Inter-cultural Dialogue Project

Inter- Cultural dialogue project is a project conducted by the British council of Srilanka with ambition of bringing people form different cultures together. The project emphasizes on bringing different youth from different cultures together for a discussion where it will create a forum for the youth. We believe the better we know each other the lesser the problems will be.

The overall objective of this proposed project is to contribute to strengthening peace and harmony among different ethnic communities living in different parts of the country.

Background

For almost a quarter century, the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka have been severely affected by the on-going civil war. The war has contributed to a further polarization of the communities in the north and east and the people in the rest of the country. The north east region of Sri Lanka is predominantly inhabited by Tamils and Muslims whereas the majority of the population in the rest of the country is Sinhalese. The level of interaction and communication that earlier prevailed between the communities in the north and east and their counter parts in the rest of the country deteriorated rapidly. Its implications are quite undesirable with elements of escalated distrust, enmity, rivalry, jealousy and lack of mutual understanding and ignorance of each others’ cultures, behaviours, languages, environments etc.

The polarisation of communities in the war affected region and those in the rest of the country is largely seen among the youth population of this country. The current youth in the age range of 17 -35 yrs are the real victims of this situation. Many of them have lost their real identities, opportunities for education and mobility & interaction with the larger community. Other than perceiving a gun culture, these youth have been deprived of holding a different world view. Meanwhile the youth in the rest of the country were also deprived of accessing the conflict affected areas and building linkages with different ethnic communities living in the north and east. Apart from security reasons that restrict the physical mobility of different communities in the north and east and rest of the country, these communities also lack appropriate modes of communication such as language skills, technologies etc. for improved communication.

In the circumstances, it is important that ethnic amity is strengthened among youth living in the war affected north and east and those in the rest of the country. Having experienced war for most of their lives, they will be called upon to play a role in building sustainable peace in their communities. Young people have urgent needs to be able to cope with and overcome these challenges, and contribute to a peaceful and prosperous future. To face these challenges Sri Lanka’s young people need to understand each other, and share there experiences with each other. They need to be equipped to play a critical role in establishing sustainable peace in the island.

The present proposal suggests focusing on the youth of this country and emphasizes the need for promoting intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding among youth as a precursor for conflict prevention and peace building.