Engaging Diaspora in Reconciliation Efforts in Sri Lanka: Lessons Learnt

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Amjad Mohamed-Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
The World ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation ◽  
National Framework

With nearly three million Sri Lankans living overseas, across the world, there is a significant role that can be played by this constituency in post-conflict reconciliation.  This paper will highlight the lessons learnt from a process facilitated by International Alert (IA) and led by the author, working to engage proactively with the diaspora on post-conflict reconciliation in Sri Lanka.  The paper shows that for any sustainable impact, it is also critical that opportunities are provided to diaspora members representing the different communities of the country to interact and develop horizontal relations, whilst also ensuring positive vertical relations with the state. The foundation of such effective engagement strategies is trust-building. Instilling trust and gaining confidence involves the integration of the diaspora into the national framework for development and reconciliation. This will allow them to share their human, social and cultural capital, as well as to foster economic growth by bridging their countries of residence and origin.

scholarly journals Towards a Heritage-Led Sustainable Post-Conflict Reconciliation: A Policy-Led Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1686
Author(s):  
Ataa Alsalloum ◽  
Andre Brown
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
World Heritage ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Subsequent Paper ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The World ◽  
Analysis Strategy ◽  
International Audience ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation

In today’s context, threats to heritage sites posed by armed conflicts are prevalent. This article argues for an urgently needed framework, based on authoritative heritage policy documents, to guide sustainable reconciliation in such circumstances. The methodological approach proposed derives from a content analysis strategy that investigated a selected list of documents. Key extractions are then synthesised to develop useful recommendations for sustainable post-conflict reconciliation in heritage contexts. This conceptual framework also helps to achieve the potential re-nomination of any reconstructed sites which, in turn, provides both additional robust protection of heritage values, and supports sustainable development. This article presents the first part of a broader research study and is intended to communicate the results to a multi-faceted international audience including stakeholders, along with policy and decision makers in the world heritage field. The application of the proposed framework to the world heritage cities of Damascus and Aleppo is the subject of the second part of this research and is presented in a subsequent paper in this special issue of the journal Sustainability.

Prevalence of Suicidal Ideation in Sri Lanka

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudath Samaraweera ◽  
Athula Sumathipala ◽  
Sisira Siribaddana ◽  
S. Sivayogan ◽  
Dinesh Bhugra
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
General Population ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
National Average ◽  
The West ◽  
Suicide Methods ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Completed Suicide ◽  
The World

Background: Suicidal ideation can often lead to suicide attempts and completed suicide. Studies have shown that Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world but so far no studies have looked at prevalence of suicidal ideation in a general population in Sri Lanka. Aims: We wanted to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation by randomly selecting six Divisional Secretariats (Dss) out of 17 in one district. This district is known to have higher than national average rates of suicide. Methods: 808 participants were interviewed using Sinhala versions of GHQ-30 and Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Of these, 387 (48%) were males, and 421 (52%) were female. Results: On Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation, 29 individuals (4%) had active suicidal ideation and 23 (3%) had passive suicidal ideation. The active suicidal ideators were young, physically ill and had higher levels of helplessness and hopelessness. Conclusions: The prevalence of suicidal ideation in Sri Lanka is lower than reported from the West and yet suicide rates are higher. Further work must explore cultural and religious factors.

Socio-cultural Resource for Kazakhstan Modernization

2012 ◽  
pp. 74-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Stavinskaya ◽  
E. Nikishina
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Competitive Advantages ◽  
Institutional Reforms ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Bonding Social Capital ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Cultural Features

The opportunities of the competitive advantages use of the social and cultural capital for pro-modernization institutional reforms in Kazakhstan are considered in the article. Based on a number of sociological surveys national-specific features of the cultural capital are marked, which can encourage the country's social and economic development: bonding social capital, propensity for taking executive positions (not ordinary), mobility and adaptability (characteristic for nomad cultures), high value of education. The analysis shows the resources of the productive use of these socio-cultural features.

Peacebuilding requirements in post-conflict societies

2020 ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Zyad Samir Al-Dabagh
Keyword(s):  
Major Obstacle ◽  
Normal Life ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The People ◽  
The World

The process of building peace and laying its foundations within the societies of the world, especially those newly emerging from the stage of conflict, are among the important and indispensable matters. Without peace, opportunities diminish in obtaining the essentials of a safe and normal life, and without peace, societies cannot It works and advances towards a better future. However, peacebuilding operations in many societies emerging from conflict or those in which they live may face a set of challenges and obstacles that constitute a major obstacle to them, which necessitates searching for the best ways and means by which these obstacles can be addressed in order to build a real and effective peace that is reflected Positively on the people of those societies.

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

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