MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Memorialisation is a vital tool in realising meaningful justice. Memorialising gives individuals and communities the space to voice their past suffering and losses, creates dialogues with wider society and can contribute to achieving reconciliation. It is imperative that women’s and young persons' voices and experiences, their needs and aspirations, which are often marginalised during such processes, should not only be heard and taken into account but should also inform policy formulation and implementation. Women and youth in the North, East, South, Uva, North West and North Central provinces of Sri Lanka should be made aware of their right to memorialise to come to terms with the past and engage in peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.
The project implemented by CEJ titled ‘The Missing Link’: Women and Youth Unite to Reconcile through Memory aimed to facilitate this process of remembrance by raising awareness and building capacities of war and conflict-affected women, youth and other stakeholders on using memorialisation processes to reconcile communities. The interventions in the project provided opportunities for women and youth to voice their views on the subject to policy makers in order to influence policy reform.
This virtual platform comprises the artwork created by women and youth who were part of this project as well as of other CEJ projects. The main objective behind this initiative was to digitize the artwork and communicate womens’ multiple narratives on war and political violence to future generations. CEJ conducted several workshops and discussions in order to provide a safe space for women and youth to express their memories of war and views of reconciliation using creative means. CEJ would like to thank Ms. Radhika Hettiarachchi, Ms. Vasuki Jeyasankar, Ms. Tehani Chitty and Mr. Kusal Gunasekere who contributed to this process by facilitating the numerous sessions organized by CEJ.
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CEJ also thanks Ms. Hasini Haputhantri for curating this virtual space. Further, CEJ is also grateful to the youth and women who participated in the district level community forums and other workshops, remembered their past, reflected on their experiences and shared with us their aspirations for a reconciled future for Sri Lanka.
Shyamala Gomez
Executive Director
Centre for Equality and Justice
The Centre for Equality and Justice (CEJ) is a women’s organization based in Colombo, Sri Lanka working primarily on the rights of war-affected women from the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities and the rights of those affected by political violence and other forms of civil unrest.
CEJ also works on issues of democracy, rule of law and social inclusion and brings a gender perspective into all its work. CEJ engages with policymakers, government officers and strengthens grassroots level women’s capacities to claim their rights. CEJ also works closely with youth across Sri Lanka on key areas such as preventing violent extremism and on reconciliation.
CEJ’s aim is to achieve gender justice so that men and women and gender minorities live in a society that is free, just, and equal.