Strengthening Civil Society in Sri Lanka
Through Building Advocacy Partnerships Among NGOs and
Developing Local Leadership
(PROJECT NO. S. ECAPE-04-GR-123 (CS))
PROGRESS REPORT
January 1, through June 30, 2006
Submitted to the Dept. of State
July, 2006
International Training Office,
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
Strengthening Civil Society in Sri Lanka Through Building Advocacy
Partnerships Among NGOs and Developing Local Leadership
PROJECT NO. S. ECAPE-04-GR-123 (CS)
PROGRESS REPORT
January 1, through June 30, 2006
Introduction
The International Training Office at Northern Illinois University (NIU) submits this sixmonth progress report of the above project for the period from January 1, through June
30, 2006, to the Office of Citizen Exchanges, Bureau of Educational Affairs of the U.S.
Department of State. It summarizes the major activities carried out related to the project,
titled “ Strengthening Civil Society in Sri Lanka Through Building Advocacy
Partnerships Among NGOs and Developing Local Leadership” (also known as GROW
II) during the above mentioned period. GROW II Project is a partnership between NIU
and two major university level academic institutions in Sri Lanka, namely, Sri Lanka
Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) and the Open University of Sri Lanka
(OU) under the guidance of two advisory committees- at NIU and in Sri Lanka. The
project is in its second year of operation. The reporting six-month project period
signifies a phase of consolidation, celebration as well as strategizing for future
sustainability. A variety of activities took place both at NIU and in Sri Lanka related to
the above-mentioned salient elements of this phase. Below is a list of some of the
significant activities that took place in Sri Lanka during the reporting period - from
January 1, through June 30, 2006.
Overview of Project Activities in Sri Lanka
The following list includes the activities that took place in Sri Lanka during the reporting
period: (1) Initiation of the second major program on Good Governance at SLIDA (2)
Planning work related to the continuation of the Certificate Program on Good
Governance by the Open University of Sri Lanka through distance mode (funded by the
Asia Development Bank) (3) Planning workshop on Women and Democratic
Participation (4) National seminar on Women and Democratic Participation, attended by
160 participants (5) Further strengthening of sister linkages with the NGO Coalition (6)
Setting up of an alumni association on Good Governance (7) Further strengthening of
Model Villages as social laboratories on people’s empowerment (8) Monthly meetings of
the Core Advisory Committee in providing guidance and direction (9) Technical
assistance to SLIDA in the implementation of the Diploma program on Good Governance
and Local Leadership (10) Implementation of two workshops by the Project Director and
the Project Advisor as NIU input into the program on Good Governance and Local
Leadership (11) Four-member team from NIU engaged in a series of project –related
activities in Sri Lanka (12) Conclusion of the first phase of the Good Governance and
Local Leadership Program and the certificate award ceremony (13) Summative
evaluation of the Certificate Program on Good Governance (14) Preliminary work related
to a summative evaluation of the entire two-year project (2004-2006) and (15)
Strategizing for program sustainability.
Overview of Project Activities at Northern Illinois University
At NIU there were many efforts by the GROW Project leaders directed towards
enhancing the smooth progress of the project during the reporting period. These include
the following: (1) Continuous updating of the project website (2) Conduct of monthly
meetings of the NIU-Sri Lanka Project Advisory Committee (3) Presentation of a
conference paper on the impact of the GROW II Project by Nalika Diyadawa (Graduate
Assistant funded by the project) at the 15th Annual Symposium of the African American
and Latino/Latinas held at the University of Illinois in Chicago on April 17, 2006 (4)
Publication of the Journal article titled “Grassroots Empowerment of Women: Portraits of
Four Villages in Sri Lanka” in the Convergence, April 2006 (journal of the International
Council of Adult Education based in Toronto, Canada) (5) Implementation of NIU
seminar on “Celebrating GROW Experience” held on April 6, 2006 attended by 50
participants (6) Preparation and refinement of an on-line teaching module on problem
based learning by the staff of the Faculty Development Office, as a part of IT curriculum
of the Diploma Program (7) Initiation of compiling a comprehensive manual on the
curriculum of the Diploma Program on Good Governance (8) Financial assistance for
completion of the Basic Literacy Center building in Pompekele given by a member of the
NIU Advisory Committee and another financial donation by a AC member (9) Gifting of
200 children’s books to four GROW Model Villages of the project in Sri Lanka, donated
by a member of the NIU Advisory member (10) Continuous technical assistance and
guidance given to the Diploma in Good Governance Program by the GROW Project
leaders at NIU and (11) Unremitting assistance given in diverse fronts to other project
related activities in Sri Lanka and (12) Initiation of a summative evaluation of the twoyear project by Prof. Kay Forest, Chair, Department of Sociology at NIU and also a
member of NIU-Sri Lanka Advisory Committee, in collaboration with Ms. Jezima
Ismail, Chair of the Core Advisory Group in Sri Lanka.
The following sections of the report elaborate some of the more significant outcomes
mentioned above.
SIGNIFICANT GRANT ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN SRI LANKA DURING THE
REPORTING PERIOD
Initiation of the Second Program on Good Governance and Local Leadership
The program was inaugurated on January 13, 2006 at SLIDA with a simple ceremony,
participated by key leaders of the GROW Project, members of the GROW Advisory
Committee and a group of specially invited national level leaders in Sri Lanka. The
inauguration program included addresses by the SLIDA Director (Mr. T.B. Tennakoon)
Vice Chancellor the Open University of Sri Lanka (Professor Uma Coomarsawmy),
Chairperson of the Core Advisory Committee (Mrs. Jezima Ismail) and the Manager of
the Good Governance Program (Mr. P.B. Herath). The Coordinator of the GROW II
Project (Mrs. Seela Ebert) was the Master of the Ceremony of the inauguration program.
Subsequent to the ceremonial inauguration, program leaders at SLIDA conducted a
detailed orientation to the Program on Good Governance to the newly selected group of
participants. The orientation program included sharing program goal and objectives, an
overview of the program curriculum, expectations from the program participants,
academic requirements, nature of progress assessment of the participants, logistical
arrangements, and other details of the program administration. At the conclusion of the
orientation, a handbook that clearly spelled out the all the particulars including the
detailed curriculum was given to the participants. (A copy of the handbook is enclosed.)
Composition of Participants in the Good Governance and Local Leadership
Program
There are 23 participants in the Diploma group that was selected out of 112 applicants
and therefore, it can be concluded that the program participants were “cream of the crop”.
This final group selected for the program clearly is a highly energetic, top-notch civil
society leaders with proven leadership competencies. They are representative of diverse
segments of the civil society that relates to building of an enhanced civil society in Sri
Lanka. Out of the 23 participants selected for the program, 11 are females and 12 are
males. Out of this number 13 are affiliated to NGOs, four are officials of the local
government services and the rest belongs to government institutions. Ethnic wise
distribution shows that 18 are Sinhala, the majority ethnic community, four are Tamils
representing the largest minority community in Sri Lanka and one participant is from the
Muslim community, the next largest ethnic community in Sri Lanka. Below is a list of
NGOs that the participants represent: Alcohol and Drug Information Center, ART TV,
Agromart Foundation, Ahimsa (a peace-building institution), Sarvodaya Women’s
Movement, Ceylon Workers Congress, Thinakkural Publications, Nature Foundation,
Oxfam/Australia, Suicide Prevention Organization, and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Institute.
Summative Evaluation of the Certificate Course
An evaluation was carried out by the Project Director, using two evaluation methods
towards the end of the Certificate Course on Good Governance (i.e. at the conclusion of
the first six-months or the first phase of the program) to assess the implementation of the
certificate component of the program. One of the methodologies used was the itemized
response method where all the participants were engaged in a participatory brainstorming session, responding to two major categories, namely strengths of the course and
the areas to be improved, vis-a-vi the major objective of the program, namely to prepare a
critical group of leaders at the local level to further support the traditions of participatory
governance at the local level. Responses indicated high participant satisfaction with
regard to the relevance of the curriculum, quality of teaching methodologies,
resourcefulness of the teaching staff, usefulness of the subject matter to the
organizational responsibilities of the participants, smooth implementation of the program,
excellent logistical arrangements, and the significance of the certificate due to the linkage
with two prestigious academic institutions and a U.S. University. In terms of program
aspects that needed improvement, one of the major concerns was the need for more
practical emphasis in the program, specifically the opportunity to carry out a practical
project in a community setting to field test what was learnt in the program.
The second method of evaluation was the administration of a formal questionnaire. At the
very end of the Certificate stage of the program, a questionnaire that was carefully
designed to do an overall assessment of the course was administered. After a careful
tabulation of the participants’ responses to the questionnaire, it can be concluded that the
participants were quite satisfied with the overall quality of the course. (A report of this
formal evaluation will be sent along with the summative evaluation report).
The summative evaluation of the entire project that is being carried out by Dr. Kay Forest
will include a more detailed analysis of the Diploma Program, which will be submitted to
the Office of Citizen Exchanges of the State Department, at the conclusion of the project.
National Seminar on Women and Democratic Participation: An Action
Agenda for Social Justice
One of the major highlights of GROW II Project that took place in Sri Lanka during the
reporting period was a national seminar on Women and Democratic Participation: An
Action Agenda for Social Justice. This section of the report highlights some of the major
elements of this national seminar. This national level seminar, held on June 16, 2006 at
SLIDA auditorium, was a well attended event with 160 participants who came from
different corners of the country, representing major ethnic groups and social backgrounds
but bonded together by the major theme of the seminar – women’s political
representation at the local level. Two batches of the Diploma Program were among the
seminar attendees. Additionally, a representative group of women leaders from GROW
Model Villages also participated in the seminar. Other participants of the national
seminar were members of the GROW partner organizations, National Committee on
Women, women members of local government institutions, and representatives from
leading women NGOs. The seminar audience was not exclusively limited to women and
there were a significant number of male participants in the seminar who had a major
stake in the seminar theme.
The theme of this national seminar had a direct link to the GROW Declaration that was
presented to the political leadership in the country in June 2004 urging an affirmative
clause in the election laws in the country to enable equitable representation of women at
the local government level. Even though Sri Lanka is one of the oldest democracies in
Asia, with 75 years of universal franchise, women representation at the local level is
dismally low, only 1.7%. GROW leaders were advocating continuously to rectify this
historical imbalance for the last three years. The above seminar was a pinnacle event of
this advocacy campaign. The major agenda of the seminar was decided and planned by
the Core Advisory Group in Sri Lanka. The seminar was ceremonially opened at 9:30
a.m. on June 16 at SLIDA by lighting the traditional oil lamp by the Minister of
Women’s Empowerment and other invited guests. SLIDA Director welcomed the guests
and set the stage for the proceeding activities of the seminar. The Chief Guest of the
seminar was Hon. Sumedha Jayasena, Minister of Women’s Empowerment who
delivered a very passionate speech supporting the GROW Declaration related work on
women’s political representation. Ms. Indrani Sugathadasa, the Secretary to the Ministry
of Women’s Affairs delivered the keynote speech related to the major theme of the
seminar. Members of the Core Advisory Group took a leading role in the proceedings of
the seminar. Four GROW leaders from NIU were also among the major speakers. The
theme of the speech of the head of the NIU team – Dr. Deb Pierce, Executive Director of
the International Programs Division was “NIU-Sri Lanka Partnership”. It was a powerful
speech reflecting on the importance of the GROW Project experience in
internationalization of the university curriculum. The theme of the presentation of the
Project Advisor – Laurel Jeris was “Partnerships and Participation: Opportunities and
Challenges. Dr. Kay Forest spoke on the status of women’s representation in the U.S. A
few other national level leaders who are strong women activists in the country devoted to
make a change in the status of women’s representation also addressed the seminar. Four
identified leaders representing the four Model Villages presented a theme titled “ Voices
from GROW Model Villages”. A panel discussion involving five leading women who
have contested the recently held local government elections to talk of the importance of
women’s participation in the political sphere and the problems faced by them in the
process. The panel discussion was facilitated by Ms. Indrani Iriyagolla, a prominent
advocate of women’s political participation and a member of the GROW advisory
committee in Sri Lanka. Panelists included Ms. Sunethra Ranasinghe, Mayor of
Dehiwela/Mt.Lavinia, Ms. Salma from Katankudi, Eastern Province, Ms. L.P. Malini the
group leader of Kurunegala Independent Group, Ms. Kanthi Kodikara, Chairperson
Maharagama U.C. and Rose Sebastian, a member from the Nuwara Eliya Pradesheeya
Sabha (Local Govt. Institution).
The seminar was concluded at 3:00 p.m. followed by lunch. Dr. Jaya Gajanayake gave
the concluding remarks highlighting the importance of the seminar in the 75-year long
struggle for women’s political representation and the relevance of the major presentations
in the seminar for future directions. Subsequent to the seminar, a significant number of
participants indicated that the seminar agenda was highly unique and valuable and have
generated a lot of enthusiasm on the subject.
The proceeding two pages incorporate a few photos of the national seminar to give a
snap-shot view of the seminar highlights.
GROW II seminar held at NIU
On April 5, 2006, GROW II seminar was conducted at NIU intended at sharing the
project experience with the NIU community, more specifically with the students, faculty,
staff and the members from the surrounding community. The theme of the seminar was
Celebrating the GROW Experience and the specific title of the seminar was Strategies for
Grassroots Empowerment: Tales from the Field. The event was sponsored by seven
NIU units, namely: International Training Office, Department of Adult and Higher
GROW II Seminar held in Sri Lanka
NIU representative, Laurel Jeris welcoming the
Chief Guest
Lighting of Oil Lamp
Singing the Sri Lankan national anthem
Singing the American national anthem
Welcome speech by Mr. Tennekoon, Director,
SLIDA
Address by Chief Guest: Hon. Sumedha
Jayasena, Minister of Child Development &
Women’s Empowerment
Panelist, Hon. Ms. Sunetra Ranasinghe, Mayor
of Dehiwela/Mt. Lavinia addressing the
audience
Panelist, Hon. Ms. Kanthi Kodikara,
Chairperson, Maharagama Urban Council
sharing her views
Part of the audience
A member of the audience raising a question
Voices from GROW Model Villages
Members of Sri Lanka and NIU Advisory
Committee members present at the seminar
Education, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Women's Resource
Center, Asian American Center, and the Office of International Initiatives of the College
of Education. 56 participants attended the seminar. Project team invested a lot of efforts
in planning the seminar as it was a critical NIU activity and the best opportunity to share
the significant outcomes of the two-year project with the most important stakeholders of
the host institution, namely, NIU students. Project Advisory Committee spent two of its
meetings to carefully plan the seminar agenda giving vigilant attention to all the details.
The event was held at Barsema Alumni and Visitor Center at NIU, a newly built state-ofthe-art building with spacious setting for the seminar activities. The seminar started with
a ceremonial opening following the Sri Lanka tradition - lighting the traditional oil lamp
signifying the importance of sharing the knowledge that was produced by the two-year
project. NIU Provost, Dr. Ivan Legg, the chief guest of the event, gave opening remarks
emphasizing the importance of the project in internationalizing the university curriculum.
Dr. Legg opening speech touched on his memoirs on Sri Lanka when he visited Sri Lanka
to represent NIU in the International Symposium that was held in June 2004. Dr. Deb
Pierce, the Executive Director of the International Programs Division welcomed the
participants on behalf of the university. The keynote speaker of the event was Gene
Roth, Professor, Adult & Higher Education and the title of the speech was the
transformative nature of international collaboration: A process of “Growth”. The
powerful speech posited the importance of the project in internationalizing the NIU
curriculum. The most interesting feature in the seminar agenda was a panel discussion by
the Sri Lanka Project Advisory Committee, titled A Conversation with GROW Advisory
Committee of the Sri Lanka Project. Six leading members of the Advisory Committee
participated in the panel discussion and their topics were as follows:
Laurel Jeris: GROW Project: Issues of Participation
Kay Forest: How Standpoint Influences Women's Grassroots Organizing
Meena Razvi: How the GROW Project has inspired my Scholarly Thinking and
Research
Nalika Diyadawa: Strengths of Sri Lankan Women: Power of Empowerment
Phyllis Cunningham: Four Reasons why I belong to the GROW Advisory
Committee
Sabiha Daudi: Future of the GROW Project and its Replication
Professor Rick Orem, a member of the Sri Lanka Advisory Committee, moderated the
panel discussion. After all the panelists have made their short presentations, an open
forum was conducted enabling the seminar participants to have an in-depth dialogue with
the panelists. Subsequent to the open forum, Jaya Gajanayake, the GROW Project
Director gave concluding remarks emphasizing the contributions that the GROW Project
that have made a strong impact on the NIU community. Dr. Gajanayake highlighted that
GROW Project is a powerful experience in grassroots empowerment, political
empowerment of women, and is a significant example of a experience of a non-western,
home grown, bottom-up example of in grassroots democracy. She further indicated that
GROW Project advocated for equity in political representation for women in one voice
and in one platform saying it is a basic human right.
The proceeding two pages incorporate a few photos of the NIU seminar that took place
on April 6, 2006 at NIU giving a snap-shot view of the seminar highlights.
Activities carried out by NIU Team in Sri Lanka during the period from
May- July, 2006
A four-member NIU team was in Sri Lanka during the above period engaged in diverse
project activities. Dr. Deb Pierce was in Sri Lanka from June 14 through 19 to represent
NIU in the Sri Lanka seminar. Professor Kay Forest, Chair of the Sociology Department,
NIU and a member of the NIU-Sri Lanka Advisory Committee was in Sri Lanka from
June 9 through June 20 engaged in diverse project activities, most importantly, carrying
out an evaluation of the impact of the two-year project in Sri Lanka, working in
collaboration with a Sri Lankan consultant – Mrs. Jezima Ismail. (Dr. Forest’s visit was
funded by the International Program Division and the Department of Sociology at NIU.)
Laurel Jeris was in Sri Lanka for a period of one month from June 9 through July 8 also
engaged in diverse project activities, including conducting a three-day workshop on
Leadership in Good Governance for the participants of the program on Good Governance
and Local Leadership. Laurel Jeris was also the chief guest at the certificate award
ceremony of the certificate program (the first tier of the one-year program). She also
visited three Model Villages of the GROW Project during this period to observe the
GROW II Seminar held at NIU
Ceremonial opening by lighting the traditional
oil lamp
Opening remarks by Dr. Ivan Legg, Executive
Vice President and Provost, NIU
Welcome speech by Deb Pierce, Executive
Director, International Programs
Gene Roth delivering the keynote speech
The master of the ceremony, Laurel Jeris
addressing the audience
A token of appreciation presented to Dr. Ivan
Legg for continuous support for the project
Part of the audience
A conversation with GROW Advisory
Committee
Part of the audience having a
discussion
The moderator of the panel discussion, Rick
Orem introducing the panelists
Open forum
Concluding remarks by Jaya Gajanayake,
GROW Project Director
nature and progress of the empowerment process since the last visit one year ago. Dr.
Jaya Gajanayake was in Sri Lanka from May 19 through June 20, engaged in diverse
project activities that included planning of Sri Lanka seminar, participating in two
advisory committee meetings, conducting a three-day workshop on Project Planning for
Community Empowerment, conducting an evaluation of the Certificate Program on Good
Governance and Local Leadership, setting up a secretariat for planning June 16 GROW
seminar, GROW seminar planning, formation of an Alumni Association on Good
Governance, attending to all the other administrative, logistical and planning work
related to the continuation of the GROW II Project activities in Sri Lanka and visiting
Model Villages. During their stay the NIU team gifted 200 children’s books to four
Model Villages, 50 eye glasses to Model Village older residents who needed them for
reading purposes so that quality of their lives be enhanced, a gift of $500 from the
Chairperson of the NIU Advisory Committee and a another gift of $300 from a GROW
Project patron from DeKalb, IL, a gift of $500 from Laurel Jeris to Muslim Research and
Action Forum to cover start-up expenses to initiate a new Model Village in the Eastern
Province (an area that is undergoing turmoil as a result of the ethnic war). Other
activities that the NIU team carried out in Sri Lanka during the above-mentioned period
included the following: Participation in CAG meetings, observations at GROW Model
Villages, conducting a pre-seminar on June 12, meeting with the U.S. Ambassador –
Jeffrey Lunstead, meeting with the Public Affairs Officer, Angela Gemza, conducting a
staff meeting with the resource team of the Diploma program, participation in the Sri
Lanka seminar held on June 16, participation in the certificate award ceremony, and
conducting a project evaluation.
Conclusion
It should be added that more information on the project progress during the reporting
period can be obtained by visiting the project website www.niu.edu/grow2 Website
icons such as Project in Pictures, Minutes of the Advisory Committees and Project
Reports will carry additional information on most of the work that took place during the
reporting period. The report of the project evaluation, which is a major activity that is
being carried out currently by Dr. Kay Forest, will be submitted to the Office of Citizens
Exchanges of the State Department at the conclusion of the project. The report will
portray a comprehensive and a detailed evaluation of the two –year project in the context
of further strengthening the civil society in Sri Lanka.
There are four major attachments to this report related to the project activities during the
reporting period; namely (a) A collection of handouts of the three-day workshop on
Project Development for Community Empowerment conducted by Jaya Gajanayake on
June 8, 9 and 10, (b) major documents related to the national seminar in Sri Lanka titled
“Women and Political Participation: An Action Agenda for Social Justice” (c)
Handbook given to Diploma Program participants.
It is with much gratitude that the International Training Office and the other NIU and Sri
Lanka project partners recognize the financial support received from the Office of the
Citizens Exchanges of the State Department that enabled implementing the GROW II
Project in Sri Lanka bringing about a significant impact on further strengthening the
democratic discourse in Sri Lanka.