Community meeting in Batticaloa

Our mission: To enhance the capacity of rural communities to democratically identify and address their own development needs and to provide services that contribute to economically viable, socially just and ecologically sustainable development of Sri Lanka.

Our objectives

1. To strengthen civil society by mobilising disadvantaged communities, building institutional capacities and linking community-based organisations with each other and with external resources.

2. To ensure the psychological, social and economic well-being of conflict and diastaster-affected communities and facilitate the shift from relief aid to self-reliance and sustainable development.

3. To promote sustainable rural development by offering training, support and services in micro-finance, enterprise formation and management, agricultural production and marketing, sustainable technology development and community-based natural resource management.

Our target activities

-	Initiating a community-centered development process through social mobilization
-	Building the institutional capacity of community-based organisations through training programs and participatory planning processes
-	Linking community-based organisations with marketing opportunities, government agencies, private banks and enterprises and research centers
-	Providing basic shelter and food as emergency relief for internally displaced families and resettling communities
-	Rehabilitating basic rural infrastructure, such as roads, drinking water and sanitation facilities, agro-wells, minor irrigation channels, schools and community centers
-	Contributing to peace-building efforts at both the grassroots level and the national level, using traditional forms of communication like music, dance, theater and the arts as connectors
-	Developing psycho-social programs based on community support systems to address the traumas of war
-	Enhancing individual capacities to develop and manage micro-finance schemes and micro-enterprises
-	Supporting the development of value-added agricultural products and handicrafts for the national and international market
-	Strengthening farming and fishing organisations, ensuring local food security and promoting sustainable agriculture techniques, agricultural diversity, integrated crop and livestock production and inland and coastal fishery management
-	Raising awareness of the relationship between development and environmental conservation
-	Supporting community-based management of natural resources such as forests, watersheds and coastal wetlands
-	Developing environmentally-sound, socially appropriate and economically viable rural technologies
-	Creating opportunities for school leavers and recent graduates to participate in the sustainable development process of Sri Lanka