on the UN Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka: A discussion in Vavuniya drew 28 civil society activists (including 11 females and four youth) to share diverse views on the importance of a transitional justice process in Sri Lanka. All participants agreed on the need to install a transitional justice mechanism to redress Building Consensus on TJ: SACLS human rights abuses during the war. However, published a series of articles in Sinhala and different views emerged on the mechanism Tamil newspapers to build awareness and that should be employed. The discussion clear up misconceptions on transitional focused on whether the mechanism should be justice. It also produced a documentary to an international one without domestic introduce TJ to Sri Lanka. It discusses how involvement or a hybrid one where Sri Lanka can deal with the past and gives international bodies and state institutions examples from countries with similar work together according to the principles of experiences such as Argentina, Chile and international law. Cambodia, and talks about how they dealt Documentary on TJ Disseminated: A with their past. The documentary makes the documentary on TJ was distributed among point that transitional justice is not an civil society groups and uploaded on YouTube instant cure, but a gradual process. Truth commissions are discussed in depth with a focus on why accountability is so important. The film concludes that when both truth and justice are pursued, justice and reconciliation will prevail.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io6fPvEUl04), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/tamilwinnews) and the political website Tamilwin (http://www.cmrtamil.com/dr?uid=279).
The Sri Lanka Development Journalists’ Forum (SDJF) grant that commenced this quarter focuses on engaging key stakeholders in advocating for gender equality in the Muslim community by using an Islamic Framework on Gender Equality and Justice (IFGEJ) developed in consultation in the previous grant. This grant supports the organization to share the framework through a public launch and the distribution of 2,000 copies of the IFGEJ in Tamil. The document will also be available online.
The document is in two volumes: General and Muslim Personal Marriage Law (MPL); it is online at http://www.ldjf.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Book-1-General.pdf and http://www.ldjf.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/09/Book-2-MPL.pdf respectively. The grant also supports a wider discussion on the framework among stakeholders in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Puttlam, Kandy, and Colombo. It also supports the training of 60 women community leaders on the IFGEJ to act as local-level advocates of Muslim women’s rights. SDJF will publish eight articles on the concepts explained in the IFGEJ in two national Tamil newspapers and broadcast five radio programs in Tamil on an Islamic channel to reach a wider audience at national level.
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Launch of IFGEJ: SDJF published 2,000 copies of the framework in two booklets titled “Islamic Perspective on Gender Equality and Justice.” The framework was available at an event in Colombo attended by 84 (64 male, 20 female) academics, politicians, representatives of women’s organizations and Islamic religious scholars from different schools of thought (All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama [ACJU], Jamath e-Islami and Tawheed Jamath).
Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) commenced the project “Shelter for Integrity and Participation” in September 2014. The grant aims to enhance civil society space to engage in democratic processes, and intends to strengthen democratic values and promote good governance and national integration and transparency in development activities in the Northern and Southern provinces. The grant will support victims and witnesses of corruption, particularly at the grassroots level, to access legal aid and will increase citizens’ awareness to demand accountability and transparency from the public sector. The grant ended this quarter and activities are reported for the entirety of the grant period. They include:
Increased Understanding of Good Governance and Human Rights at Community Level: TISL conducted a series of awareness-raising sessions on whistleblower protection, anti-corruption and Citizens Charter training. 134 community members (including 71 women and 100 Promoting Active Citizen Participation: A youth) received training. More than 184 majority of TISL grant work took place through community and civil society members Citizens Committees. TISL facilitated the (including 106 women and 54 youth) strengthening of 10 committees (eight in the participated at Sambashana, a policy Northern Province and two in the Southern dialogue, on the proposed Right to Province). The committees provided a space for Information Act. The dialogue focused members to discuss governance and human on the draft act, its strengths and rights-related issues while looking for solutions to weaknesses, and how the community can their problems. The Citizens Committees helped benefit from it. Two dialogues were held to sustain efforts to resolve even contentious in the North and South. community issues until the state became more responsive. One such incident is the removal of a Increased Access to Legal Assistance: bunker running through a village in the Northern Working through Citizens Committees, Province. The grant facilitated more than 25 TISL conducted eight mobile clinics in written complaints/petitions to the Human Rights the North and South, where 563 Commission, Samurdhi Authority (state welfare complaints were received. A majority of authority), Housing Ministry, Police Department, complaints involved obtaining legal District secretaries and diplomatic missions on documents lost while displaced due to corruption charges, bad governance practices and war, malpractices in selecting human rights abuses. beneficiaries for government- and donor- funded projects, and corruption related TISL also facilitated improved relations between to obtaining deeds. A total of 271 duty bearers and community members, and complaints were resolved either officials from the District Secretariat continue to immediately or through referrals; 259 attend Citizens Committee meetings to help were referred to different service resolve community issues. It also helped improve providers, including the police, Land citizen engagement with local state structures. In Commission, Defense Ministry, legal aid Vavuniya, five youth volunteers are helping commission and other channels. TISL establish an online citizen information system for helped 263 individuals obtain legal Vavuniya Division. In Kayts Citizens Committee, documents such as birth certificates, members and youth volunteers are supporting identity cards and marriage certificates. the Grama Niladhari to establish a legal document database for the village.
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A large majority of those assisted are returnees displaced due to war.
Improved Response to Governance and Corruption-Related Complaints by Public Institutions: Five roundtable discussions took place with at least 19 community members, including 11 females and 11 youth met key stakeholders in local and public administration. A majority of the issues discussed were on resettlement, flood relief and follow-up work of legal committees. Twenty government officials, including 10 female officers, received training on corruption prevention. There were also initiatives to find solutions to 20 issues in areas with Citizens Committees. Complaints were referred to relevant authorities.
North-South Dialogue: Fifty-five (55) Citizens Committee members from the Northern and Southern regions of the country participated in exchange programs where they shared experiences about Citizen Committee practices and obtained knowledge on issues faced by each community. The exchange programs helped dispel some of the misconceptions among community members about the other community and helped create a degree of empathy, particularly among the participants from the South on the plight of their Northern counterparts.
The Young Christian Workers Movement – Sri Lanka (YCWM) grant commenced activities in July 2015 and will continue through December 2015. The grant aims to connect workers across ethnic divides to advocate on common issues and their rights as workers. In war- affected areas, youth leaders will receive training to educate community youth on employment rights. Targeted groups will include existing and potential worker populations. The grant will focus on female workers in the export processing zones (EPZs) in Negombo, Puttlam and Mannar. Activities conducted by YCWM this quarter include:
Training Second-Tier Leaders on Gender Equality, Youth Leadership and Labor Rights: Thirty-five youth (including eight females) selected from YCWM’s networks received training in leadership skills, gender equality, women’s rights and labor rights. They will go into their communities and train other youth on these issues to build a base for rights advocacy.
Training on Labor Rights of Job Seekers and Workers in Puttlam District: Youth leaders from Puttlam and surrounding areas received training on the Sri Lankan labor law and rights of employees, including the rights of collective bargaining and forming trade unions and health and safety regulations and rights.
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The trainings, facilitated and conducted by a resource person, provided opportunities for workers in different sectors (e.g., the apparel sector, salt mining and processing factories) to better understand their rights and address issues and challenges they face in their place of employment. It also aimed to educate youth who are likely to join the work force on their rights. Thirty-six (32 females, four men) attended the training. Eastern Grants Affected Women’s Forum (AWF) completed work on its first grant in July 2014 and commenced work on a second grant in November 2014. This grant supports efforts to reduce violence against GBV formation meetings in progress, Uhana women (VAW) in the Ampara District. Through DS Division (top) and Thirukovil DS Division the follow-up grant, AWF aims to establish a (bottom). divisional-level multi-stakeholder task force on preventing GBV in seven divisional secretariat divisions (DSDs), empower a group of youth to promote gender equality in villages, continue to support GBV victims and raise awareness at the village level. AWA’s activities during the reporting period include:
Divisional-Level GBV Prevention Forums in Seven DS Divisions: AWF facilitated four meetings to establish GBV Prevention Forums in the DSDs of Thirukovil (three males and 13 females), Sammanthurai (10 females and four males), Alayadyvempu (11 females and 16 males) and Uhana (nine males and 28 females) during this quarter. In addition, AWF continued facilitating regular GBV Prevention Forum meetings in Addalachchenai (10 females and seven males), Kalmunai (six females and 10 males) and Navethanveli (14 females and six males).
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Training for Government Stakeholders: Helping victims of GBV: AWF’s intervention AWF conducted a workshop on the so far… role of the GBV Task Force for 19 Tamil government sector officers (17 females The SPICE grant supports overall AWF and two males) in the Ampara District. interventions to strengthen joint response Topics included how to address and structures that bring together civil society actors respond to GBV issues, gender and government duty bearers and supporting principles, GBV sensitivity in decision- institutions. These ensure that affected women are making and documentation and better integrated into governance, social and referrals/ reporting of GBV cases. economic systems. Also, the interventions supported to improve/ expand AWF’s involvement Support to GBV Victims: AWF facilitated in public mobilization, awareness raising, building case management meetings to support capacity and networking on women’s rights issues. eight victims of domestic violence and AWF facilitated the establishment of divisional-level child abuse and migrants affected by prevention of GBV forums in seven selected DSDs illegal work permits and nonpayment of in the Ampara District and to form a district-level maintenance money. During these forum to handle GBV issues. The divisional level meetings government officers (divisional Prevention of GBV Forum provides a space for secretary, women’s development officer, divisional-level duty bearers and CSOs working in child protection officer, medical staff, protection and promotion of women’s rights and police, legal aid, etc.) and village-level women’s organizations to report, representatives from civil society analyze and respond to GBV issues in their organizations analyzed and discussed divisions. Divisional secretary, women’s how to respond to identified cases. development officers, child rights protection During the period under consideration, officers, police and other officers working for AWF provided emergency support to women’s development are among the duty bearers 11 victims of GBV (including four taking part in the forum. Capacity enhancement youths). activities for government stakeholders and village- Organizing ‘Survivors Group’: AWF level women leaders were supported to identify, continued training for GBV survivors on report, analyze and respond to GBV/ VAW issues women’s rights, GBV/ VAW issues and in the divisions. legal remedies, including referral AWF provided support for 24 case conferences mechanisms to report GBV/VAW cases. and gave emergency support to 55 females (11 Nineteen GBV survivors participated in youth, 10 children and 34 adults) in the Ampara the training. District. A case conference brings all relevant stakeholders together to respond to issues; affected girls/ women and other victims receive an appropriate response in a holistic manner. This approach also supports the integration of victims Center for Accessibility, into economic and social structures. The “survivor Monitoring and Information on group” provides support to GBV- and VAW- Disability (CAMID) commenced its affected girls and women. grant activities in November 2014 to enhance the capacity of disabled person’s organizations (DPOs) to engage in rights-based advocacy and social inclusion. The grant focuses on enhancing operational capacity of DPOs in five divisional secretariat divisions in the Batticaloa District. It seeks to increase the involvement of duty bearers in guiding and monitoring DPOs and supporting them to advocate on issues affecting persons with disabilities (PWDs) at the district level. CAMID’s activities during the reporting period include:
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Conducting Awareness-Raising Activities: CAMID carried out 10 awareness-raising sessions on inclusiveness of PWDs in Koralai Pattu North, Manmunai South and Eruvil Pattu, Manmunai Pattu and Kattankudy divisional secretariat divisions (DSDs). A total of 290 people (249 females and 41 males), including 20 PWDs, participated. CAMID also showcased eight street dramas in Koralai Pattu North, Manmunai South and Eruvil Pattu, Manmunai Pattu and Kattankudy DSDs to promote recognition and integration of disabled persons organizations (DPOs). An estimated 1,474 people (747 females and 727 males) observed these performances.
Facilitating the Participation of DPOs in District Action Committee (DAC) Meetings/ Discussions: CAMID continued to facilitate the participation of DPO members at monthly DAC (District Action Committee) meetings. During this quarter, 25 key members of target DPOs (13 females and 12 males, including 21 PWDs) participated in three meetings. The DPOs raised concerns regarding several issues affecting them, including inferior services offered at the Physical Rehabilitation Center of the Batticaloa Hospital, issues relating to procedures when applying for a driving license and the quality of support services offered by certain divisional-level social service officers.
Workshop on Mandate Development: CAMID conducted the third and final mandate development workshop. Seven females and 12 males, including six PWDs, representing relevant government departments, organizations working for disability welfare and DPOs, participated. A guideline on the operation of DPOs at the district level was finalized and approved by the District-Level Social Service Department and key organizations participating in the DAC meeting. This publication will be available in Sinhala, Tamil and English and distributed among divisional secretariat offices, relevant government departments, NGOs and DPOs.
Advocacy Activities: CAMID supported DPOs to conduct three advocacy events in Arayampathy (Manmunai Pattu DPO), Valaichchenai (Eravur Pattu DPO) and Vakarai (Koralai Pattu North). These advocacy events, supported by social service officers in the areas, Enabling the Disabled: The SPICE grant to helped identify key concerns for PWDs CAMID supports the organization to scale up its and ways to address them. The key own presence and ability, and that of and DPOs, in issues were the education of PWD five DSDs in Batticaloa District to work for the children and priority service/ seat rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs). The allocations for PWDs in public DPOs increased their membership and started to transport. Ninety-one representatives operate as more formalized organizations following (47 females and 44 males, including 51 the intervention. The DPOs improved their PWDs), including members of DPOs, representation and networks in divisional and NGOs and social service officers, district levels as a result. participated in these events.
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Off to School Campaign: A house-to-house effort to enroll children with disabilities in school The DPO in Mamuni Pattu DSD identified education of children with disabilities as the key issue in its division and conducted a house-to-house campaign to talk to parents about the need to send children with disabilities to school. The DPOs identified seven households with children with disabilities who do not attend school. Following the DPO intervention, the parents promised to send the children to school beginning in the next term. The DPOs will continue to monitor the progress and also continue the house-to-house campaign to get children with disabilities in school.
Priority Service: DPOs negotiated special seat allocation to persons with disabilities The DPOs in Eravur Town DSD and Koralai Pattu North DSD identified issues in public transportation as the predominant theme for their advocacy activities. Both DPOs held discussions with the management of the Batticaloa (by DPO in Eravur Town) and Valachchenai (by DPO in Koralai Pattu North) Public Transport Board (SLTB) to seek the allocation of reserved seats for persons with disabilities, and to run a public campaign on the issue. Following the discussion, members of the Transportation Board and DPOs jointly conducted a sticker campaign in public local service buses to demarcate reserved seats for persons with disabilities. Discussions were held with drivers and conductors working in buses to educate them on giving priority to persons with disabilities.
The response from the manager of the Batticaloa SLTB Depot was very supportive: “This is my personal telephone number, please share this number with your members. If your members face any difficulties or inconvenience in gaining priority services, ask them to contact me directly, I will take immediate action to resolve them. I will ensure that all the drivers and conductors operating under my management are aware about the priority service.”
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Center for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights (CPPHR): Work on a second grant commenced in September 2014 to build on the progress of the previous grant, which focused on human rights protection for marginalized populations in the Trincomalee District. The grant helps CPPHR provide legal representation to detainees and prisoners, build capacity of youth to support awareness-raising activities on human rights and support CSO members to identify and document human rights violations. Activities during the reporting period include:
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Training for CSO Members: CPPHR conductedHelping a workshop Victims ofon Rightsadvocacy Violations, for 38 (30 CPPHR’sfemales and eight work so far The SPICE grant supports CPPHR to improve its help mechanisms for marginalized communities through legal representation, legal counseling and victim support, and helps expand CPPHR’s involvement in public mobilization, awareness raising, capacity building and networking on rights-related issues. The grant also helps increase CPPHR’s ability to work with vulnerable segments of society and help them better integrate into social, governance and economic structures in the country. During the past year, CPPHR provided legal support and represented 87 vulnerable people (61 females and 26 males, including 13 youth) during their court hearings in the Supreme Court, District and High Courts. Fundamental rights violations, incarceration under the PTA, GBV and personal disputes were some of the issues handled by CPPHR’s lawyers. Another 104 vulnerable people (66 females and 38 males, including seven youth) approached the CPPHR for free legal counseling during this period. CPPHR interventions to improve the knowledge of human rights among youth in Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Mannar districts include holding a certificate course on human rights for youth. A total of 70 youth (44 females and 26 males) completed this course during the quarter. The organization also has a youth group (13 females and 3 males), Youth for Peace, disseminating human rights messages to predominantly Tamil-speaking children and community members in the Trincomalee District. CPPHR formed an adult group comprising local CSO leaders, professionals, former combatants, war widows, family members of prisoners in detention and family members of those who have disappeared. The center is working to identify and report human rights violations in the Trincomalee District and disseminate human rights messages to communities. In the past year, CPPHR provided business start-up support to 60 marginalized people (28 war widows, 26 returnees from rehabilitation centers and six family members of people in detention centers). Business start- up support not only contributed to improve their income but also improved their social integration. CPPHR, as a human rights organization, is involved in human rights-related activities. These activities focus on addressing disappearance-related issues through protests, information sharing and collecting and documenting human rights violations in the Trincomalee District. CPPHR, as a civil society organization, provided leadership for civil society forums in Trincomalee and the country as a whole.37 males) members from civil society organizations in the Trincomalee District. Acts of unlawful disappearances in Sri Lanka were taken as an example to explain the advocacy work with the UN.
Court Representation and Provision of Legal Aid: CPPHR continued to provide legal aid representing 40 people (30 females and 10 males, including 11 youth) at various courts.
Provision of Assistance for Prison Visits: CPPHR assisted 20 families (of 19 females and one male) to visit the family member in jail.
CPPHR produced a documentary on disappearances. It can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_WggbfqWUg.
SPICE funded the editing component of the documentary and two/three beneficiaries under the provided leadership for civil society forums in Trincomalee and the country as a whole.
CHANGE Humanitarian Organization completed work on its first grant in June 2015 following a one-month extension. Through this grant, CHANGE addressed protracted issues faced by internally displaced persons (IDPs) by providing information, counseling, documentation services and legal assistance. CHANGE also supported extremely vulnerable individuals (EVIs), who included IDPs in and around Puttlam, by filling gaps in legal aid and support services. The grant also funded extensive awareness work to help the targeted sectors understand why civic documents are necessary and how to obtain them, while guiding IDPs and EVIs on an individual basis to find solutions to their problems. Activities carried out by CHANGE during the full grant period include:
Awareness Sessions on Voter’s Rights: CHANGE conducted six awareness sessions on voter’s rights for 266 participants (124 females and 142 males). The topics covered included the importance of registering as a voter and procedure for registration. CHANGE collaborated with the assistant commissioner of elections in Puttlam.
Community-Level Awareness Sessions on Rights: CHANGE carried out 29 awareness sessions on the recommendations of the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), land rights, human rights and civic documentation for 1,122 community members (830 females and 292 males). The sessions helped IDPs make informed decisions and look for durable solutions on issues they face. As a result, 1,332 IDPs registered to vote in the Puttlam District, the first step to receiving access to public services. Large groups of IDPs, especially those from Mannar, also registered as voters following these awareness sessions.
Support to Obtain Civic Documents: CHANGE supported IDPs in obtaining 1,006 basic civic documents, with a success rate of 84 percent. These documents are essential when applying for and receiving state support. IDPs face multiple issues, including restoration of rights and access to their land and property, educating their children and finding employment to support their families, all of which require civic documents. Recent interviews with IDPs in Puttlam and several other nearby locations revealed that many IDPs who received supporting documents use them to claim their land lost during the war and attendant displacement.
Provision of Legal Counseling for IDPs and EVIs: CHANGE provided individual legal counseling for 511 persons during the reporting period under three main categories: finding durable solutions, support through legal briefs and case referral. This component was designed to help IDPs and EVIs find practical and sustainable solutions to their problems. Individual counseling guided these persons to seek solutions to their specific problems, taking the nuances into account.
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Provision of Legal and Other Assistance to Victims of GBV: CHANGE appeared in 51 cases relating to GBV in court, and 45 women received emergency assistance.
Thematic Report on ‘Challenges of Protracted IDPs in Puttlam’: This report was produced following consultations with IDPs and is being disseminated among activists and decision-makers working on achieving durable solutions to IDP issues.
Protecting Rights of Vulnerable Populations: The CHANGE grant was a tailored response to IDPs and EVIs who were in that position for protracted periods. It targeted those located in and around Puttlam to enable them to seek normalization and reintegration post-war. The principal issue for IDPs was the lack of knowledge, information and ability to claim their rights. For EVIs, this was compounded by the attendant insecurities that they faced. The CHANGE intervention gave both knowledge of rights and practically assisted and guided target groups to find sustainable solutions to their problems. One-to-one engagement with beneficiaries was especially important in this process. It is notable that 80 percent of 511 beneficiaries acted on advice they received on what they should do to resolve their problems.
CHANGE Humanitarian Organization commenced work on a second grant, “Strengthening the Ability of Voters to Exercise Their Franchise,” in July 2015. This grant will end in October 2015. Through this grant, CHANGE hopes to increase awareness in selected areas in the Puttlam District on the right to vote, proper procedure for voting and marking of ballot papers. CHANGE commenced field work to implement activities through its existing resource network. A group of volunteers were recruited and trained to carry out an effective voter education campaign. Activities this quarter include:
Voter Education Campaign: The key activity for the quarter was a voter education campaign and the provision of aligned documentation to enable voting. The organization commenced with consultations with government stakeholders to identify specific locations for voter education and mobile documentation clinics to provide national identity cards, a key civic document to authenticate identity. This followed voter education sessions in 30 locations, in which 912 people (256 male and 656 female) participated. This related to the registration of voters, and the participants were given information about registration, appeals procedure for non-registration of voters and follow-up.
Another series of 92 voter education meetings focused on the election system, procedures for voting and marking of ballot papers ahead of the general election on August 17; 4,058 individuals (2,526 female and 1,532 male) participated in these community-level awareness meetings.
Mobile Clinics to Provide National Identity Cards (NICs) to Voters in Remote Areas: Twelve of 25 targeted mobile clinics helped voters obtain NICs; 547 persons (305 females and 242 males) applied for NICs through these clinics.
Community Resources Protection Center (CRPC) commenced activities under its grant in December 2014. The grant helps young people become agents of change and ensure social transformation within their respective communities. CRPC is working in 13 border villages in the Buttala and Moneragala divisional secretariat divisions. The grant is supporting capacity development through leadership training, gender equality, good governance and sharing of recommendations of the Lessons Learnt Reconsolidation Commission (LLRC) report. It also supports the development of a youth network. The grant seeks to bridge ethnic/religious divides by building partnerships between youth from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. CRPC’s activities during the reporting period include:
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Facilitating Monthly Meetings for Youth Leaders: CRPC facilitated three monthly meetings with an average participation of 46 (26 females and 20 males). These meetings supported the exchange of ideas and thoughts on the recommendations of the LLRC and issues relating to livelihood initiatives for youth and helped the groups to plan a youth camp and event to submit a memorandum detailing their concerns.
Youth Involved in Collective Actions/Communal Activities: To improve interactions with the community, youth groups in Maligawila and Buttala DSDs organized a shramadhana campaign (voluntary clean- up) to tend to the playground of the Kumbukkana Shanmuga Tamil MahaVidyalaya (Tamil school) and surrounding area. A group of 165 youth (73 females and 92 males) participated.
Support to Initiate ‘Group Livelihood Initiatives’: CRPC supported livelihood as the group activity for nine groups this quarter. These groups identified profitable income-generating group interventions, such as home-based mushroom cultivation, doormat tailoring, goat rearing and production of processed food and fresh juice using locally available resources. They also discussed methods to improve their capacity to run a business.
Submission of Memorandum to Uva Provincial Council: CRPC facilitated the development and submission of a memorandum highlighting key issues faced by youth in the Moneragala District. A consultant conducted a series of discussions with youth and divisional- and district-level stakeholders working for youth development. The memorandum was handed over to the Uva Provincial Council and 182 youth (93 females and 89 males) participated in the event.
Youth Day Activities: CRPC organized a sports camp in August 2015 for youth in Moneragala to mark World Youth Day. The one-day sports camp focused on character building through sports, building self- confidence, teaching nonviolent communication and conflict management/resolution skills. A group of 170 youth (72 females and 98 males) from 13 target villages in Buttala and Moneragala DSDs participated.
Building Bridges: The SPICE grant supports the improvement of CRPC’s involvement in inter-ethnic collaborative work to counter dominant narratives that are divisive. CRPC carries out local level advocacy for grass roots level communities and shares content and recommendations of the LLRC report with them. Thirteen youth groups formed in border villages in Buttala and Moneragala DS Divisions and associated activities, promoted inter-ethnic interaction between Sinhalese and Tamil speaking youth and encouraged them to work together for community development
Kinniya Vision (KV) commenced activities on its grant in April 2015. This grant will help KV strengthen civil society institutions representing preschool teachers (predominantly young teachers
40 from impoverished backgrounds) to better plan, manage, network and engage with government stakeholders. KV support will help increase planning and management capacity of CSOs, communities and education authorities, improve coordination and collaboration among and between Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) stakeholders, including Eastern Province Preschool Teachers Association (EPPTA), District Preschool Teachers Committee (DPTC) and Preschool Management Committees (PMCs). It will also improve lobbying/ advocacy abilities of these collectives to reorganize the early childhood care and development sector and to ensure the impactful implementation of education policies related to ECCD through a national study on policies and their effectiveness. KV’s activities during this reporting period include:
Skill Development Training Sessions for Preschool Management Committees (PMCs): KV conducted 14 skills development trainings for 14 PMCs in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts. The trainings focused on improving effectiveness of PMCs to improve early childhood care and development. A follow-up capacity-building training for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) partner organizations in the Eastern Province was also conducted.
English Language Course for Preschool Teachers: KV facilitated an English-language course for 90 female preschool teachers in Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts.
Planning Workshop for Officers of the Education Department: KV conducted three workshops (including a follow-up) for provincial and divisional government officials working in the ECCD sector.
Improve Coordination and Collaboration among ECCD Key Stakeholders: KV facilitated four District Preschool Teachers Committee meetings, 14 preschool (local) stakeholders meetings, two provincial stakeholder meetings and four dialogues between preschool and primary school teachers in the Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts. The meetings helped improve involvement of government and CSOs in ECCD sector and to address preschool teacher issues at the district and provincial levels.
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Exchange Visits for School Development Society Members: KV conducted three exchange visits for school development society members and arranged a visit for preschool teachers. A total of 166 (75 females and 91 males, including 23 youth) participated.
Working on Education Policy: Planning Workshop for Education Officers
A workshop for senior education officers in the ECCD sector in the Eastern Province focused on reviewing and updating existing strategic plans and developing an action plan for 2016, under the leadership of the provincial minister of education. The existing ECCD policy, systems, structures, procedures and practices and an introduction to the three-year strategic plan (2014-2016) for the Preschool Education Bureau (PSEB) were shared during the workshop. Forty government officers (10 females and 30 males) from provincial and zonal education offices in Eastern Province participated.
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Exchanging Ideas: Exchange visits for better engagement and knowledge
To improve the role of school development society (SDS) members in school development, especially in the primary sector, Kinniya Vision arranged an inter-district exposure visit for 34 SDS members from Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee (top right). Preschool teachers from Trincomalee visited Kandy to learn best teaching practices (top left).
CSO Government Engagement for Improved Early Education: The SPICE grant is supporting Kinniya Vision support stakeholder (government and CSO) involvement when determining preschool sector development activities and addressing preschool teachers’ issues in the Eastern Province.
Avoiding Early Marriage and Reclaiming the Right to Stay in School Network for Advocating Requirements of Women (NewAROW) completed work on its grant in September 2014 and work on a second grant commenced in December 2014. The grant supports the improvement of women’s lives in Manmunai West and Manmunai Southwest DSDs. The grant aims to strengthen village-level women’s organizations to incorporate women’s concerns into divisional development “When I turned17, my parents brought a marriage initiatives and support improvement of proposal. After attending the awareness session, I divisional-level sex- and gender-based was able to convincingly explain to my parents that I violence (SGBV) response mechanisms in wish to continue my education. I explained to them the target divisional secretariat divisions. the consequences of early marriage: the possibility of NewAROW’s activities during the miscarriages, low weight and unhealthy babies. Now my parents have understood my situation and have reporting period include: allowed me to continue my education,” said N. Thevasulxshana from Paritichchenai in Manmunai West. As a result of the awareness-raising efforts facilitated by New AROW, two early marriages were prevented in this division alone. 43
Awareness to Avoid Early Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy: NewAROW continued awareness sessions in Manmunai South-West DS division. Midwives from the Regional Directorate of Health Services, Batticaloa, conducted 11 sessions on causes and consequences of early marriage and teenage pregnancy and 311 community members (289 females and 22 males, including 152 female and 20 male youth) participated.
Local Government (Pradeshiya Sabha) – WRDS Discussions: NewAROW facilitated a joint discussion in Manmunai South-West DS Division during this quarter. Twenty persons (18 females and two males, including two youth) participated. The group included representatives from the Pradeshiya Sabha and 18 women’s rural development societies (WRDSs). The Pradeshiya Sabha addressed several issues highlighted during previous Strengthening Community-State meetings, including lack of street lamps in Relations: The SPICE grant supported six villages and damaged roads in another NewAROW’s interventions to strengthen village. The local authority fixed broken joint response structures that brought street lamps and is renovating the identified together civil society actors, government duty road. The WRDSs and Pradeshiya Sabha will bearers and village-level women’s continue these discussions in the future, organizations, including WRDSs in Manmunai even after the completion of the West and Manmunai South-West DSDs in NewAROW project. Batticaloa. These actors worked together to Training for Village Women: NewAROW resolve women’s issues including GBV/VAW. conducted a follow-up workshop on gender They facilitated the registering of unregistered equity and 24 females (including17 youth) marriages and the provision of birth from 24 WRDSs in Manmunai West DSD certificates through mobile services, the participated. The concepts of gender equity provision of advisory services in early and the reporting mechanism for gender- marriages and referrals in cases of domestic based violence were highlighted in the violence. Representatives on the task force workshops to enable participants to identify include the divisional secretary, probation and report related issues in their villages. officer, child rights protection officer, women development officer, child and women desk at Village-Level Women’s Organization Meetings: police stations and four non-governmental NewAROW’s field staff participated in 29 organizations working in women’s rights in WRDS meetings to support resolution of these areas. women’s issues in their villages. Ten issues Additionally, in a separate joint mechanism in relating to child abuse, nonpayment of the Manmunai South-West DS Division, the maintenance and GBV were forwarded to Pradeshiya Sabha (local government body) and relevant authorities. WRDSs worked together to incorporate women’s concerns into divisional Representation in GBV Forums: NewAROW participated in two divisional-level development needs. Key issues in around 10 Prevention of GBV Task Force meetings in villages including access to potable water, renovation of internal roads and installation of Manmunai South-West and Manmunai West street lamps have been included in annual DSDs. Identified issues relating to child sexual abuse, domestic violence, budget activities of these two local authorities. maintenance and lack of civil documents Capacity enhancement activities, including were discussed during these meetings. The trainings/ workshops for government identified issues were directed to respective stakeholders and village-level WRDS government stakeholders, including members, helped improve their knowledge probation officers, child rights protection and skills on handling women’s issues in their officers and women development officers in localities. these areas.
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Provision of Emergency Support/ Victim Assistance: NewAROW provided emergency assistance to eight youth affected by GBV during the reporting period.
Additionally, in a separate joint mechanism in the Manmunai South-West DS Division, the Pradeshiya Sabha (local government body) and WRDSs worked together to incorporate women’s concerns into divisional development needs. Key issues in around 10 villages, including access to potable water, renovation of internal roads and installation of street lamps, have been included in annual budget activities of these two local authorities.
Women's Development Foundation (WDF) commenced work on a second grant in December 2014. The grant focuses on creating an enabling environment to address children’s and women’s rights issues in the Pottuvil Divisional Secretariat Division. WDF aims to improve civil society participation in protecting and promoting the rights of women and children by establishing government–CSO interaction/response mechanisms. Village-level WRDSs and village child rights monitoring committees (VCRMCs), which were established or re-established during the previous grant, are being facilitated to participate at divisional-level forums to address their concerns and issues. WDF’s activities during the reporting period include:
Holding Divisional-Level Child Rights Monitoring Committee meetings: WDF facilitated two meetings with the participation of 46 representatives (13 females and 33 males, including 28 youth) from the divisional secretariat office, office of the Zonal Director of Education, medical officers, public health inspector, social service officers, child protection officers, Samurdhi officers, Grama Niladhari officers, NGO representatives working on child rights and VCRMC members. The meetings focused on child rights protection, measures to address and create awareness on early marriage in coordination with quazi court and mosque trustees and issues relating to underage self- employment, such as selling ground nuts without attending school.
Child Rights Awareness Sessions: WDF conducted two village-level awareness sessions on child rights and attendant laws; 57 villagers (39 females and 18 males, including 11 youth) participated. Five sessions on child rights case management and documentation were carried out for 114 VCRMC members (82 females and 32 males, including 54 youth).
Exposure Visit for WRDS Members: WDF organized a follow-up exposure visit to Karuvappankerny Women’s Development Foundation in Batticaloa, which specializes in highlighting gender issues. Thirty-nine participants, including 37 WRDS representatives and two DS office representatives, participated. The participants shared their experience and knowledge on institutional operations, identification and ways of resolving women’s issues, managing challenges, documentation and reporting of women’s issues/ case referral mechanisms.
WRDS Meetings and WRDS Members’ Joint Discussions: WDF conducted a joint meeting to address village-level women’s issuesand19 WRDS members (18 females and one male, including one youth) from 10 villages participated. Administrative issues of WRDSs and issues relating to raising women’s concerns in Quazi Courts were discussed. WDF also facilitated l2 village-level WRDS meetings and 51 people (49 females and two males, including eight youth) participated.
Advocacy Activities: WDF facilitated an advocacy event in the Pottuvil DS Division, bringing together all divisional-level duty bearers, including the rural development officer, Samurdhi officer, child rights protection officer, Legal Aid Commission representative, quazi court judge and the women development officer. The event provided a platform for WRDS and VCRMC representatives from 10 villages to raise their issues/concerns. Thirty-seven participants (31 females and six males, including three youth) discussed issues affecting women and children, including those related to child labor and problems in attempting to get maintenance money through quazi courts.
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Discussions with Government Authorities: WDF facilitated two meetings between WRDSs and relevant government authorities. These discussions focused on quazi courts and water-related issues. Representatives from 10 target WRDSs participated.
Awareness Sessions on Microfinance Issues: WDF conducted eight awareness-raising sessions for 217 participants (216 females and one male) on the rights of microfinance customers.
Establishing a Divisional-Level Task Force for Preventing GBV: WDF supported the initiation of a divisional-level Prevention of GBV Task Force in the Pottuvil DS Division. Twenty people (seven females and 13 males) including the child probationary officer, child development officer, social services officer, medical officer, public health inspector, development officer, Samurdhi officer or manager, police, quazi court judge and representatives from NGOs and WRDSs participated.
Provision of Emergency Support: WDF provided emergency support to 10 females (five women and five children).
Collective Efforts: A forum facilitated by WDF enables duty bearers, local committees and civil society groups to collectively work toward the elimination of GBV
“These women are trapped by violence, psychologically and physically. It is our responsibility to work together to reduce GBV, taking legal action when necessary. The involvement of women, especially members of WRDSs should support the forum to identify GBV and child related issues and refer them for legal action” said the Divisional Secretary of Pottuvil. The Quazi Court judge said, "Women are most likely to be trapped in violence. Domestic violence is a challenge to women and a majority of these families end up opting for divorce. This affects the family and sadly, children the most”.
Northern Grants Active Theater Movement (ATM) commenced activities on its grant titled “Building Youth Confidence by Stimulating Civic Engagement Through Theater” in April 2015. ATM is a theater performance organization in Jaffna established in 2003. It seeks social engagement through drama and performances. Its goal is “richer theater culture for national development” and the organization is deeply committed to addressing social issues through theater. It also has a well- established network of theater groups in Jaffna. The current grant supports ATM to stimulate public dialogue on social concerns and their peaceful resolution. Under the grant, ATM will work with youth to build their confidence in engaging in social issues and reintegrating with society. Activities for the quarter include:
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Training and Coaching: ATM conducted three training sessions. A 10-day theater workshop was conducted for selected youth. Twenty-five (25) youth (nine males and 16 females) participated in the workshop. Five narratives for a drama festival held thereafter were finalized at the workshop.
The second training was on acting, music and dance skills. It was an 18-day session in which 24 youth (10 males and 14 females) participated. The third workshop was on choreography skills: lighting, sound, makeup and costume designing. It was a two-day basic course and was attended by 23 youth (10 males and 13 females).
Theater Festival: The principal event for the quarter was a theater festival lasting 12 days. The program comprised 13 new plays, four that had already been staged by ATM and three by other theater groups. All of the new plays centered on social issues examined from different perspectives; eight were solo performances. Three to four plays were staged daily at the ATM premises, and some of the plays were repeated in response to public demand. The festival was well planned and involved much preparation. Rehearsals spread over 180 hours and took place during the course of a month. On average, 30 youth (14 males and 16 females) participated in trainings. Twenty (20) youth artists (nine males and 11 females) newly trained through SPICE funding also took part in different plays, along with ATM’s existing group of actors. A special preview was held for a select audience of scholars and other key community figures.
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ATM Theater Festival: A feast for the senses and reflection for the mind
A seen during children play “Sirippumoodai” (Laugh Seen during a play called “Vedatharikal” (Reflecting the ‘Srippumoodai’ Laugh Luggage showcasing junior talent. ‘Vedatharikal’: A reflection on unemployed undergraduates. Luggage) issues faced by unemployed graduates and politicians)
Seen during a Solo performance “MarunthukkuPorattam” Seen duringa Solo performance “Thali ” ( Reflecting how a Seen during a Solo performance “MarunthukkuPorattam” Seen duringa Solo performance “Thali ” ( Reflecting how a Marunthukku(Reflecting how Porattam: an ordinary Examining citizen fight the forissue medicine of and Thali: Reflectionsyoung girl onfaced the difficulties issues facing during a finalyoung stages girl inof warthe infinal (Reflecting how an ordinary citizen fight for medicine and young girl faced difficulties during final stages of war in health care costs. his end) stages of war, withinNorth the and framework cultural value of Tamilian systems) cilture and his end) values North and cultural value systems) ATM organized a theater festival to coincide with a religious festival in Jaffna. The program ran for 12 days (from Aug. 29 to Sept. 9, 2015) parallel to the festival of the Nallur temple, the foremost Hindu religious event in Jaffna. This was the first theater festival of such magnitude staged by ATM; it is estimated that over more than 3,500 persons enjoyed the plays over a span of 12 days. The plays were varied and catered to diverse audiences. Engaging performances targeted children, while new plays examined social issues and traditional performances reflected the long tradition of theater in Northern culture. The SPICE grant supported 13 new plays and skits, and wholly funded the training of 20 new artists, 11 of them women. Drama is an effective mode for both introspection and commentary on issues faced by people in war and post-war contexts. The audience was happy about the cultural rejuvenation that the festival presaged, and spoke appreciatively of its probing of memory and social conscience. “These plays are commenting on current social issues from an objective angle. These plays induce us to think about aspects of our life and community. They also give some directions in which to think. The youth performances were excellent, and reflected a good sense of social issues and a commitment to change,” said Prof. Thaya Somasundharam of the Department of Psychology, University of Jaffna. “The Solo performance ‘Thali’ speaks about how a young girl faced difficulties during final stages of war and forced recruitment in the North and during later stages of war. I don’t have the strength to recall those days and the difficulties we faced,” said an ex-combatant during a feedback session. “The Play ‘Ekantham’ speaks a lot about elders’ difficulties and the loneliness faced by aged parents who chose to live in the country even as they sent their children abroad for safety. It remembers our families and their scattered lives. This play not only touched the hearts of parents, but also the children,” said Mrs. Thevarangini Sivaskaran, Lecturer, University of Jaffna.
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Community Development Organization (CDO) focuses its work on youth empowerment and peace-building. Under the grant ‘Empowering youth as social change agents in war affected Mullaitivu District’, CDO proposes creating a conducive environment for youth empowerment by promoting youth participation in community work. Grant activities started in July 2014, and were scheduled to end in July 2015. The grantee requested a three-month no-cost extension, which was granted. The new end date for the grant is October 2015. Activities this quarter include:
Skills Development Training for Youth: CDO conducted a training for 27 youth (six female and 21 male) from six youth clusters in Mullaitivu District. The residential program trained the youth in enhanced leadership skills, and also focused on building trust among the participants. The training took place before the formation of a federation for the district, acting as an umbrella formation for the divisional-level youth groups.
Constitution for District Federation: CDO finalized a constitution for the district federation. A first draft was developed following consultations with participating groups, and was finalized after review by these groups and relevant government departments. The official launch of the federation is scheduled for the last week of September.
Preparatory Work for Youth Exposure: CDO is in the process of organizing an exposure visit for representative members of youth groups to give them a better understanding of youth belonging to other ethnicities, and also to give them a better sense of the function of youth federations.
Federation of Social Development Organizations (FOSDOO) commenced work on its second grant “Strengthening Civil Society to Address Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Issues in Vavuniya and Kilinochchi Districts” this quarter. The intervention has three major components: improved understanding of GBV issues among civil society alliances and networks, to collectively advocate with service providers; enhanced capacity of district and divisional GBV prevention and response mechanisms to respond effectively to GBV issues; and effective responses to victims from district-level GBV mechanisms. FOSDOO is building on the successes of its first grant in setting up GBV Forums in the Vavuniya District. Grant activities for the quarter include:
Joint Discussion Between Divisional SGBV & Civil Society Network (CSN) Forum Members: Two joint discussions took place in Punahari and Pachchilaippalli DSDs in Kilinochchi with 39 participants from civil society and GBV networks. Similarly, two discussions took place in Vavuniya and Vavuniya North DSDs with 25 participants (all female). The divisional CSN members are predominantly drawn from WRDSs; the Women’s Affairs Society (WAS) has not been a part of the divisional SGBV forum so far. WAS is a formation under the aegis of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, which sees it as the primary grassroots mechanism for its own engagement and activities. The most recent meeting brought in WAS, educating it on the function of the SGBV forum and discussing the kind of support WAS can bring to the forum for remedial action. Strategies were also devised for WAS activity to reduce GBV in their communities.
CSN Meetings: Four district-level and five divisional-level CSN meetings took place this quarter with approximately 20 participants (all female) at every meeting. The discussion centered on bridging the gap between response services and actual needs in relation to GBV. At divisional-level CSN meetings, family issues, related services and gaps in service provision and delivery were discussed. At the district level, the discussion centered on what issues needed to be prioritized in terms of service delivery.
GBV Monitoring Meetings: FOSDO supported one divisional-level GBV monitoring meeting organized by the Children and Women Development Unit (CWD Unit) in Poonakary. Forty-five (24 female and 21 male) civil society members and relevant government officials participated.
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Case Conference: Three divisional-level case conference meetings took place this quarter. Critical cases were discussed at the meeting and remedial action identified with input from the technical support team.
Emergency Support for GBV Survivors: Twelve (12) victims in Vavuniya and Kilinochchi district received assistance this quarter.
Mannar Association for the Rehabilitation of Differently Abled People (MARDAP) commenced grant activities in May 2015. Through this grant, MARDAP hopes to enhance the status of persons with disabilities (PWDs) so they receive better care and services for an improved mental and physical life. It also hopes to advance the economic status of selected PWDs and their families through appropriate livelihood interventions. The grant also focuses on rights advocacy to promote the inclusion of PWD in community activities. Activities for the quarter include:
Awareness on PWD Care and Rights: Three awareness sessions for PWDs and their family Enabling the Disabled: The grant to members on types of disability, treatment and MARDAP focuses on holistic support to self-care took place with the participation of persons with disabilities, ranging from 76 individuals (34 males and 42 females). Four personal and therapeutic care to rights trainings on basic therapeutic activities for advocacy and economic support. The PWDs were conducted for their family organization also focuses on building members and the staff of MARDAP. A total of community support for better integration of 36 males and 66 females participated in the persons with disabilities, and improved training. service delivery and recognition of their rights. Through its grant, MARDAP is Three awareness sessions on disability rights, contributing to improving the protection of documentation and entitlements were citizens’ rights. conducted for village leaders and stakeholders was conducted with the participation of 77 individuals (37 males and 40 females).
Livelihood Support: Two discussions identified appropriate livelihood packages for beneficiaries. These discussions took place in two locations with the participation of 40 individuals (18 males and 22 females). Two trainings on business plan development and feasibility studies were conducted for selected income-generating activities with 32 males and 18 females participating. Two seminars for youth (including youths with disability) on skills development for traditional employment were conducted in collaboration with three training institutions (Don Bosco, NAITA & Y-Grow); 108 individuals (27 males and 81 females) participated. Three female participants received financial support to take part in skills trainings.
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Building Community Support: Awareness on disability rights for rights-holders, CBOs and village leaders
An awareness-raising session on disability rights for rights-holders, CBOs and village leaders took place this quarter in Vidathaltivu. The Vidathaltivu Women’s Rural Development Society (WRDS), Rural Development Society (RDS), Fishermen’s Society, other CBOs and Grama Niladhari for Manthai West division participated. Topics included Needs and Rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Sri Lanka’s National Policy, Rules and Laws on Disability and Cases and relevant Gazette notifications.
Mannar Citizens’ Committee (MCC) commenced its second grant this quarter. The second grant seeks to consolidate the achievements of the first one: to encourage citizens of Mannar District to participate in human rights issues and initiatives; to launch initiatives to resolve prioritized human rights issues in the district and to improve the service outreach of the Mullaitivu District Citizens Committee. Activities for this quarter include:
Awareness Raising: Sessions on basic human rights were conducted in 11 Grama Niladhari divisions where 453 individuals (119 males and 334 females) participated. Meanwhile, four \ more in-depth human rights awareness sessions took place in four divisional secretary areas for selected individuals (32 males and 64 females). Basic human rights awareness sessions help members of the public identify human rights issues. In-depth human rights awareness sessions are for selected participants who are active on human rights issues in villages and stakeholders.
Capacity Building: Eight male and 13 female youths were identified as volunteers and attended a three-day TOT on mobilizing, reporting and project cycle management (PCM). MCC organized an event to mark the International Day against Enforced Disappearances and volunteers proved their dedication through the extensive support they gave to successfully complete the event.
Divisional Citizens Committees: Two divisional citizens committees were established and are now functional. They are Manthai west and Musali. A total of 18 (17 male and one female) individuals participated in these meetings. These divisional committees are now collecting information on issues relating to HR violations, especially forced disappearances and land issues in their respective divisions, and referring them to the Mannar Citizen’s Committee for further action and solutions.
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Resolving Rights Issues: Ten persons (all male) were referred to the land officer for their respective localities to resolve problems they faced relating to land. MCC also conducted six land rights awareness sessions, attended by 55 males and 184 females. Protecting the Rights of Citizens: MCC is progressing toward its goal of building a citizenry Psychosocial Support: Forty-four (44) who respect human rights, and who are in turn individuals (14 males and 30 females) who supported to vindicate their rights. MCC provides were identified as mentally disturbed due a platform for citizens to agitate for their rights to GBV and human rights violations were collectively and push for solutions to rights issues linked with psychosocial service providers faced by people in the Northern districts. MCC for counseling/follow-up. has built the confidence of citizens over time encouraging them to participate in joint initiatives Livelihood Assistance: Fifty families of long- to bring change. MCC in effect is contributing to term detainees received one-time the protection of citizens’ rights. assistance of essential goods worth LKR 5000 to be taken for the detainees during a family visit.
Mullaitivu Women’s Development and Rehabilitation Federation (MWDRF) commenced activities under its second grant in January 2015. Since 2011, MWDRF has been working with resettled women in Mullaitivu by providing holistic support for violence survivors. MWDRF also works to strengthen the capacity of institutions and stakeholders on issues of violence against women. MWDRF’s activities during the reporting period include:
Awareness on GBV Issues: Nineteen village- level awareness programs on gender, Advancing “women’s participation in gender-based violence and the Domestic community and government decision- Violence Act conducted in four divisions making processes”: MWDRF has successfully of Mullaitivu have been conducted in this built the confidence of groups working on GBV quarter. Every awareness session was issues to demand the opportunity to participate in attended by an average of 25 participants common forums, with members of civil society (Disaggregation is currently being and duty bearers in attendance. Civil society verified). Awareness sessions were members – predominantly women – attending a appreciated by most of the village women district-level SGBV forum meeting this quarter as providing guidance enabling them to protested the long gaps between divisional-level seek help should the need arise. meetings. Divisions are subunits in the district administrative structure. MWDRF conducted a sixth workshop on It transpired that the meetings were conducted, SGBV for Rural Development Society but that civil society participation was lagging. (RDS) members (18 males), following five Following the protest by civil society members, successful workshops for WRDS the District Secretary, the chief central members earlier in the grant. The government officer for the district, directed workshop was for RDS members from divisional secretaries to ensure that civil society Oddusudan, Manthai East and Thunukai members working on SGBV issues are informed DS divisions from Mullaitivu district. of meetings. MWDRF’S efforts have “advance(d) Emergency, Legal Support and Counseling women’s participation in community and Support for GBV: Emergency support was government decision-making processes,” which is provided for 18 women, legal support for one of the SPICE objectives.
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17 women and counseling for 10 people, including members of affected families. The awareness sessions helped clients to access required support from MWDRF.
Third Case Conference: A third case conference was conducted this quarter with 29 individuals participating, including affected women, police officers from Puthukudiruppu and Karaithuraipattu DS divisions, Legal Aid Commission lawyers, the district SGBV coordinator and MWDRF staff. The case review meetings provide a common forum for sharing concerns of clients and to advocate on clients’ critical issues.
Third Case Conference: Joint forums bring results, perpetrators of domestic violence arrested
A third structured “case review meeting” took place this quarter. Eight affected women, police officers from Puthukudiruppu and Karaithuraipattu DS divisions and Legal Aid Commission lawyers participated.
The main issue raised at the meeting was the delay in taking perpetrators into custody. Police officers attending the meeting accepted responsibility for the delay in arrests and explained that this was so in situations with a high number of cases. The victims expressed the mental trauma they experienced in response to the delays, following which an assistant superintendent of police (ASP) agreed to take immediate action on warrants issued for arrest under the Domestic Violence Act. Within a week of the meeting, Police arrested four longstanding perpetrators – husbands of four victims supported by MWDRF.
MWDRF President Ms. Jensila said, “MWDRF has been conducting successive case review meetings. They are effective and beneficial to clients. Often the warrants issued for the arrest of perpetrators of domestic violence have gone unheeded. We organized this particular case review meeting to make certain that the court orders are acted upon, and found the Legal Aid Commission to be fully cooperative.”
The Legal Aid Commission also advised victims on how they could seek police support when a perpetrator husband seeks to evict them from their homes.
Muslim Women’s Development Trust (MWDT) commenced activities under a second grant last quarter. Under the new grant, MWDT hopes to raise issues that relate to Muslim Personal Law (MPL) in Sri Lanka, while supporting Muslim women’s access to quazi courts, common law courts and other redress mechanisms. The grant will also seek to create awareness among men to
53 change MPL and guide women to protect themselves. The current grant focused on 25 villages in four divisions in the Puttlam District. The villages have been selected based on reports of higher levels of violence against women and other social issues. Activities for this quarter include:
Strengthening SGBV Response Mechanisms: MWDT volunteers – changemakers – conducted 10 training sessions on GBV for 188 WRDS members. The members identified issues in their villages that needed redress. The organization also conducted a one-day capacity enhancement training for 29 SGBV forum members (10 males and 19 females) this quarter. The Community Council, formed to move the reform process on Muslim A Multifaceted Approach to Protect Personal Law forward, met once this Muslim Women’s Rights: MWDT’s efforts quarter. Ten members (seven males and to protect women’s rights, especially Muslim three females) participated in the meeting. women, is multifaceted. In the first instance, it Court Visits: Changemakers who trained to seeks to employ the existing legal framework to observe quazi court proceedings its utmost in protecting the rights of women rotationally and regularly made six such victims. This is done through the use of visits this quarter. The activity was limited changemakers or ‘juries’ who provide legal as the quazi court for internally displaced guidance in the quazi court in support of persons in Puttlam was closed following the women. These change makers are recognized as death of the judge. protectors at the community level. Second, the organization brought together a formal group Victim Support: MWDT provided court to lobby for change in Muslim Personal Law. representation in two cases, 31 cases of Third, it empowered the Puttlam SGBV Forum emergency assistance to victims, 34 family to be leaders in Muslim Personal Law and counseling sessions and one action team women’s rights. visit to a SGBV survivor during this quarter.
A Chain of Learning: Knowledge-Sharing Sessions by Changemakers
MWDT volunteers – changemakers – conduct informal meetings in their villages to share their learning. The women pass along their knowledge of Muslim Personal Law in relation to specific issues faced by women at the village level. They guide participants (mainly members of WRDSs) to prioritize what issues need resolution first. Then they help them find solutions that work.
Organization for Rehabilitation of the Handicapped (ORHAN) commenced activities in July 2014 on a grant that supports the rights of persons with disabilities. It aims to enhance the capacity of people with disabilities to sustain themselves, and advocates for their rights as a
54 community. The grant targets the Northern region of Sri Lanka. The grant ended this quarter and activities reported are for the entirety of the grant period:
Resolving Land Issues of PWDs: 160 landless PWDs are seeking to vindicate their right to land following awareness work done by ORHAN. A special workshop conducted by a former commissioner of land helped PWDs understand what steps have to be taken to claim their rights. Meanwhile, the Landless Disabled Committee is working with divisional secretaries of four divisional secretariats in the Vavuniya District to resolve issues faced by members of the disabled community. The effort is a collaborative one and the duty bearers are very supportive.
Livelihood Support: Thirty ex-combatants (22 males and eight females) in Vavuniya, Vavuniya North and Vengalacheddikulam DSDs received livelihood assistance. The beneficiaries were guided to identify viable income-generation options to enhance their earnings through a five-day workshop. Twenty opted for home gardening, eight Enabling the Disabled: The grant to ORHAN for small businesses like corner shops focused on persons with disabilities as a distinct and service centers, and two for sector whose rights need recognition, but also livestock activity, such as cattle-rearing. sought to provide practical solutions to immediate problems – land ownership issues. It Establishing a Reading Facility for Visually also focused on ex-combatants as a subgroup in Impaired Persons: An estimated 3,000 totally blind or low-vision people reside the disabled community who needed to be in Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts. brought into the state support system. It formalized networks to advocate and engage with ORHAN facilitated the set-up of Braille duty bearers to deliver services and uphold rights reading facilities in the Kilinochchi and Jaffna libraries to help the visually of persons with disabilities – the landless disabled committees being one such mechanism. It also impaired population. brought together persons with disabilities across Sports Meet for PWDs with Countrywide ethnic divides to forge relations between Participation: A sports meet organized by community members and work as a collective to ORHAN for the disabled community protect their rights. Its core contribution is to successfully united PWDs across ethnic members of the disabled community in the divides. The event takes place under the Northern region of the country in bringing their same rules as any other sports meet, issues and concerns to the fore. and is a key activity in the PED calendar.
Rajarata Praja Kendaraya (RPK) commenced grant activities in January 2015. The grant seeks to address violence against women prevalent in the Anuradhapura District, which was a garrison town during the war. The proposed grant will adopt a two-pronged approach: 1) Establish effective multi-sectoral divisional-level mechanisms to address violence against women through prevention and intervention strategies and 2) Build community capacity to confront violence through recognition and acceptance of gender equality and equity in social and economic spheres. Activities for this quarter include:
GBV Forum Meetings: Two monthly meetings took place in three divisions with the participation of 90 persons (11 males and 79 females. The terms of reference for the function of GBV Forums were finalized.
Knowledge Sharing: Divisional-level leaders who participated in GBV training shared their knowledge with members of their respective CBOs, reaching 275 people.
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Training on Gender Equality: Fifteen couples Protecting Women’s Rights and Arresting from each of the three divisions targeted Perpetrators of GBV: RPK has been successful by the grant were trained in in setting up multi-stakeholder divisional-level Understanding Gender and GBV Among forums to deal with GBV issues and find redress Young Couples, Sex and Gender, Gender- for cases of GBV. It built the capacity of members Based Social Values, Gender Equity and through extensive training on laws and issues Equality, Youth Empowerment, Domestic relating to GBV. RPK supports the forums Violence and How It Affects Children, through gender rights and GBV training for local- Attitudinal Change and Clarifying Social level civil society organizations and through the Responsibility and Management of Family establishment of a network of rights defenders, Life. Forty-seven men and 51 women who guide victims to redress and support participated in the training. mechanisms. The grant also carries out targeted Emergency Support: Seven victims of GBV public education as a measure to prevent GBV. received emergency support.
Understanding Gender: Training on gender equality for couples
RPK carried out training for 45 couples from three DSDs to help them understand the underlying reasons for GBV and domestic violence.
The Social Economical and Environmental Developers (SEED) grant, titled “WAY (War- Affected Youth) Forward,” commenced in August 2014. It seeks to empower youth and help in their social reintegration, centered on building their confidence to take on issues affecting their communities and finding solutions. The intervention aims to network youth groups so the memberships may support each other through the reintegration process. The grant ended in August and activities are reported for the entirety of the grant period.
Thirteen Youth Clubs/ Youth-Based Civil Society Organizations Established and Strengthened: The grant envisaged the formation or registration of eight youth clubs in two targeted DS divisions of the Vavuniya District, but set up a total of 13. This was due to the keenness of youth in the targeted villages and the geographic demarcation of villages themselves, which required a greater number of youth formations than planned. A total of 167 youth (83 male and 84 female) received training in basic skills necessary to sustain an organization – bookkeeping, recordkeeping and planning. They
56 also received mentoring to strengthen their inclination toward volunteerism. All clubs have female participation above 40 percent in both the membership and governance structures. Two clubs have a majority-women membership.
Platform for Youth to Showcase Talent and Compete Fairly: A sports meet with the theme “Respect for Rules” helped participants develop respect for and abide by rules and fair play. This countered the many disputes that arise at the end of a competition between neighboring communities. Participants included 146 males and 100 females. An arts festival also took place to enable youth to express themselves and their issues through creative avenues. They spoke through their art of the consequence of hire-purchase, family loans, the harm of alcohol, the addiction to mass media, damage to the environment, violence against women, violence against children, 19 years of life in a camp for the displaced, among other things.
Engagement of Youth to Uplift Community and Gain Acceptance as Responsible Group Committed to Common Welfare: A total of 308 youth, including 109 females, from 10 villages (Achipuram, Ellaparmaruthankulam, Ithikulam, Kalnattinakulam, Katkulam Komarasankulam, Mathuranagar, Muruhanoor, Samalankulam and Tharanikulam) identified village-level issues Finding the Way Forward: Helping war- for action and evolved relevant responses, affected youth find acceptance as in discussion with community-based community leaders organizations in 18 villages. The 18 model projects included painting a preschool The principal purpose of the grant was to building, cleaning a school playground and reintegrate youth through their revalidation as providing electrical wiring for a Rural community members willing to take on tasks for Development Society meeting center, the betterment of the community. To achieve playground renovation, painting an RDS this, the grant sought to create a support building, repairing a rural road, etc. network by integrating youth across a targeted Following these activities, the Rural geographic area into a single representative forum Development Society and the Grama – a youth federation. The joint events that Niladhari for the areas invited the youth followed helped the youth re-engage with their to participate in discussions on village communities positively, as responsible citizenry. issues. Youth received a general invitation to work with community-level formations for social upliftment “Open-Sharing Sessions” Between Parents – Rural Development Societies (RDS). In some and Youth: Two forums enabled youth in cases, participating youth were even elected to targeted areas and their parents to RDS governing bodies. This is indicative of the understand each other’s thinking and acceptance of the positive role of youth, signaling aspirations. The forums were especially their reintegration into leadership structures in helpful in addressing intergenerational post-war society. issues. The sessions were tense at times, but were well managed by facilitators.
ZOA commenced work on its second grant, “Integrating the Most Vulnerable Communities in the North into Civil Society Structures Through Targeted Livelihood Interventions,” this quarter. It builds on the achievements of the first grant toward increased and inclusive participation of vulnerable groups in development and governance. The ZOA initiative seeks to empower the excluded – female-headed households and persons with disabilities, and reach the most vulnerable groups in these communities. The grant focuses on Kilinochchi and Vavuniya districts. Activities for the quarter include:
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Beneficiary Selection: 156 beneficiaries were identified from selected Grama Niladhari (GN) divisions in targeted districts. The grant will select a pool of 200 beneficiaries.
Trainings and Workshops: Two Gender and Inclusion workshops took place in locations where beneficiary selection is complete. Eighty people (11 males and 69 females) participated.
Islamic Women’s Association for Research and Empowerment (IWARE)
Through its capacity building, IFES has focused on enabling Muslim women leaders to bridge the gap between religious principles and the rights of Sri Lankan citizens which are too often viewed as mutually exclusive. IFES continued to draw from the Qur’an and other Islamic sources to inform MMDA reform efforts, giving target groups the tools to understand and advocate for reforms from the perspective of women’s rights in Islam. In a post-war context in which Muslims have “embraced their community identity in primarily religious terms,” this orientation is critical to advancing democracy and legal and political rights without undermining religious autonomy. It also enables Muslims to identify commonalities between both religious leaders and women’s advocates to enhance national and local advocacy efforts, a capacity building effort that has significant, long term benefits at relatively minimal cost.
IFES’ key activities in the last quarter focused on providing technical support to strengthen Muslim women’s engagement in MMDA reform efforts, including by preparing resource materials and implementing trainings that brought together local women’s groups and religious leaders; strengthening partnerships between Muslim women and other civil society advocates; and supporting development efforts to ensure organizational sustainability of IFES’ key partners.
Activity 1: Legal Reform a) Development of MMDA Resources
Although the need for reform of the MMDA specifically, and Muslim personal law more generally, is widely recognized, many women’s groups lack the technical knowledge to collaboratively advance reforms. Drawing from its case study collection under the SPICE program – in which IFES worked with five local women’s groups to collect and analyze nearly 100 Quazi court cases related to women’s access to justice – IFES’ Gender and Local Legal Specialists created two resource documents. The first, a handbook on Sri Lanka’s MMDA, first, a handbook on Sri Lanka’s MMDA, is a practical guide that outlines the MMDA in easy to understand language and is a useful resource to inform advocacy for women’s legal rights in the Quazi courts. The handbook is already being used by IWARE’s trained community mobilizers and women’s groups in Puttalam to conduct educational outreach, as well as by women’s groups that observe Quazi court sessions. In addition to women’s groups, Quazis have requested copies for their own work, and the Kathankudy Bishmi school, a Quranic education center, has obtained copies to inform curriculum on MMDA for legal students.
The second resource – “Is Gender Justice Possible: A Review of the Muslim Marriage a Divorce Act” – is an in-depth research document that aims to educate women and men about the existing provisions in the MMDA and provide practical recommendations for reform. The resource was developed by IFES’ Local Legal Specialist who is an expert on Muslim law in Sri Lanka, the first woman lawyer serving on the Board of Quazis, and the only woman participating in the Muslim personal law reform committee. Working with local women’s groups involved in the case study collection, IFES’ Gender and Local Legal Specialists identified several key areas for MMDA reform. These include:
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• Implement a more consistent Quazi training course to ensure proper awareness of women’s rights in Islam.
• Establish the advisory board to the Quazi court – a body that is outlined in the MMDA but never formalized - and accommodate women as juries and councilors in the Quazi court.
• Enforce collection of more adequate Mehr (a payment to the bride) and maintenance payments, which are mandated in both the Qur’an and MMDA.
• Place greater emphasis on reconciliation and mediation of family disputes, as well as pre- and post-marriage and family counseling, in which both men and women have trained advocates to represent their interests.
Both the MMDA Handbook and MMDA Review were developed through careful and consistent consultation with local women’s groups to ensure that the materials will contribute to longer term education, outreach and advocacy work beyond program completion. The resources have been distributed to local partners, Quazis, lawyers, religious and communities leaders and male allies involved in grassroots level reform work, as well as faculty in the Colombo law school and other educators. b) Training
In September 2015, at the request of IWARE and other local partner organizations, IFES invited Neelofar Akhtar, a Muslim family lawyer and legal reform specialist, to participate in experience- sharing workshops on gender-positive legal reforms. Ms. Akhtar is an Indian attorney with over twenty years’ experience specializing in family and matrimonial law and has provided legal opinions on family law in international contexts. She also participated in IFES’ Muslim Women’s Initative in India – on which IFES’ SPICE programming is based – enabling her to convey the same commitment to promoting gender justice as an integral element of Islam.
On September 6 and 7, IFES’ Gender Specialist and the Legal Reform Advisor led a two-day workshop on Muslim personal law in Kathankuddy – a city in the East with a high proportion of Muslim residents. The workshop sought to educate the participants about the Quazi court structure and MMDA, and provide a space for the participants to work together to identify next steps for collaborative advocacy. In total, thirty-five people representing ten civil society organizations participated in the training. Sessions included:
• An overview of key findings from the collaborative Quazi court case study collection, with opportunities for women to share their own experiences accessing justice under the Quazi court system.
• Comparative examples from legal reform of Indian family law, in which the Legal Reform Advisor highlighted her work addressing triple Talak, polygamy, and other cases related to Muslim women’s rights in India.
• Strategy session for participants to map combined advocacy efforts, during which participants identified next steps to influence reform.
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In the final session, participants agreed on the need to conduct awareness raising with men, women, and Mosque leaders about women’s rights within the existing MMDA. They also agreed to deliver a petition to the Minister of Justice and engage media outlets to capture stories of women negatively affected by gender-insensitive Quazi court rulings.
On September 8 and 9, IFES’ Gender Specialist, in partnership with IWARE and the Muslim Women’s Development Trust (MWDT), organized stakeholder engagement sessions with grassroots religious leaders, women’s groups and community allies in Batticaloa and Puttalam, two locations in the more Muslim-populated East where IFES has focused its SPICE programming. The purpose of the sessions was to provide further opportunities for these stakeholders to collaborate on reform efforts and share their experiences with IFES’ Legal Reform Advisor. In Batticaloa, ten of the 16 participants were men and in Puttalam, six of the 19 were men. They included Quranic school lecturers, marriage registrars, former Quazis, Mosque Federation members, a school principal, lawyers, and civil society and political party representatives.
For the Batticaloa meeting, IWARE’s president opened the session with a presentation on her organization’s work advocating for Muslim women’s access to justice. In both meetings, the Legal Reform Advisor shared examples of gender-sensitive legal reform of Indian Family Law, and opportunities to replicate in Sri Lanka. Through workshop discussions, participants – including men – expressed concerns about gender-insensitive interpretations of Islam which undermine Muslim women’s rights. The male participants in the Puttalam workshop committed to helping the women’s advocates to connect with ulamas and other religious leaders to help advance reform. c) Coordination meeting with Quazis
Through SPICE programming, IFES has continued to emphasize the importance of drawing from the principles of Islam to advance gender equitable reforms that resonate with male religious leaders. On September 10, IFES’ Gender Specialist worked with MWDT and the Judicial Services Commission to coordinate an outreach session with Quazis in Colombo. The session, which brought together 25 Quazis and 10 civil society representatives from MWDT, Aluthgama Women’s Association, IWARE and other women’s groups, provided an opportunity for women’s advocates to share their experiences working for the improvement of the MMDA. It also enabled collaboration between grassroots civil society representatives and Quazis, many of whom are high level religious leaders and are crucial to the success of any Muslim legal reform (see success story below).
Activity 2: Connecting Muslim women to other women’s groups in collaborative advocacy
In its final quarter, IFES continued to focus on strengthening connections between Muslim women’s groups and other human rights advocates. Indirect successes demonstrated IFES’ partner organizations’ capacity to effectively collaborate with male religious leaders as well as women’s rights advocates to promote change. One such example was the drafting of a petition that called for keeping the Quazi jurisdiction under the purview of the Minister of Justice rather than the Minister of Muslim Affairs. Concerned that this shift would limit legal oversight of the Quazi court proceedings, further politicize Quazi appointments, and inhibit gender-inclusive reforms of the MMDA, IFES’ partner women’s groups circulated a petition challenging this development. The petition, which was delivered to the Prime Minister in August 2015 and the women’s groups and
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produced with technical support from IFES’ Gender Specialist, presented their position to the Minister of Muslim Affairs and other Muslim representatives. Finally, in September 2015, the decision was reversed.
IFES also supported IWARE in continuing to build its relationship with members of the Mosque Federation. Leaders from the Mosque Federation – a group of prominent religious leaders – attended the MMDA workshops in Batticaloa as well as the Quazi meeting in Colombo. Throughout the quarter, leaders from the Mosque Federation met regularly with IWARE and IWARE and used the findings from IFES’ case study collection to advocate for improved women’s access to justice in the Quazi court. As a result of IWARE’s efforts, members of the Mosque Federation have agreed to involve IWARE in the selection of the next local Quazi to ensure that he has sufficient knowledge on women’s rights in Islam.
Component 3. Strengthen Internal Management Capacity of Indigenous Organizations
Capacity-Building Process for SPICE Grantees To date, 26 SPICE grantees are receiving capacity-building support. The range of interventions include strategic plans to address the changing external context and donor funding realities, strengthening policies, manuals and systems to improve management in areas like finance, administration, human resources and support for effective program designing and media and communications. Six of 26 grantees with whom the capacity-building process is being implemented have completed all the OIP activities and are at follow-up stage, while 19 grantees have 75 percent or more of OIP activities completed or ongoing.
Figure I
1. Center for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CPPHR) 2. Federation of Social Development Organizations (FOSDOO) 3. KOINONIA 4. Mullaitivu Women’s Development and Rehabilitation Federation (MWDRF) 5. Network for Advocating Requirements of Women (NewAROW) 6. Suriya Women’s Development Center (SWDC)
1. Affected Women’s Forum (AWF) 2. Ampara Special Needs Network (ASNN) 3. Center for Accessibility Monitoring and Information on Disability (CAMID) 4. Center for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)
5. Center for Human Rights and Research (CHR) 6. Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA) 1. NGO National Action Front (NNAF) 7. Community Development Organization (CDO) 8. Eastern Voluntary Social Development Organization for Women (EVSDOW) 9. Equal Ground (EG) 10. Mannar Citizen’s Committee (MCC) 61 11. Muslim Women’s Development Trust (MWDT) 12. National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) 13. National Peace Council (NPC) 14. Organization for Rehabilitation of the Handicapped (ORHAN)
During the reporting period, 19 grantees received capacity-building support for a range of identified capacity building initiatives and follow up support for institutionalization of changes. Some of the activities supported during the quarter include;
- CAMID – A three-day workshop to review the strategic plan; one-day workshop on developing project proposals; workshop to discuss and improve functions of the governing body. - CHRD – A two-day workshop as the first phase in a series of sessions to develop the strategic plan for CHRD during 2016–2018. - CPA – Workshop to develop a work plan for the outreach and capacity-building unit. - CPPHR – One-day discussion to identify how gender is incorporated within their programs, and subsequent three-day workshop to introduce tools and methods to incorporate gender into CPPHR programs and campaigns; second training on media and communications to identify different types of communication methods and thematic communication formats. - CDO – A three-day workshop on disaster management to improve the capacity of staff to implement community-based disaster management projects. - FOSDOO – A follow-up workshop to facilitate the process of developing most significant change (MSC) stories as an impact-monitoring tool. - MWDT – A two-day workshop to identify future strategic directions, organizational strengths and weaknesses. - MWDRF – Two workshops to finalize the governance structure, strategic directions, operational plan, budget and revision of the constitution. - NNAF – Assessments of 16 district consortiums of NNAF to assess the network and identify areas for capacity development. - ORHAN – A three-day workshop to develop income-generation strategies and action plans; follow up discussion to develop a monitoring plan. - R2L – Discussion with staff to mainstream gender within the organization, projects and campaigns. - WANT – Training and coaching on project cycle management (PCM), reporting and documentation. - WDF – A two-day workshop for identified new committee members on governance and roles and responsibilities of members. - Group Trainings – Two trainings on the rights-based approach (RBA) in Tamil medium for 16 SPICE regional grantees and one USAID direct grantee; training on basic finance
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management in Sinhala medium for 12 SPICE grantees; training on media and communication for six direct grantees of USAID and five SPICE project grantees. - Follow-up Support – Follow-up on capacity-building interventions for CPPHR, EG, MWDRF, NAFSO and NewAROW. Key Highlights and Outcomes
Strategic Planning and Reviews CAMID’s strategic plan ended in 2014 and thus a review of the strategic plan was conducted to assess the context in which CAMID works, reassess the needs of its constituencies, and revise its programmatic approach and activities accordingly. During the process, key stakeholders were consulted to validate the identified strategic directions.
CHRD’s current strategic plan is ending in 2015 and there is a need, together with the change in the operational context, to develop a new strategic plan for 2016 – 2018. The planning process was participatory and included members of the Board of Governors, staff from the Colombo and regional offices. The sessions were aimed at facilitating an internal reflection on CHRD’s past activities, analyzing the current operational context, identifying CHRD’s theory of change, strategic program areas, and organizational strengths and weaknesses. CHRD’s Strategic Planning Workshop: An analysis of overall results and Training took place on thematic results. governance and strengthening the role of boards.
CAMID is working positively to increase the contribution of its Board of Directors through a step-by-step process, revisiting the articles of association and revising the roles and responsibilities of the board.
The two-day training on governance for newly identified members of WDF focused on principles of governance, board structure, roles and procedures of a board, overall board leadership, duties and responsibilities. The participants reflected on different areas of governance and key responsibilities of members. The grantees were also guided to prepare and plan for their annual general meetings (AGMs), and a checklist for planning AGMs was developed.
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Training on Disaster Management Staff of a Northern region civil society organization CDO received training to conduct disaster management initiatives effectively and efficiently. The participants received an orientation in basic disaster management terminology, and community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) processes and approaches. In response to one training evaluation question about what the participants plan to do following the workshop, remarks included: “Identify disaster risks in villages [where] I work and prepare projects to implement risk reduction activities,” “Will do awareness raising among the community about disasters they face,” “Will create awareness at village level for communities including children.” Developing a Work Plan for the Outreach and Capacity-Building Unit of CPA The outreach and capacity-building unit identified the need to streamline its work to reach targets and improve efficiency. Thus, the unit’s results framework was Training on disaster management for CDO in Mullaitivu - A CDO staff presents the group discussion results on “factors to revisited, a performance management be considered in community emergency preparedness”. plan with revised indicators and monitoring mechanisms was devised, and a work plan for the unit was developed. Group Training on the Rights-Based Approach (RBA) Following the group training for national grantees, two consecutive group trainings took place for women’s organizations in the Eastern region and for other regional grantees. Seven women’s organizations participated in the training in Batticaloa, and nine SPICE regional grantees and one USAID direct grantee participated in the second training in Vavuniya.
Participants identified the difference between the rights-based approach and needs-based approach, discussed duty bearers and rights-holders, the Sri Lankan Constitution and the chapter on fundamental rights and carried out exercises to incorporate RBA in their intervention approach. The participants were also introduced to various international human rights documents, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
Participants feedback included: “I expect to make awareness on CEDAW, UDHR, ICCPR, ICESCR, and the difference between rights and wants to our community,” “During our meetings with government officials, we could explain about their duties in sustaining project benefits,” “In future, when we carry out or initiate projects for women or affected people, instead of looking at their needs, I will look more toward their rights.” Group Training on Media and Communications The need to enhance external media engagement and communication was discussed during the organizational self-assessment processes with some of the SPICE grantees, which in turn was reflected in their organizational improvement plans (OIPs). The training supported the
64 establishment and improvement of organizational media and communication units, as well the enhancement of staff skills and knowledge on diverse, novel media and communication techniques.
Participant feedback was positive: “The workshop covered the most important aspects of social media in very logical and scientific manner. In the long run, it will positively contribute to effective communication of grantees as well as personal communications.”
“Was able to get feedbacks for my organization’s website for further improvement by a specialist and it is a vital aspect of the program.”
“Best and [most] important session was the Web development one. We would like to take some initiatives for our organizational website development from this point onward.”
“Media conference – the practical session we had in the workshop was really good.”
The training on media and communications drew 24 participants, including six direct grantees of USAID and five national grantees of the SPICE project. The training focused on providing a clear understanding of media and communication platforms, especially social media, story writing, communications best practices, media conferences and website development, which can be used to promote the diversity of programs and campaigns of CSOs to build their image/brand. FRC: Reviewed its website and frequently changes pictures and stories to reflect the depth and breadth of its work. ICES: Initiated a revamping of its website and linked with resource persons at the media and communication training to help it along. Navajeevana: Reorganized its Facebook and more frequently updates the page to communicate its level of activity. Group Training on Basic Financial Management Several gaps and limitations were identified when administering the pre-award survey to some of the new grantees, reflecting the need to strengthen their overall organizational financial management. Accordingly, a group training on basic financial management took place for 27 participants from 12 SPICE grantee organizations. The training primarily focused on the principles of financial accountability and transparency, and strengthening organizational internal control mechanisms. Areas of discussion included financial management in the NGO sector, basics of financial management, organizational budget preparation, program budgets and cost norms, segregation of duties, internal controls, accounting records and reporting. Further, basic recordkeeping formats that could be adapted to each individual organization were introduced, and a glossary of financial terms in Sinhala was shared.
The participants noted that the workshop was useful to identify organizational weaknesses, and so would be helpful in making changes to existing systems. As per the self-evaluation of the competencies and knowledge of participants, the areas that indicated the highest level of learning related to the importance of financial management in non-governmental organizations, and principles of accountability and transparency. The head of a regional organization mentioned, “As a person responsible for the entire organization, based on this learning we will give more importance to financial management and we also expect to use new technology.”
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Group training on basic financial management in Colombo. Participants engaged in group work.
Assessment of the District Consortiums of NGO National Action Front (NNAF) During the reporting period, two workshops for each of the 16 district consortiums of NNAF were facilitated to assess the network and identify areas for capacity development. The assessments gave an opportunity to activate some of the consortiums and for the membership to meet and collectively assess the network and identify areas for improvement. It also highlighted several basic areas that could be developed internally – expansion of membership, systematization of records, etc. During the next quarter, the findings will be shared with the NNAF Executive Committee to prioritize areas for improvement.
The members of the Anuradhapura Consortium mentioned that the assessment was useful to recognize weaknesses, to understand the importance of attending meetings, to recall known facts and to learn new things. Further, “the assessment process directed us to even facilitate a similar process for our own organizations.” The Polonnaruwa District Consortium Coordinator noted that by reflecting on the consortium, they were able to identify strengths, needs and areas for improvement. The president of the Kegalle Consortium said he appreciated the process that was adapted using a simple tool and a clear objective. He further stated, “After a long time, such an assessment has been done and it’s very useful. In the long-term, we will implement programs as the consortium expecting to influence policy changes, and this process has given us some support for that.” Notable Changes With continuous facilitation and follow-up support by the ODFs over a period of approximately 18 months, the capacity-building interventions have contributed to enhanced organizational systems and processes. Some of the changes that are being observed and shared include;
- A series of workshops and constructive discussions as part of the strategic planning process enabled MWDRF to change from a membership-based organization to a concept- oriented organization, to initiate a feasible governance structure with a central committee, and to make significant changes to the constitution to enable greater flexibility as a voluntary organization. The name of the organization has also been changed to “Sangamam” (“confluence – women coming together from different places”). The process supported key staff, board members and committed volunteers to have clarity about the organization’s direction; they are now confident in steering the organization to be a strong, voluntary entity. They are committed to being a unique CSO promoting women’s rights and ethnic cohesion in the Mullaitivu District, as well as confident in providing their support more voluntarily. They will not accept external funds unless they align with their vision, mission and objectives.
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- The strategic plan for NewAROW has helped the organization raise funds for its programs. Also, the governance reforms have ensured regular committee meetings and more oversight by committee members on the organization’s sustainability and direction. - NPC’s board approved its strategic plan and it was shared with staff. It was used for fundraising, particularly with their core funder, which was successful. During a recent evaluation, a donor had examined the strategic plan, asked partners how they participated in the process and commended NPC. Further, based on the knowledge and skills acquired from project cycle management and monitoring trainings, NPC staff conducted trainings for all of their District Inter-Religious Committee (DIRC) partners. A recent donor evaluation noted that the technical capacity of partners had improved. - The finance, administrative and procurement procedures developed for most of the grantees have been institutionalized and are being implemented. The procurement procedures developed for CPPHR are considered to be a good model for other Jesuit organizations in the country and will be introduced to them. - Training on social media supported grantees to strategize their social media targets and campaigns, to use communication tactics and social media platforms effectively within the organizations and improve social media and Web interface to reach a wider/diversified audience. - In-kind grant support • The QuickBooks accounting software was introduced to CPPHR, R2L and NAFSO. In comparison to the Excel-based system that was used previously, this software is more efficient to store data and generate reports. Efficiency and effectiveness of the finance team has improved and there is regular, on-time reporting. • The media and communication units of both NAFSO and R2Lwere strengthened by the provision of equipment. The in-kind grant support inclusive of cameras, audio recorders and laptops has aided these two national advocacy organizations to communicate better with their core audiences, strengthened external print communications and output, external online and Web media/social media communications and output, including audio and video productions, and blog updates. The NAFSO media team notes that they have produced more than 20 short documentaries on various advocacy issues such as land rights, and have broadcasted on YouTube. “Previously when this type of need arose, we had to hire external people and equipment and incur costs. Now we are able to do these within our own media unit.” Story of a fisher family – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYGcy14Q5_A. Voice of the people in Panama on land rights – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCfrxdyfvpQ. Capacity-Building Support to USAID’s Developmental Grants Program Progress in the capacity-building work carried out for USAID direct grantees follows: Figure II: USAID Direct Grantees Capacity Building Program
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The organizational capacity assessments were facilitated by USAID, which provided SPICE with action plans to support their Capacity Building Activities 14 DG grantees. • The second phase of the Capacity enhancement Donor Mapping Study commenced responsibilities have been divided to capture the trends in funding between USAID, the grantees among donors in the current themselves and SPICE. political climate. • A group training program on management skills development was initiated and two sessions are complete. The direct grantees who attended this program are Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum (LRWHF), Family Rehabilitation Center (FRC), Nucleus Foundation (NF), International Center for Ethnic Studies (ICES), Green Movement of Sri Lanka (GMSL) and SLCDF. • The capacity-building partner Management Frontiers initiated a CSR mappingexercise in collaboration with LRWHF and visited 15 large scale private companies to explore potential funding opportunities. Following this, LRWHF has been able to initiate CSR partnerships with some private sector companies. Also, possible business ventures were identified through a number of consultative sessions, to initiate with the available resources of LRWHF. • Management Frontiers developed a business plan for the rubber foot production component of Ceerre for the Handicapped (CHF). An internal consultation and assessment session was also completed. • A fundraising plan is being formulated by the consultants of Creators’ Forum for the next three years in line with the overall strategy designed for MENCAFEP. • An exchange visit for organizations working on disabilities was facilitated. Three direct grantees and four SPICE grantees participated in the event. As a spin-off to this exchange visit of five organizations, a follow-up workshop is planned to develop a common advocacy strategy so all participating organizations can collectively advocate on common issues. The focus of the exposure visit was developing a rights-based approach within the disability sector and advocating for the implementation of related policy. • The strategy planning for and restructuring of Sevalanka Foundation was completed. • Detailed requirements were captured to design an intervention to improve financial management and budgeting in Nucleus Foundation and Sri Lanka Center for Development Facilitation (SLCDF). Consultative meetings were held with the senior management of the organizations to design the intervention. • A succession plan for Jaffna Social Action Center (JSAC) was developed through a consultative workshop. Business Consultancy Services facilitated the process. The M&E plan and system development process for the organization together with a follow-up session was facilitated by PALTRA.
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• A grant proposal writing skills development workshop to facilitate resource mobilization support for Family Rehabilitation Center (FRC) was completed. A grant proposal was developed and submitted to a donor organization. Also, a donor pipeline management system was developed for FRC. SIPL facilitated the process. • A succession plan for Shanthiham was developed through a consultative workshop by Business Consultancy Services. • A procurement procedure/guideline was finalized and a dissemination session conducted to introduce the document to the staff of Green Movement of Sri Lanka (GMSL). Community Organizations’ Role and Ethos: Value Activism through Leaders’ Understanding Enhancement Support (CORE VALUES) Training The CORE VALUES initiative is in response to (a) manifest gaps in SPICE partner capacity as seen in ongoing strategic planning exercises; (b) missing pieces in project proposals from a large number of otherwise competent CSOs; (c) expressed need from CSO leaders and other stakeholders; and (d) clear indications that these areas will pose challenges for the sector on the ground in the near future and beyond. The themes covered will include: Roles and Functions of CS(Os) in Sri Lanka today; Accountability and locating this within a broader Governance framework; understanding the challenges and necessities of Networking that is not top-down, to pursue an Advocacy agenda that is generated at the community level; “Identity” (including Ethnicity) and recognizing its ramifications for Sri Lankan society; Nationalism(s) at multiple levels and contexts; and addressing Gender concerns, especially in relation to culturalist discourse. The training is designed for second-tier leaders of CSOs.
This quarter a training was conducted on “Understanding and engagement with Nationalism(s) at multiple levels and contexts.” Well-respected academics and civil society actors came as resource persons, not only to share their expert insights and knowledge with the group, but also to take on participant questions and encourage discussion on contentious areas, with the intention of clarifying and clearing up attendant issues. Key resource persons included veteran trade unionist from the plantation sector, Muthulingam Periyasamy; senior university lecturer and researcher, Dr. Farzana Haniffa; former Minister Ferial Ashraff; and senior academic cum activist, Dr. Nirmal Dewasiri. The last of the thematic trainings to be conducted under the program will be on “Addressing gender concerns, especially in relation to culturalist discourse,” with the final capstone training to be conducted in the first quarter of 2016.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING
Performance Monitoring Plan Update The SPICE project’s interventions under its three major components are monitored by assessing the progress of the outcomes set for the SPICE project. Each outcome of the SPICE project relates to a component of the SPICE project and these outcomes are monitored using a defined set of indicators. Most of the PMP indicators performed fairly well during this reporting period and some of the indicators are overachieved, beyond fiscal year targets and/or entire project targets. Individual grantee activities currently aligned to individual grantee objectives are contributing toward SPICE PMP indicators and are thereby contributing to the overall SPICE Objective of enhancing civil society space and effectiveness in Sri Lanka.
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Annex 1 details indicator progress and this narrative is to be read in conjunction with attached PMP indicator updates.
A total of 50 organizations contributed toward the first SPICE outcome of “Improved protection of citizen’s rights by Sri Lankan Organizations” since the inception of the project, under Component 1. These organizations are CHRD, CPPHR, CHR, CPA, AWF, NPC, NEWAROW, WDF, R2L, SARVODAYA, SWDC, ICES, MWDT, MCC, MWDRF, NAFSO, EG, ZOA, FOSDOO, KOINONIA, PPCC, WANT, HUDEC, EVSDOW, VILUTHU, SDJF, PCA, CHANGE, AWA, ASNN, CDO, IWARE, ORHAN, SEED, TISL, SFM, CAMID, LST, BERENDINA, NCEASL, RPK, SAVISTRI, ATM, H2H, MARDUP, DABINDU, WC, CRPC, EHED and YCWM.
Since the beginning of the project, 45 domestic NGOs, located and/or working in various regions of the country were observed to be active at some point of time engaging in monitoring or advocacy work on human rights.
A total of 1,057 individuals from low-income or marginalized communities received legal aid or victims assistance during the reporting period, making the total 42,037 since the beginning of the project. The legal aid or victims assistance includes GBV assistance, support to obtain legal documents and other victims assistance, which includes counseling, legal representation, legal advice, care packs, livelihood assistance, etc. GBV services reached 225 individuals, bringing the total to 3,355 for the entire project period. 408 individuals were assisted to obtain at least one legal document, bringing the total to 36,603 individuals since the inception of the project.
Ninety-three people were trained to be human rights defenders during the reporting period making the total number trained under the project 1,348. Further to the Human Rights Defenders trained, 11,713 individuals were reached through human rights awareness raising activities, using awareness sessions, trainings, print and other media during the reporting period, which makes the total number of people reached by human rights awareness 55,954.
Forty-three new cases were initiated during the reporting period, which makes the total number of cases handled during the entire project period312.
Since the inception of the project, a total of 50 organizations contributed to the second outcome of “Expanded civil society support for more inclusive and active citizen participation in development, reconciliation and governance”, under the Component 2 of SPICE. These organizations are CHRD, CPPHR, CHR, CPA, AWF, NPC, NEWAROW, WDF, R2L, SAR, SWDC, MWDT, MCC, MWDRF, NAFSO, EG, FOSDOO, KOINONIA, WANT, EVSDOW, VILUTHU, ICS, SDJF, PCA, CHANGE, ASNN, AWA, CDO, IWARE, ORHAN, SEED, TISL, SFM, SACLS, NNAF, CAMID, LST, BERENDINA, H2H, CRPC, NCEASL, RPK, SAVISTRI, ATM, KV, MARDUP, FPA, DABINDU, WC and YCW. In addition to the above organizations another 246 civic associations/organizations supported by SPICE grantees were also part of Component 2 of SPICE at some point of the project. The activities ranged from sustaining CSOs/civic associations and supporting them, helping CSOs to engage and work with the local government bodies and religious leaders to supporting and encouraging CSOs to networks.
Twenty USG-supported activities designed to build support for peace or reconciliation were implemented during the reporting period bringing the total to 230 since the beginning of the project. These 230 activities include meetings, discussions, trainings/workshops, cultural events and small projects implemented in support of recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Two grantees were added to the existing 54 grantees to be counted as critical Sri Lankan organizations that remain active, advocating pluralism, human rights and democracy.
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Forty of 56 SPICE grantees were assessed to be part of at least one network at the divisional and/or district level and/or at the national/international level, which is 71 percent of the grantees. Some of these are networks exclusively composed of civil society organizations. A few are task force/forums in which certain government administrative structures are also represented alongside civil society organizations. Of the civil society networks, a number of them are also partly supported by SPICE grants.
The third outcome area of SPICE is – “Enhanced management and technical capacity of indigenous organizations supporting civic participation and inclusive development” under Component 3 of SPICE. 67 organizations are receiving capacity building support since the beginning of the project. Furthermore, 57 individuals received skills development training during this reporting period, increasing the total number of individuals receiving skills development trainings to 410 from 353. 93% of the 40 organizations which receive capacity building support against an Organizational Improvement Plan is meeting improvement benchmarks.
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Sub-Awards – Grants
TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) Grant Grant Type of Subgrant Value Total Disbursements Burn Ref No: Subgrant Awardee Status Start End Grant ITD* Rate SL Rs & USD $ Date Date SUBGRANT GRANTED LKR LKR Centre for Human 5- 4- Simplified 11,052,028.30 10,988,783.00 13.001.CHRD.SIG Rights and Closed 99% Feb- May- Grant USD USD Development 13 14 87,960.90 85,719.75 Center for the LKR LKR Fixed 1- Protection and 15,140,790.00 15,140,790.00 31- 13.002.CPPHR.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Aug- Promotion of Human USD USD Jul-14 Grant 13 Rights 120,032.00 117,814.50 LKR LKR Fixed 10- 9- Centre for Human 15,335,400.00 15,335,400.00 13.003.CHR.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Oct- Apr- Rights and Research USD USD Grant 13 14 120,000.00 119,503.38 LKR LKR Centre for Policy Fixed 1- 31- 14,275,490.00 13,775,490.00 13.004.CPA.FOG Alternatives Obligation Closed 96% Aug- Aug- USD USD (Guarantee) Limited Grant 13 14 112,606.00 107,233.04 LKR LKR Fixed 1- Affected Women's 4,411,300.00 4,411,300.00 31- 13.005.AWF.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Aug- Forum USD USD Jul-14 Grant 13 34,385.38 34,249.79 LKR LKR 1- 30- National Peace Simplified 8,153,705.00 8,153,689.00 13.006.NPC.SIG Closed 100% Sep- Sep- Council Grant USD USD 13 14 62,005.36 63,610.68 Network for LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- Advocating 3,464,340.00 3,464,340.00 13.007.NEWAROW.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Sep- Sep- Requirements of USD USD Grant 13 14 Women 26,758.00 26,879.13 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Women Development 3,220,890.00 3,220,890.00 13.008.WDF.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Sep- Aug- Forum USD USD Grant 13 14 25,106.03 24,965.22 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 14- Right to Life Human 5,445,890.00 5,445,890.00 13.009.R2L.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Sep- Sep- Rights Centre USD USD Grant 13 14 46,613.00 42,276.57
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) Grant Grant Type of Subgrant Value Total Disbursements Burn Ref No: Subgrant Awardee Status Start End Grant ITD* Rate SL Rs & USD $ Date Date LKR LKR 1- 31- Simplified 12,664,900.00 11,781,013.00 13.010.SARV.SIG Sarvodaya Closed 93% Aug- Aug- Grant USD USD 13 14 98,713.00 91,878.22 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Suriya Women’s 6,300,608.00 6,300,608.00 13.011.SWDC.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Sep- Aug- Development Centre USD USD Grant 13 14 47,913.36 48,963.80 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 15- International Centre 6,015,771.00 6,015,771.00 13.012.ICES.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Oct- Dec- for Ethnic Studies USD USD Grant 13 14 50,296.00 46,720.48 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 30- Muslim Women’s 3,423,050.00 3,423,050.00 13.013.MWDT.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Oct- Sep- Development Trust USD USD Grant 13 14 26,331.00 26,645.39 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Mannar Citizens’ 4,507,986.00 4,507,986.00 13.014.MCC.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Nov- Oct- Committee USD USD Grant 13 14 37,612.00 35,107.90 Mullaitivu Women’s LKR LKR Fixed 25- 24- Development and 3,424,500.00 3,424,500.00 13.015.MWRDF.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Oct- Oct- Rehabilitation USD USD Grant 13 14 Federation 25,797.00 26,654.88 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- National Fisheries 4,586,320.00 4,100,000.00 13.016.NAFSO.FOG Obligation Closed 89% Nov- Oct- Solidarity Movement USD USD Grant 13 14 34,745.00 31,975.14 LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- 6,241,017.00 5,505,000.00 13.017.EG.FOG Equal Ground Obligation Closed 88% Feb- Feb- USD USD Grant 14 15 48,665.00 42,836.55 LKR LKR 20- 19- Simplified 19,471,891.00 19,471,891.00 13.018.ZOA.SIG ZOA Closed 100% Mar- Mar- Grant USD USD 14 15 150,000.00 151,049.48 Federation of Social LKR LKR 5- 4- Development Simplified 6,302,790.00 6,027,052.00 13.019.FOSDOO.SIG Closed 96% Mar- Mar- Organizations ( Grant USD USD 14 15 FOSDOO) 51,000.00 46,727.74
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) Grant Grant Type of Subgrant Value Total Disbursements Burn Ref No: Subgrant Awardee Status Start End Grant ITD* Rate SL Rs & USD $ Date Date LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- 6,547,950.00 6,547,950.00 13.020.KOINOIA.FOG KOINOIA Obligation Closed 100% Mar- Mar- USD USD Grant 14 15 51,000.00 51,000.88 PROFESSIONAL LKR LKR Fixed 17- 16- PSYCHOLOGICAL 6,154,750.00 6,154,750.00 13.021.PPCC.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Mar- Mar- COUNSELLING USD USD Grant 14 15 CENTRE - (PPCC) 47,344.00 47,872.25 Women Action LKR LKR Fixed 20- 19- Network for 3,665,060.00 3,655,060.00 13.022.WANT.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Mar- Mar- transformation USD USD Grant 14 15 (WANT) 29,031.00 28,383.09 Eastern Voluntary LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Social Development 3,646,700.00 3,646,700.00 13.023.EVESDO.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Apr- Mar- Organization for USD USD Grant 14 15 Women (EVSDOW) 28,052.00 28,394.28 LKR LKR CARITAS JAFFNA – Fixed 25- 24- 6,030,333.00 6,030,333.00 13.024.HUDEC.FOG HUDEC (Human Obligation Closed 100% Mar- Mar- USD USD Development Centre) Grant 14 15 47,541.00 46,976.46 LKR LKR Viluthu, Centre for Fixed 15- 14- 5,281,719.00 5,281,719.00 13.025.VILUTHU.FOG Human Resource Obligation Closed 100% Apr- Jan- USD USD Development Grant 14 15 40,629.00 41,037.92 Institute for LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- Constitutional Studies 5,720,200.00 4,058,000.00 13.026.ICS.FOG Obligation Closed 71% Apr- Apr- (ICS) Guarantee USD USD Grant 14 15 Limited 44,002.00 31,209.12 LKR LKR Sri Lanka Fixed 15- 14- 5,972,500.00 5,972,500.00 13.027.SDJF.FOG Development Obligation Closed 100% May- Nov- USD USD Journalist Forum Grant 14 14 45,942.00 46,592.01 LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- Peace and Community 5,550,870.00 5,550,870.00 13.028.PCA.FOG Obligation Closed 100% May- May- Action USD USD Grant 14 14 45,884.00 43,112.06 LKR LKR CHANGE Fixed 1- 1- 5,172,292.00 4,650,000.00 13.029.CHANGE.FOG Humanitarian Obligation Closed 90% May- May- USD USD Organization Grant 14 15 39,787.00 36,108.48
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) Grant Grant Type of Subgrant Value Total Disbursements Burn Ref No: Subgrant Awardee Status Start End Grant ITD* Rate SL Rs & USD $ Date Date LKR LKR Fixed 1- 1- Ampara Special Needs 4,596,390.00 4,596,390.00 13.030.ASNN.FOG Obligation Closed 100% May- May- Network USD USD Grant 14 15 35,358.00 35,682.13 LKR LKR Community Fixed 4,008,765.00 3,191,000.00 1-Jul- 1-Jul- 13.031.CDO.FOG Development Obligation Closed 80% USD USD 14 15 Organization- Grant 30,702.00 24,689.73 Islamic Women LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- Association for 3,801,270.00 3,801,270.00 13.032.IWARE.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Jun- Jun- Research and USD USD Grant 14 15 Empowerment 29,150.84 29,476.16 LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- Akkaraipattu Women In- 3,926,325.00 2,350,000.00 13.033.AWA.FOG Obligation 60% Jun- Jun- Association progress USD USD Grant 14 15 30,110.00 18,348.10 LKR LKR Organization for Fixed 5,840,713.00 5,250,000.00 1-Jul- 1-Jul- 13.034.ORHAN.FOG Rehabilitation of the Obligation Closed 90% USD USD 14 15 Handicapped Grant 44,929.00 40,779.67 LKR LKR Social Economic Fixed 20- 19- 5,662,760.00 5,095,000.00 13.035.SEED.FOG Enviromental Obligation Closed 90% Aug- Aug- USD USD Developers Grant 14 15 43,560.00 39,354.54 LKR LKR Fixed 13- Caritas EHED 4,787,330.00 4,787,330.00 1-Jul- 13.036.EHED.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Feb- Batticaloa USD USD 14 Grant 15 36,825.00 37,053.35 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Transparency In- 5,136,830.00 4,600,000.00 13.037.TISL.FOG Obligation 90% Sep- Aug- International Sri Lanka progress USD USD Grant 14 15 39,514.00 35,500.42 LKR LKR Fixed 5- 5- Center for Human 15,437,250.00 15,437,250.00 14.038.CHR.FOG Obligation Closed 100% Aug- Feb- Rights and Research USD USD Grant 14 15 120,162.00 119,808.13 LKR LKR Centre for Human 6- 5- Simplified In- 11,581,578.00 7,679,715.00 14.039.CHRD.SIG Rights and 66% Aug- Aug- Grant progress USD USD Development 14 15 89,089.00 59,156.85
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) Grant Grant Type of Subgrant Value Total Disbursements Burn Ref No: Subgrant Awardee Status Start End Grant ITD* Rate SL Rs & USD $ Date Date LKR LKR Centre for Promotion Fixed 3- 2- In- 16,073,210.00 14,400,000.00 14.040.CPPHR.FOG & Protection of Obligation 90% Sep- Sep- progress USD USD Human Rights Grant 14 15 123,640.00 111,308.83 LKR LKR Centre for Policy 3- Simplified In- 16,045,015.00 13,180,628.00 0-Jan- 14.041.CPA.FOG Alternatives 82% Sep- Grant progress USD USD 00 (Guarantee) Limited 14 123,423.00 101,260.23 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- In- 7,720,650.00 6,061,000.00 13.042.SFM.FOG Secretariat for Muslims Obligation 79% Sep- Aug- progress USD USD Grant 14 15 59,390.00 46,787.33 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Right to Life Human In- 6,872,512.00 5,291,000.00 14.043.R2L.FOG Obligation 77% Nov- Oct- Rights Centre progress USD USD Grant 14 15 52,865.00 40,628.87 South Asian Centre for LKR LKR Fixed 15- Legal Studies In- 4,763,736.00 3,821,000.00 15- 14.044.SACLS.FOG Obligation 80% Oct- (Guarantee) Limited progress USD USD Jul-15 Grant 14 (SACLS) 36,644.00 29,488.70 LKR LKR Fixed 15- National NGO Action In- 3,233,600.00 2,574,000.00 15- 14.045.NNAF.FOG Obligation 80% Oct- Forum. progress USD USD Jul-15 Grant 14 24,874.00 19,919.93 LKR LKR 1- 31- National Peace Simplified In- 9,713,270.00 6,911,190.00 14.046.NPC.SIG 71% Nov- Oct- Council Grant progress USD USD 14 15 74,717.00 52,973.63 LKR LKR Lanka Jathika 1- 31- Simplified In- 13,137,580.00 7,790,888.00 14.047.SARVODAYA.SIG Sarvodaya Shramadana 59% Nov- Oct- Grant progress USD USD Sangamaya(Inc.) 14 15 101,058.00 59,598.17 LKR LKR Fixed 5- 4- Affected Women In- 4,830,440.00 4,207,000.00 14.048.AWF.FOG Obligation 87% Nov- Nov- Forum - AWF progress USD USD Grant 14 15 37,157.00 32,296.32 Centre For LKR LKR Accessibility, Fixed 4,891,147.00 4,400,000.00 20- 19- In- 14.049.CAMID.FOG Monitoring and Obligation 90% Nov- Nov- progress USD USD Information on Grant 14 15 37,624.00 33,773.07 Disability
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) LKR LKR Fixed 31- In- 5,195,903.00 4,195,000.00 1-Jan- 14.050.LST.FOG Law & Society Trust Obligation 81% Aug- progress USD USD 15 Grant 15 39,968.00 32,083.19 LKR LKR Fixed 22- 21- Muslim Women In- 3,846,090.00 2,850,000.00 14.051.MWDT.FOG Obligation 74% Dec- Nov- Development Trust progress USD USD Grant 14 15 29,585.00 21,868.83 Network for LKR LKR Fixed 22- 21- Advocating In- 3,394,394.00 3,050,000.00 14.052.NeWAROW.FOG Obligation 90% Dec- Nov- Requirements of progress USD USD Grant 14 15 Women 26,110.72 21,061.16 Mullaitivu Women’s LKR LKR Fixed 31- Development and In- 3,971,740.00 3,495,000.00 1-Jan- 14.053.MWDRF.FOG Obligation 88% Oct- Rehabilitation progress USD USD 15 Grant 15 Federation 30,552.00 26,746.51 LKR LKR Berendina Fixed 31- In- 5,914,959.00 4,730,000.00 1-Jan- 14.054BDS.FOG Development Services Obligation 80% Oct- progress USD USD 15 (Gte) Ltd- (BDS) Grant 15 45,500.00 36,250.76 LKR LKR Fixed 7- National Fisheries In- 4,435,400.00 3,524,000.00 7-Jan- 14.055.NAFSO.FOG Obligation 79% Dec- Solidarity Movement progress USD USD 15 Grant 15 34,118.00 26,972.61 LKR LKR Fixed 22- 21- Women Development In- 3,940,098.00 3,545,000.00 14.056.WDF.FOG Obligation 90% Dec- Nov- Foundation (WDF) progress USD USD Grant 14 15 30,308.00 27,140.22 LKR LKR Fixed 16- 15- Community Resources In- 3,628,430.00 3,205,000.00 14.057.CRPC.FOG Obligation 88% Jan- Oct- Protection Center progress USD USD Grant 15 15 27,911.00 24,517.05 National Christian LKR LKR Fixed 15- 30- Evangelical In- 5,070,281.00 3,941,000.00 14.058.NCEASL.FOG Obligation 78% Jan- Sep- Association of Sri progress USD USD Grant 15 15 Lanka 39,002.00 30,110.68 LKR LKR Fixed 26- 25- Rajarata Praja In- 3,106,301.00 2,800,000.00 14.059.RPK.FOG Obligation 90% Jan- Oct- Kendaraya progress USD USD Grant 15 15 23,895.00 21,451.23
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) LKR LKR Fixed 20- 19- In- 4,309,365.00 3,003,000.00 14.060.RPK.FOG Kinniya Vision Obligation 70% Apr- Nov- progress USD USD Grant 15 15 33,149.00 22,869.08 LKR LKR The Family Planning Fixed 20- 19- In- 2,607,154.00 2,141,000.00 14.061.FPA.FOG Association of Sri Obligation 82% Apr- Oct- progress USD USD Lanka Grant 15 15 20,055.00 16,278.76 LKR LKR Fixed 20- 19- Active Theatre In- 3,005,450.00 2,070,000.00 14.062.ATM.FOG Obligation 69% Apr- Oct- Moment progress USD USD Grant 15 15 23,119.00 15,747.50 LKR LKR Fixed 20- 19- In- 1,896,850.00 1,432,500.00 14.063.H2H.FOG Heart to Heart Lanka Obligation 76% Apr- Oct- progress USD USD Grant 15 15 14,591.00 10,915.57 LKR LKR Fixed 20- 19- Mannar Citizen In- 3,609,180.00 2,680,000.00 14.064.MCC.FOG Obligation 74% Apr- Dec- Committee progress USD USD Grant 15 15 27,755.00 20,397.14 Mannar Association LKR LKR Fixed 10- 9- for Rehabilitation of In- 3,213,630.00 2,090,000.00 14.065.MARDAP.FOG Obligation 65% May- Nov- Differently Able progress USD USD Grant 15 15 People 24,720.00 15,901.05 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- In- 1,614,620.00 1,020,000.00 14.066.DABOMDU.FOG Dabindu Collective Obligation 63% May- Oct- progress USD USD Grant 15 15 12,420.00 7,766.65 LKR LKR Fixed 1- 31- Savisthri Women’s In- 1,961,661.00 1,215,000.00 14.067. SWM.FOG Obligation 62% May- Oct- Movement progress USD USD Grant 15 15 15,090.00 9,244.43 LKR LKR Federation of Social 31- Simplified In- 3,934,375.00 926,109.00 1-Jun- 14.068.FOSDO.FOG Development 24% Dec- Grant progress USD USD 15 Organizations 15 30,264.00 7,036.85
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TABLE 1. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS TO DATE (as of 15th September 2015) LKR LKR Fixed 30- In- 2,030,010.00 1,304,000.00 1-Jun- 14.069.WC.FOG Women's Center Obligation 64% Nov- progress USD USD 15 Grant 15 15,615.00 9,913.90 LKR LKR Fixed 15- 14- International Centre for In- 8,441,123.00 5,890,000.00 14.070.ICES.FOG Obligation 70% May- Nov- Ethnic Studies (ICES) progress USD USD Grant 15 15 64,932.00 44,774.86 LKR LKR 31- Simplified In- 15,266,526.00 540,545.00 1-Jul- 14.071.ZOA.FOG ZOA 4% Dec- Grant progress USD USD 15 15 117,435.00 4,115.17 Fixed LKR LKR CHANGE 31- Amount In- 3,063,468.00 2,700,000.00 1-Jul- 14.072.CHANGE.FOG Humanitarian 88% Oct- progress USD USD 15 Organization 15 Award 23,565.13 20,528.80 Fixed LKR LKR 31- Caritas Jaffna – Human Amount In- 2,277,911.00 1,043,500.00 1-Jul- 14.073.HUDEC.FOG 46% Oct- Development Centre progress USD USD 15 15 Award 17,524.00 7,920.30 Fixed LKR LKR 31- Sri Lanka Development Amount In- 2,277,911.00 1,435,000.00 1-Jul- 14.074.HUDEC.FOG 63% Oct- Journalist Forum progress USD USD 15 15 Award 17,524.00 10,891.84 LKR USD Young Christian 1- SIMPLIFIE In- 1,847,400.00 1,073,000.00 1-Jun- 14.075.YCW.FOG Workers Movement – 58% Nov- D GRANT progress 15 Sri Lanka (YCW) USD USD 15 14,211.00 8,168.75 Centre for Policy LKR LKR Alternatives 5,420,817.00 - 31- SIMPLIFIE In- 1-Jul- 14.076.CPA/CMEV.FOG (CPA)/Centre for 0% Oct- D GRANT progress USD USD 15 Monitoring Election 15 41,699.00 - Violence (CMEV LKR LKR Center for Peace Fixed 1- In- 5,463,710.00 700,000.00 1-Jul- 14.076.CPBR.FOG building and Amount 13% Dec- progress USD USD 15 Reconciliation Award 15 42,029.00 5,329.10 LKR USD 2,783,330.00 1,897,785.75 IN-KIND Grants Multiple In-Kind Completed 68% USD USD 21,410.23 14,631.41 LKR LKR SUB TOTAL LKR 83% 474,922,098.30 394,889,425.75
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USD USD USD 3,686,388.95 3,051,846.98 NOTE:
*ITD: Inception to Date
**Subgrant approved after 15th September 2015 Sub-Awards – Subcontracts
TABLE II. SUMMARY OF SUBAWARDS (SUBCONTRACTS) TO DATE (as of 15
September 2016) Type of Subaward Value Total Disbursements Subaward Subaward Ref. No Subaward Awardee Burn Rate Agreement SL Rs & USD $ ITD* Start Date End Date LKR LKR
SIPL- Strategic 29,101,800.00 24,199,917.15 605100.05.03.13.010 BOA 83% 9-Sep-13 8-Sep-15 Inspirations (Pvt) Ltd USD USD
223,860.00 197,210.54 LKR LKR PALTRA (Guarantee) 34,957,650.00 28,753,366.19 605100.05.03.13.011 Ltd -Partners in BOA 82% 9-Sep-13 8-Sep-15 USD USD Alternative Training 268,905.00 210,378.16 LKR LKR
EML Consultants 6,267,820.00 2,896,912.00 605100.05.03.14.018 BOA 46% 1-Aug-14 31-Jul-15 (PVT) Ltd. USD USD
48,214.00 22,106.48 LKR LKR
1,136,000.00 1,010,605.00 605100.05.03.14.026 Creators Forum. PO 89% 27-Oct-14 31-Jan-15 USD USD
8,738.46 7,835.53 LKR LKR
605100.05.03.14.024 Business Consultancy 7,000,110.00 5,837,777.00 BOA 83% 1-Jan-15 30-Jun-15 A Services USD USD
53,847.00 44,553.64 LKR LKR
605100.05.03.14.024 5,500,300.00 4,106,648.00 Creators Forum BOA 75% 1-Jan-15 30-Jun-15 B USD USD
42,310.00 31,381.29 LKR LKR
605100.05.03.14.024 Management 7,930,390.00 1,103,550.00 BOA 14% 1-Jan-15 30-Jun-15 C Frontiers USD USD
61,003.00 8,417.34 LKR LKR SUB TOTAL LKR 74% 91,894,070.00 67,908,775.34
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USD USD USD 706,877.46 521,882.98
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ACHIEVEMENTS
Key achievements for the reporting period are listed below. Management/Administration - Ensured smooth closure of SPICE guest house in the East and renewal of leases for other premises. - Revised Program Description and Budgets and responded to costed extension modification request. The project will now run till March 2017 with a budget of little over $15m. - Preliminary discussions were held and tentative plans evolved on restructuring for different extension and programming scenarios. - Continued support for grant implementation and monitoring from Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Colombo offices. Grants - Awarded grants to Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR) and the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCW), Sri Lanka Development Journalist Forum (SDJF) and ZOA Relief, Hope, Recovery (ZOA) during this quarter through the APS process. - Successfully processed and awarded grants under the voter education RFA to the Center for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), CHANGE, Puttlam and HUDEC – CARITAS Jaffna. - Provided support to CSO initiatives like the March 12 Declaration for clean politics under the direct activities budget line. - Continued monitoring of ongoing grant implementation. Capacity Building - Held initial discussions to take forward findings and conclusions of the two civil society studies completed in the previous quarter. A draft scope of work was developed for ICNL to provide a comparative analysis of international civil society, augmenting the local study. Due to scheduling issues dissemination and follow up action are planned to be implemented in the second quarter of the forthcoming financial year. - Conducted one session on Competing narratives of Nationalism(s) – a component of the CORE VALUES training program for selected second-tier civil society leaders. SPICE Grantees - Continued facilitation of capacity building initiatives including: • Income generation strategies and action plans developed for ORHAN. • Review strategic plan of CAMID. • One-day workshop on proposal writing for CAMID. • Initial two-day workshop with the participation of selected members of the Board of Governors and all staff to develop a strategic plan for CHRD.
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• A three day follow-up workshop conducted for CPPHR staff to introduce tools for integrating gender into their programs and campaigns. • Second training on media and communications conducted for CPPHR, to identify different communication methods and thematic communication formats. • Practical guidance given to FOSDOO staff to develop Most Significant Change (MSC) stories for each of their strategic thematic areas. • Training on governance functions conducted for identified new committee members of WDF. • Training on disaster management conducted for CDO staff. • Workshop conducted to develop a work plan for the outreach and capacity building unit of CPA. • Training and coaching on Project Cycle Management (PCM), reporting and documentation conducted for WANT. • Two workshops for each of the 16 District Consortiums of NNAF facilitated to assess the network and identify areas for capacity development. • Strategic planning process continued with MWDRF and MWDT. • Discussions with staff of R2L continued to support the mainstreaming of gender within the organization, projects and campaigns - Two group trainings on the Rights Based Approach (RBA) in Tamil medium for 16 SPICE regional grantees and one USAID direct grantee. - Group training on basic finance management in Sinhala medium for 12 SPICE grantees. - Group training on media and communications for six direct grantees of USAID and five SPICE grantees. - Follow-up on capacity building initiatives of CPPHR, EG, MWDRF, NAFSO and NewAROW. Direct USAID Grantees - Continued facilitation of capacity building initiatives including: - Second phase of Donor Mapping Study commenced to capture trends in funding among donors in the current political climate. - CSR mapping initiatedin collaboration with LRWHF to explore potential funding opportunities. Following this, LRWHF was able to initiate CSR partnerships with some private sector companies. - Business plan developed for the rubber foot production component of Center for the Handicapped (CHF). - A fund-raising plan being developed for MENCAFEP. - Facilitated an exchange visit for organizations working on disabilities to build a common advocacy platform. Three direct grantees and four SPICE grantees participated in the event. - Completed a strategic plan and restructuring process for Sevalanka Foundation. - Developed succession plans for Jaffna Social Action Center (JSAC) and Shanthiham.
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- Conducted a grant proposal writing skills development workshop to facilitate resource mobilization support for Family Rehabilitation Center (FRC). - Finalized and introduced procurement procedure/guidelines to staff of Green Movement of Sri Lanka (GMSL). Project Activities (Achievements in this section are based on activities for the quarter) Outcome 1: Improved protection of citizens’ rights by Sri Lankan organizations - 1057 people received legal aid or victims’ assistance. This includes GBV assistance, support to obtain legal documents and other legal aid/victims assistance. - 408 people received at least one legal document. - 424 people received other legal aid, including legal advice, assistance to getting their names registered in the voters list, etc. - 93 people were trained to be Human Rights Defenders. - 11,713 persons were reached through human rights awareness-raising activities, including awareness on GBV issues. These people were reached through direct awareness programs trainings or indirectly through publications. - 43 new cases were followed up, in addition to ongoing cases. Outcome 2: Expanded civil society support for more inclusive, active citizen participation in development, reconciliation and governance - 193 organizations since the beginning of the project, including SPICE grantees and CSOs/CBOs assisted by SPICE grantees continue to represent marginalized communities to pressurize the government to implement policy and/or conduct government oversight at least at local level. - 246 civic associations were directly and/or indirectly part of the project at some point of time until this reporting period and among them 84% (207) are active in community development and governance. - From the beginning of the project until this reporting period, a total of 185 civil society organizations are/were engaged in advocacy interventions at some point of time. - 71% percent of SPICE grantees are part of or engaged in at least one network, contributing to a strengthened and more cohesive civil society compared to 45% in September 2014. - 20 activities were completed in support of peace and reconciliation during the reporting period totaling 210 for the entire period of the project. - Two new organizations totaling of 56 organizations up to this reporting period were assessed to be advocating pluralism, human rights and democracy. - 53 Community Projects were completed through the facilitation of SPICE grantees. Outcome 3: Enhanced management and technical capacity of indigenous organizations supporting civic participation and inclusive development - 66 organizations continue to receive capacity building support.
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- 57 people were trained through skill development training during the reporting period totaling 410 from the beginning of the project. - 92 percent of organizations receiving capacity-building support on the basis of an organizational improvement plan are meeting improvement benchmarks.
BEST PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES
Best Practice Adapting to Changing Context. Maintaining some flexibility and being fleet footed is proving to be a critical asset in a rapidly changing context. Structuring the program to be able to make use of opportunities that arise – like voter education, seizing the moment to campaign for cleaner politics around election time is proving to be essential in the effective implementation of the project. Similarly being able to make necessary accommodation in on-going programs to enable grantees to respond appropriately to the changing environment ensures stronger relationships and contributes to effectiveness.
In capacity-building interventions too, the adaptability to changing circumstances is necessary. The capacity building effort of SPICE is a structured process with several steps, one flowing into the other. However, here too flexibility in implementation is necessary to ensure that the interventions can be modified in light of significant contextual changes. For instance an organization that prioritized re-orienting their media and communication strategies in a closing environment found it to be relatively less important in a more open operational environment and instead sought to focus greater attention on other organizational issues.
Issue-Based Networking. Donor-driven collectives and bringing together organizations funded by a project into a network have often proved to be unsustainable. This type of externally driven networking ceases to be once the donor exits. However, bringing together like minded organizations through structured programs like core-values training, exposure visits between organizations working with people with disabilities focused on a learning objective, etc., have proven to be a more organic way of facilitating civil society collectives. They have the potential for joint action in the future. Challenges Continuing Monitoring by Military of HR Activities/Activists. Although the space for dissent and association has increased significantly (mainly in the South), since Jan. 8, 2015, after the change in the presidency, a high level of surveillance is still prevalent particularly in the North. Human rights groups, particularly in the North and East, are still visited by military intelligence, although less frequently. They are asked to give recent program reports, as they are required to report back to the Defense Ministry with this information. There are reported instances of intelligence officials walking in during training programs and asking for information.
The sophisticated system of information gathering that the military set up by recruiting former combatants and community members continues to be active. Some well-known human rights activists in the South too are regularly followed by intelligence personnel after protests or campaign programs. Intelligence personnel, dressed in civil clothes, are also present at protests held around the country, particularly on issues pertaining to the North and East and attacks on journalists etc. While there is increasing space for protests and expression of dissent - like the recent public signature campaign in the north and east calling for an international tribunal on war
85 crimes – the practice of intelligence officers openly taking photographs and footage of protestors and victim families continues. Families of the disappeared and activists working on the issue continue to complain of harassment by security forces.
Lack of Consultation. Another challenge that civil society organizations face is in gaining traction on influencing policy. Although some of the more prominent civil society leaders have access to decision-makers in the new government, the sector as a whole has found critical and constructive engagement with the new government on important issues a little challenging. The failure so far to introduce a Right to Information Act and electoral reforms as agreed and the appointment of individuals accused of corruption etc to the cabinet of Ministers are all issues on which civil society would like to engage with the government, but have been unable to do so in a meaningful way. This has caused some frustration among civil society leaders who championed the call for ‘regime change’. With key initiatives like the introduction of a transitional justice mechanism and constitutional reforms scheduled to take place over the next year, getting this engagement right would be key to improving democracy and good governance.
The recent appointment of civil society representatives to the Constitutional Council and calling for nominations from civil society for other independent commissions and the appointment of Mano Ganesan, perhaps the most civil society friendly member of parliament as the Minister responsible for engagement with civil society has the potential to change the dynamics for better. The dependence of the government on key civil society voices to take the accountability message to the South is an added incentive for the relationship between civil society and government to work better in the future.
EXPENDITURES
Project expenditures at the end of September 2015 totaled $8,369,975.39. During this quarter, the program continued to increase disbursements under grants and subcontracts. As of June 15, 2014, $3,573,729.95 was paid to grantees and subcontractors. On July 9, 2015, MSI signed Modification No. 4 to its Cooperative Agreement with Counterpart, which extends the period of performance to March 19, 2015 and increase the project ceiling to 11,029,110.00. Additionally, in response to the letter received from USAID Agreement Officer (AO), Sandro Carrillo, dated August 11, 2015, MSI submitted a costed $2.9M extending the period of performance till March 2017 as a response to USAID’s memo on August 11, 2015 requesting revisions to the SPICE budgeted based to implement the new program description. At the end of the fourth quarter of FY 2015, 85.11 percent of the obligated funding allocated under the January 13, 2015, sub-grant between MSI and Counterpart International had been spent.
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PROGRAMMING PRIORITIES FOR NEXT QUARTER
The following priorities have been identified for the next quarter. Project Management and Administration - Plan out programming priorities and the organizational structure required to deliver the program, once USAID has approved the requested modification for extending the project. - Ensure that a staff restructuring plan is put in place in keeping with Sri Lankan laws and best practice in the sector. Grants - Support and monitor ongoing grants. - Design and issue another RFA/APS to commit sub-grant allocations under SPICE for remaining funds as well as for any additional funds resulting from the impending modification. - Complete following grants: New ARROW II, WDF II, AWF II, CAMID, CRPC, Kinniya Vision, MWDT II, MWDRF II, RPK, ATM, MCC II, MARDAP, FOSDO II, ZOA II, CHANGE II, BDS, NPC II, NAFSO II, R2L II, Savisthri, FPA, H2H, WC, Dabindu, YCW, CMEV, ICES II Capacity Building - Continue preparatory work on disseminating the findings of the operational environment, and regulatory framework studies to catalyze civil society advocacy initiatives. SPICE Grantees - Continue to facilitate capacity-building initiatives identified and agreed upon in the OIPs. - Follow up on all of the capacity-building support provided, and ensure the institutionalization of changes. - Complete the review of benchmarks, the sixth and final step in the SPICE capacity-building cycle. - Conduct a quarterly review with ODFs and CBPs. Direct USAID Grantees - Finalize the report on potential CSR funding and small business venture development for Lanka Rain Water Harvesting Forum. - Complete business plan for Center for Handicapped – rubber foot production. - Complete middle management/ second tier leadership development program for FRC, LRWHF, SLCDF, Nucleus Foundation, ICES, Green Movement and Peragamana. - Finalize Sevalanka strategic plan and right sizing process. - Initiate ICES strategic planning process.
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- Finalize JSAC & Shanthiham business venture development program. - Finalize Navajeevana business venture development program. - Finalize MENCAFEP fund raising strategy and plan. - Complete HHR middle management report writing skills development and team building program. - Finalize finance management and improved budgeting program for NF and SLCDF. CORE Values Training - Finalize sessions on gender and the capstone modules. Finalize documentation of the CORE Values training. - Prepare for the next cycle of CORE Values training in the event that the extension to the SPICE Project is granted.
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ANNEX 1: Performance Monitoring Plan Update
Outcome 1: Improved protection of citizens’ rights by Sri Lankan organizations
The first outcome of SPICE is monitored using five indicators and three sub indicators. Their progress is given below:
1.1: # of domestic NGOs receiving USG support that are engaged in monitoring or advocacy work on human rights FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 06 16 25 25
The diagram below explains the progress of indicator 1.1 since the beginning of the project. This indicator has shown a steady growth since the beginning of the project. As of September 2015, a total of 45 domestic NGOs, which have received USG support through the SPICE Project are engaged in monitoring or advocacy work on human rights. USG support includes ongoing and/or completed grant support through the SPICE Project.
The geographical focus of the SPICE Project changed midway to accommodate more grantees from all over the country, rather than giving two sets of grants to a limited number of organizations. Thus, a greater number of organizations than that anticipated at the initial stage of setting targets, was awarded with grants. Hence, the targets are significantly overachieved.
50 45 45 39 40 36 35
30 28 Target, 25 25 23 19 20
15
10 7 6 16 5 7 8 5 3 6 0 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
# OF ORGs. For Period Cumulative # of ORGs. Target
A revision of targets for this indicator was proposed considering the extension of the project period but this has yet to be approved.
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1.2: # of individuals from low income or marginalized communities who received legal aid or victims’ assistance with USG support FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 150 14,690 8,245 22,885
The project found a great demand for legal aid or victims’ assistance for SIGNIFICANT individuals from low income or CONTRIBUTORS marginalized communities, and this (SINCE THE BEGINNING) indicator, 1.2, recorded significant CHR ZOA CPPHR progress from mid-2014. As the below PPCC CHANGE HUDEC diagram explains, a total of 42,037 AWF WDF MWDRF individuals received legal aid or victims’ MWDT WANT KOINONIA assistance since the beginning of the CHRD MCC SWDC project and 1057 individuals during this CRPC CDO SEED quarter. RPK MARDAP The diagram below presents the indicator progress over time, comparing the cumulative and quarterly progress with the targets.
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45,000 Cumulative, 42,037 40,980 20,000 40,000
35,000
15,000 30,000 27,300
Target, 22,885 25,000 20,640 10,000 16,334 20,000 16,179 13,680 15,000 14,840
5,000 10,000 6,660 155 4,306 150 … 5,000
155
23 23
8 8
70 70 54 54 200 306 629 563 805 948 184 473 128 272
2,839 2,839 5,171 5,171 7,652 1,512 1,844 1,930 1,870 2,629 5,566 6,361 - - FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
Adult Male Adult Female Youth Male Youth Female Total Cumulative Target
1.2.1: # of people reached by USG-funded interventions providing GBV services
FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 0 3000 2300 5300
The diagram given below shows the number of people reached through GBV services since the CONTRIBUTORS beginning of the project. 225 people were reached (SINCE THE BEGINNING) through GBV services during the reporting period SWDC AWF WDF which includes 16 adult males, 131 adult females, 10 NEWAROW PPCC AWA youth males and 68 youth females. With the CPPHR IWARE EG numbers reached this quarter, a total of 3,355 people were reached through GBV services during MWDT MWDRF FOSDO the entire period of the project. HUDEC WANT CHANGE RPK The progress of this indicator is observed to be lower than the targets anticipated at the initial stage of the project. One major reason for this is that many GBV cases are not reported due to the
91 associated social stigma. Thus, many organizations who identified the need for GBV related services could not achieve their anticipated targets, resulting in a lower progress of this indicator.
However, it should be noted that a number of initiatives to prevent/resolve/handle GBV related issues in various regions of the country are supported by the SPICE project, and these are not captured through this indicator. There are several structures/forums/coordination mechanisms that are supported under the SPICE Project, and these do have a number of indirect beneficiaries who are not captured through this indicator.
Adult Male 60 2%
Youth Female 909 27%
Youth Male 25 1% Adult Female 2364 70%
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1.2.2: # of people who received key government identification and other vital legal documents with assistance from target groups
FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 0 10,000 4500 14,500
Since most of the activities related to indicator 1.2.2, a sub indicator of 1.2 are SIGNIFICANT completed, the progress of this indicator CONTRIBUTORS has started to stabilize since the end of the previous quarter. 408 individuals received (SINCE THE BEGINNING) assistance to receive legal documents, increasing the cumulative progress to CHR AND CHANGE 36,603 from 36,195.
20,000 Cumulative, 40,000 36,195 36,603 18,000 35,000 16,000 30,000 14,000 22,826 25,000 12,000
10,000 20,000 16,555 8,000 Target, 14,500 12,924 13,369 15,000 6,000 10,000 10,000 4,000 6,271
3,631 408
4,485 4,485 1,745 1,745 2,556 5,503
85 85
415 415 161 161 747 73
1,099 1,099 5,000
1,581 1,581 6,215 6,215 2,818 6,265
157 157
854 854 144 144 482 93
1,125 1,125
, , , , , ,
, ,
, , , , , 2,000 ,
, ,
, , , , , ,
, ,
, , , , , ,
, ,
YF YF YF YF
AF YM AF YM AF AF YM YM
AM AM AM AM
YF AF
YM AM - - FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
AM AF YM YF Total Cumulative Target
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1.2.3: # of beneficiaries of other legal aid or victims assistance
FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 150 1,690 1245 3,025
1.2.3 is a sub indicator for 1.2. 424 individuals were reported to have received other legal aid or victim assistance during the reporting period and this makes the cumulative progress 3,970. Among the CONTRIBUTORS 424 people who were assisted during this reporting (SINCE THE BEGINNING) period, 83 were adult males, 185 were adult females, CHRD EG MCC 45 were male youths and 111 were female youths. HUDEC WANT ZOA CHANGE ORHAN CDO The assistance contributing to this indicator includes: court representation for individuals except in GBV WDF SWDC CPPHR related cases; assistance to visit family members in KOINONIA PPCC CRPC prison or care packs for family members whose MARDAP breadwinner is in prison; livelihood assistance; assistance to obtain voter registration; etc.
2,500 4,500
3,970 4,000
2,000 3,546 3,500 3,351 3,085 3,067 3,000 1,500 2,4682,323 2,500
2,000 1,000 1,840 1,500
1,000 500 599 798 798 424 150 666 284 500
145 145 195
404 404
45 45 70 70 47 23 5 455 185 239 39 136 73 134 21 56 55 43 52 83 185 45 111 - - FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
Adult Male Adult Female Youth Male Youth Female Total Cumulative Target
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1.3: # of human rights defenders trained and supported FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 0 455 307 714
HRD’s trained during this quarter CONTRIBUTORS Adult (SINCE THE BEGINNING) 16 Male CHRD R2L AWF Adult NEWAROW CPPHR PCA 24 MCC MWDT MWDRF Female Youth EHED RPK FOSDO 20 Male 93 people were HUDEC Youth 33 trained to be Human Female Rights Defenders Total 93 during this quarter, making the cumulative progress reach 1348.
The project has already overachieved the fiscal year target and LOP.
1400 Cumulative, 1348 1400
1200 1200
1000 1000
767 800 728 FY Target, 714 800
581 600 600 455
400 400
200 200
39
8 15 8 8 68 272 87 301 39 390 35 117 0 0 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 LOP
Adult Male Adult Female Youth Male Youth Female Total Cumulative FY Target
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1.4: # of people reached by HR awareness-raising activities FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 100 14,535 7,300 21,935
The diagram given below compares the progress of indicator 1.4 across different reporting periods in the bars (axis on the left), and cumulative progress against targets CONTRIBUTORS in the lines (axis on the right). As the (SINCE THE BEGINNING) diagram shows, 11,713 individuals were R2L NAFSO SARVODAYA reached through HR awareness-raising SDJF EG VILUTHU activities during this quarter. Of the 11,713 AWF WDF SWDC individuals, 3148 are adult males, 5797 are NEWAROW CPPHR KOINONIA adult females, 927 are male youths, and EVESDOW PPCC ASNN 1841 are female youths. IWARE AWA CHRD As the diagram explains, the fiscal year CHRD CAMID EHED targets and LOP are already significantly MCC MWDT MWDRF overachieved by the project and there is a HUDEC WANT FOSDO proposal to revise the targets. The main ZOA CHANGE ORHAN reason for overachievement of targets is CDO SEED RPK that the grantees and grant activities were ATM SAVISTRI DABINDU not known at the time the targets were set. CRPC WC ATM BERENDINA LST H2H YCW
35,000 Cumulative, 55,954 60,000
30,000 50,000 44,241 25,000 40,000 32,973 20,000 27,529 30,000 24,393 15,000 Target, 21,935 20,000 10,000 14,535 10,674 11,713 7,769 10,000 5,000 100 1,636 2,982
53 53
2,498 2,498 3,820 1,616 2,740 1,705 2,463 4,101 1,014 3,148 5,797 1,841
8 8 6 957 128 33 33 6 194 831 269 342 192 191 927 - - FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
Adult Male Adult Female Youth Male Youth Female Total Cumulative Target
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In addition to the progress recorded above, a number of publications were also produced by some of the grantees, which are still under distribution. Furthermore, Active Theatre Movement has reached more than 3,500 individuals through their drama programs during the Nallur Temple Festival Season – a key local religious event.
1.5: # of legal cases handled by target NGOs FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 100 113 113 326
The diagram below compares the progress SIGNIFICANT of indicator 1.5 across different time CONTRIBUTORS periods in the bars, and cumulative (SINCE THE BEGINNING) progress against targets in the lines. As the bar diagram indicates, 43 new cases were CPPHR AND CHRD handled by SPICE grantees during the reporting period, which causes the OTHER CONTRIBUTORS cumulative progress to reach 312.
Compared to all the quarters of fiscal year MWDT CHANGE MWDRF 2015, progress in the present quarter is higher because there was a sudden demand in the East to file more cases relating to a dispute in graduate appointments to state sector jobs.
The line diagram reveals that the progress of this indicator was on par with targets and with the present quarter progress, 95% of the LOP is achieved.
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350 140 130 Cumulative, 312
300 Target, 326 120 269 261
250 235 100 21989
200 213 80
150 130 60 43 100 100 40 26
50 16 20 8
0 0 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
# of Cases Cumulative Target
Outcome 2: Expanded civil society support for more inclusive, active citizen participation in development, reconciliation, and governance The second outcome of SPICE is monitored using seven indicators. Its progress is given 2.1 % target civic associations active in community development & governance FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 50% 60% 75% 75% below.
The diagram below compares the number of civic associations active in community development and governance, with the total number of civic associations supported by the project (bars-left axis). The diagram also compares cumulative progress of the project against targets (lines-right axis). As presented in the bar chart, a total of 247 civic associations were supported under the project since its inception, and among them 84% (207) are assessed to be active in community development and governance.
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300 % of Active CAs, 90% 84% 84% 78% 80% 246 247 250 Target, 75% 70% 64% 206 207
200 185 60% 60% 159 50% 150 141 39% 144 40%
101 100 30%
55 20% 50 10%
0 0% FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
# of CAs # of CAs Active in Dev. & Gov. % of Active CAs Target
The line diagram shows that the progress of this indicator increased over time and stabilized between previous and present quarters. However, it is also important to note that there is the possibility of fluctuation in this indicator progress with new civic associations coming on board through new grants, during the extended project period. 2.2: # of USG-funded organizations representing marginalized constituencies trying to affect government policy or conducting government oversight FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 05 100 100 205 Note: Civic associations, as per the indicator definition, include certain membership based SPICE grantees as well as civic associations supported by SPICE grantees.
The below diagram displays SPICE grantees and organizations supported by SPICE grantees representing marginalized constituencies, trying to impact on government policy or conduct government oversight (shown in the bars), and compares the progress of the indicator against targets (shown in the lines).
Since the inception of the project, 33 SPICE grantees and 160 organizations supported by SPICE grantees totaling 193 are accounted as representing marginalized constituencies trying to influence government policy or conduct government oversight. The 160 organizations supported by SPICE grantees include formal community organizations and informal community groups, and their interventions are mostly at the local community level.
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The 160 organizations supported by SPICE grantees are from various parts of the country, and the diagram shows an increase in indicator progress. This is indicative of an increase in civil society involvement in pursuing policy oriented goals, at least at the local community level.
While the project has not yet met the LOP, the marginal differences are less than 10% and it can be expected that the LOP can be achieved during the extended period with new organizations coming on board.
2.3: # of civil society organizations (CSOs) receiving USG assistance engaged in advocacy interventions FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 05 85 80 170
The below diagram displays the number of CSOs receiving USG assistance through the SPICE project engaged in advocacy interventions against various reporting periods in a bar chart, and a comparison of indicator progress against targets in the line chart. A total of 185 CSOs, including 48 SPICE grantees and 137 CSOs supported by SPICE grantees, are assessed to be engaged in advocacy interventions at least at the local community level.
100
200 Total , 185
180 167 169 Target, 170 160 151
140
120 111 137
100 133 134 119 90 80 85 60 48 42 40 27 27 48 20 34 35 26 32 15 5 21 0 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2015 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 LOP
Supported by SPICE Supported by Grantee Total Target
The diagram also reveals that there is a growth in the number of organizations involved in advocacy interventions in the SPICE project since the beginning and the LOP for the project has been over achieved with this quarter’s progress.
The diagram also clearly reveals that more CSOs are accommodated and facilitated by SPICE grantees to engage in advocacy interventions, a clear indication of achieving the second objective of SPICE: expanded civil society support for more inclusive, active citizen participation in development, reconciliation, and governance.
2.4: # of USG supported events, trainings, or activities designed to build support for peace or reconciliation among key actors of the conflict FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 0 100 75 175
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The below diagram describes the number of USG supported events, trainings, or activities by SPICE grantees designed to CONTRIBUTORS build support for peace or reconciliation (SINCE THE BEGINNING) among key actors of the conflict across NPC SARVODAYA NAFSO different reporting periods, and compares PCA ORHAN CDO the cumulative progress against project CHANGE SEED CRPC targets.
20 such activities are reported as being completed during the present reporting period, which increases the cumulative progress to 230.
The project has already over achieved the LOP and a revision of target has been proposed.
250 230
210
200
164 Target, 175 150 150
115 100 100
67
48 46 50 35 24 24 23 20 14 1 1 0 2014 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2015 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 LOP
# of Activities Cumulative Target
2.5:% target civic groups participating in at least one network FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 25% 60% 75% 75%
The activities reported under this indicator include Inter -religious committee meetings, LLRC related discussions /trainings, inter-religious programs, awareness programs related to LLRC, conflict prevention/ peace related trainings etc.
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The below diagram compares the number of grantees who are part of at least one network, with the total number of organizations supported against the project targets.
90 100% 100% 80 90% % of CSO are participating inTarget %, 75%80% 70 Network, 71% 70% 60 60% 69% 67% 56 60% 49 50 60% 59% 52% 45 42 50% 53% 40 40 38 48% 34 32 45% 40% 30 30 25% 30% 21 22 20 17 17 17 20% 10 10 10 10 6 10% 1 1 0 0% 2013 Q32013 Q42014 Q12014 Q22014 Q32014 Q42015 Q12015 Q22015 Q32015 Q4 LOP
No. of Organizations No. of ORG in Network % of CSO are participating in Network Target %
As the diagram shows, 40 out of 56 (71%) organizations are assessed to be part of a network at the divisional level and/or the district level and/or the national level. The diagram also shows an increase in the number of organizations supported by SPICE, which are also part of some network. Of the 40 organizations which are part of some network, a number of them receive at least some support for networking related activities. However, most of the networking activities of these organizations are spontaneous.
With this quarter’s progress, the fiscal year target and LOP have almost been almost achieved, while the marginal gap is only 4%.with the marginal gap being only 4%
2.6 Index of strength of networks supported FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP
103
- 35% 50% 50%
The diagram below compares the strength of networks of two organizations between two reporting periods. The MCC’s network growth is highlighted in Blue and NAFSO’s facilitation of network among the District Fisheries Organizations of North is shown in red. The diagram clearly shows the Initial scores and present scores of the two networks against 9 assessment areas.
It is important to note that the scores of each network are based on the perception and understanding of randomly selected members. The diagram reveals that the percentage of growth is 83% which is more than the LOP. However, this cannot be considered as an objective value as the scores are influenced by the perception of the stakeholders of the network. The 83% growth value has been arrived by subtracting the average area covered by both networks during the initial period from the average area covered by both networks at present.
MCC (Initial) MCC (Q4, 2015) NAFSO (Initial) NAFSO (Q4, 2015)
Collecting and managing knowledge for members 4.5 Strengthening wider 4 Promoting dialogue, consciousness, 3.5 exchange, and learning commitment, and… 3 among members 2.5 2 Mobilization and utilization 1.5 Responding to member of the resources for the 1 suggestions for improving 0.5 network functioning are… the network 0
Mobilizing Resources for Defining the purposes of the activities of the the network Network Shaping the agenda by Facilitating action by amplifying little-known or members little-understood ideas for…
MCC’s Network Network Facilitated by NASFO MCC2.7: #– Mannarof critical Citizen Sri Committee’s Lankan organizations network thatNAFSO remain facilitated active a network in advocating among the District pluralism,consist of MCC, human other rightsdistrict andcommittees democracy exist in Fisheries Organizations of Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi,FY 2013 Mullaitivu Targets and Vavuniya.FY 2014 The Targets divisional KilinoFY chchi2015 and Targets Mannar. These societiesLOP constitute committees6 of MCC and MCC’s network12 engage the Northern25 Province Fisher Alliance 25formed with other key organizations such as R2L, CHRD, during the project period. etc.
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The below given diagram compares the number of organizations that remain active in advocating pluralism, human rights, and democracy against the total number of organizations receiving grants through the SPICE project, with targets set across different periods.
At the end of 2015 Q4, 56 organizations received grants through the SPICE project, and 48 of them were assessed to be advocating pluralism, human rights and democracy. These organizations include those who have ongoing grants/completed grants provided through the SPICE project.
The Fiscal year targets and LOP are overachieved and a revision of targets has been proposed, considering the extension period of the project.
60 56 54
50 48 46 45 42 39 40 38
34
30 28
Target , 25
20 12
10
0 2014 Q4 2015 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 LOP
# of Org. Count. # of Total ORG. Target
Outcome 3: Enhanced management and technical capacity of indigenous organizations supporting civic participation and inclusive development
The third outcome of SPICE is monitored using three indicators. Their progress is given below:
3.1: % of target Sri Lankan organizations meeting improvement benchmarks in a capacity building plan FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP - 80% 80% 80
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The diagram given below compares the organizations meeting improvement bench marks against the total number of organizations receiving capacity building support against an organizational improvement plan.
As the diagram describes, 93% of the 40 organizations are assessed to be meeting improvement benchmarks. This is beyond the Fiscal Year Targets and LOP and 30% more than the progress of September 2014. However, it should be noted that the present progress is after a few amendments to the OIP time lines of certain organizations, and some of the OIPs are under further amendment considering the extension of the project.
40
35
30
25
17 7 25 10 12 37
, , , , , , , ,
26 12 14 27 40
20 15
, , , , , , ,
15
10
5
47% 96% 83% 86% 63% 93%
# of Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized OIP of # Grantees Finalized
# of Grantees Benchmarks met of Grantees # # of Grantees of Benchmarks # Grantees met of Benchmarks # Grantees met of Benchmarks # Grantees met of Benchmarks # Grantees met of Benchmarks # Grantees met 0 In FY 2014 In FY 2015 In FY 2014 In FY 2015 In FY 2014 In FY 2015 SPICE DGP SPICE + DGP
# of Grantees Finalized OIP # of Grantees met Benchmarks % of ORG Meeting Benchmark
3.2:# of Sri Lankan organizations receiving capacity building support FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 10 40 45 45
The diagram below compares the number of organizations receiving capacity building support across different reporting periods with the set targets.
The progress of this indicator has stabilized since 2015 Q2 and as of 2015 Q4, a total of 67 organizations were receiving capacity building support (this includes organizations which have finished receiving capacity building support as well).
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The capacity building support includes systematic capacity building support provided against a set organizational improvement plan, as well as capacity building support through trainings.
# of Organizations Receiving CB Support, 67 63 63
27 23 23 Target, 45 40 36 0 30 14 14 14 0 14 14
10 26 26 26 8 22 0 16 8
2013 Q4 2014 Q4 2015 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q 4 LOP
# of SPICE Grantees Receiving OCB # of DGP Grantees Receiving OCB # of ORGs receiving only Trainings # of Organizations Receiving CB Support Target
3.3# of people trained in specific areas designed to improve Sri Lankan organization institutional capacity FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP - 180 180 360
The diagram below describes the number of people trained in specific areas to improve the institutional capacity of Sri Lankan organizations across fiscal years 2014 and 2015, and compares the cumulative progress with fiscal year targets and LOP.
As described in the diagram, a total of 410 people received capacity building training since the beginning of the project, whereas 57 people were trained during the present quarter. The male/female disaggregation of training recipients is presented in the diagram.
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200 450 Cumulative, 410 180 400
160 Target, 360 350
140 300 120 250 183 227 100 183 200 180 80 150 60
100 40 80 86 81 59 38 20 31 50 22 13 0 0 FY 2014 FY 2015 LOP
Adult Male Adult Female Youth Male Youth Female Total Cumulative Target
It should be noted that the same persons attending trainings in different learning areas were counted more than once as mentioned in the PIRS. Thus, the actual number of people who received skill development training may be lower than the number reported.
Purpose: Expanded space for independent collective action by citizens, particularly in war affected areas, with regard to the key issues of governance, inclusion, reconciliation, and development
While the three outcomes of SPICE and their indicators establish the achievement of the purpose of SPICE, there are also three purpose-level indicators. These three purpose level indicators together with the outcome level indicators reveal/indicate the achievement of the purpose of SPICE. 0.1: % of target civic groups that had an impact on development or governance decisions FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP - 60% 75% 75% The diagram below compares the number of organizations which reported an impact on development or governance with the total number of organizations supported under the SPICE project.
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As described using bars, 29 (52%) out of 56 organizations that received grants since the inception of the project demonstrate an impact. This is a 20% increase compared to the progress reported in FY 2014 Q4.
While the achievement of this indicator seems to be low, it should be noted that out of the 56 organizations, 22 organizations have not even completed their 1st grant cycle, which significantly affects the calculation of this indicator. Most of these grants will come to an end during the upcoming reporting period and by that time the LOP of this indicator will be achieved.
0.2: # of Community projects completed with active citizen participation FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP 03 106 108 75% The chart below compares the number of community projects completed with active citizen participation during the entire project period with the targets.
As the chart indicates, 74 community projects were completed during the fiscal year 2014 and 79 community projects were completed during the fiscal year 2015, totaling 153 since the start of the project.
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250
Target, 221
200
150 Cumulative , 153
109
100 98 100
74 76
50 74 53 3 2 22 2 0 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015 Q1 FY 2015 Q2 FY 2015 Q3 FY 2015 Q4 LOP
# of Community Projects Cumulative Target
While the achievement of fiscal year targets are lower, it should be noted that around 60 more community projects are currently in progress and will be completed during the coming reporting period. Hence the LOP of the project will be achieved during the upcoming reporting period.
0.3: “Most significant change” (MSC)in target groups/communities resulting from target group efforts FY 2013 Targets FY 2014 Targets FY 2015 Targets LOP - 09 16 30
There are 56 identified stories available at the end of the fiscal year 2015 and most of them were reported as MSC stories / success stories / box stories. Even though the LOP has been numerically achieved, the final shortlisting of 30 stories will be carried out during the upcoming reporting period, there are 38 ongoing grants. The LOP will be revised for the extended period of the project.
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