Centre for Women and Development with the vision of promoting women, involved in implementing many activities to women particularly in 2013, the centre’s activities were mainly focused towards women headed families who were returned to their own places, after the mass displacement.
Main Goal
CWD’s main goal is to work for an improvement of women’s social, economic and political situation locally. With an emphasis on advocacy and right based programs.
CWD Aims
- Be a competence and resource centre for women’s organizations on women’s issues,
- Improve the social, economic and political situations of women and internally displaced persons,
- Increase the affected societies knowledge about and understanding of women’s issues in a development perspective,
- Strengthen collaborations with national women’s organizations in their policy engagements and reforms.
- Facilitate discovery of new strategies and initiatives to reweave divided communities and avoid further cycles of violence.
Significant milestones of CWD
Established in the year 1988, it was transformed into an autonomous body and registered as an NGO under the social service ministry and then the Ministry of defense. Today CWD is playing a catalytic role in terms of initiating various capacity building activities on the issues related to women. Democratic local governance has assumed prominent role in the politics in Sri Lanka. We believe that unless the knowledge, skills and capacities of grassroots decision makers are not strengthened the whole process of democratic decentralization cannot produce desired results. It improves people’s confidence in and commitment to democratic practice.
Activities
Publication of a research Book
The female headed families, particularly the women, who bear the family burden, face many problems. Getting their own land has become so difficult for them. The programs we have conducted reveal the issues so clearly. Therefore we have decided to do a survey on land issues, Interviewed the women who have problems, collected relevant data from the officers from the respective divisions and published a book. This book contains the valuable information; from the seminars facilitated by the retired land commissioner Mr. K. Gurunathan. This book was launched by the northern provincial land commissioner Mr. K. Maheswaran on 30.10.2013.
The book on land issues and Women in the Northern Province, gives valuable data and issues where the women are facing. We expect that this book should reach the women who are dealing with land issues.
The book was handed over to the Chief Minister Mr. C. V. Wigneswaran and the members of the Northern Provincial council, by the Director of Centre for Women and Development Ms. Saroja Sivachandran
Book release
The research book done by the centre for women and development on women headed households in the Northern Province was launched on 30.10.2013 by Ms. Uthayani Navaratnam Women Development officer, Jaffna. Women who have lost their husbands, children during the war are still in a traumatized situation. There is no income for them. There are still women in search of their missing children. In this context, the Centre for Women and Development started to analyse the present situation of women & compiled a detailed book on women headed households in the northern province. This book gives the number of women headed households & widows in the Northern Province. Those who want to do projects for them could make use of the data available in this book.
Network of women headed households
Centre for women and development continue to work with the women headed families. Conducted capacity building programs for them in order to bring leadership abilities among them. We feel as this is important for them to transform to suit the present economic situation in this country. We also formed groups of women headed households in the war-affected areas. The formation of groups helped them to work with other organizations for social integration.
Peace action group
Centre for Women and Development in collaboration with the National Peace Council, organized district peace action groups consisting of civil society members, religious leaders and other important personalities in the district. The task of these committees is to identify the problems within the community and try to solve them in a peaceful manner.
Field action of the peace committees
The district committees operating in every district had organized exchange programs, in order to identify the problems of the Districts they represent. The group from Jaffna visited Puttalam & Hambantota. The groups from Puttalam, Ampara & Monaragala visited Jaffna and spent three days in the district.
Programmes on eliminating violence against women (VAW)
Centre for Women and Development is engaged in conducting seminars, campaign work in order to stop V.A.W. The Centre also has established a free legal aid unit to help the women, affected by Domestic violence. The centre has this time developed an innovative attempt, by producing an Animation of cartoons, and two short films based on the stories, reported. This project was sponsored by the ICTA, and the centre has produced this media device for the campaign work. 1500 DVD’s were developed and distributed to organizations and women organization to do the campaign work. In this campaign work people from the North and Eastern provinces actively participated.
N.P.C member Ms. Ananthy Sasitaran, launching the first DVD and starting the campaign work in Jaffna on 28.10.2013
Livelihood assistance to war-affected women
The Asia Foundation sponsored a project to implement a livelihood program to the war-affected women in Jaffna. Under this project Centre for Women and Development has identified 25 women and provided livelihood assistance to earn an income for their families. They also were given special training on the industries which they were given assistance. Coir product making, small business, sewing and goat rearing were the activities provided to them.
Batik printing training
Centre for Women and Development provides batik training to young girls to make an income out of this business.
Batik training at Velanai and Anaikoddai
Home gardening Project
Centre for Women and Development, assisted the war-affected women in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, when they returned to their homes to start home gardening as a small project for the beginning to earn an income vegetables seeds were given to them to engage women in this project.
Free legal aid services
Centre for Women and Development assisted women affected by Domestic violence, with the help of the lawyers to file the cases in the courts.
Educational assistance to school going children
This project was started in order to provide assistance to school going children with basic facilities Such as note books, pens, school bags etc. This assistance was given continually to children by Centre for Women and Development
Delft and Puthukudiyiruppu
International Women’s Day
Every year Centre for Women and Development celebrate the International Women’s Day. This year, Centre for women and Development along with the celebration published a Book on women’s rights written by Saroja Sivachandran.
Children’s Day celebration
Children’s day also celebrated by our center. Competitions also were held and prizes were also given to the winners.
Children’s cultural show at Puthukudiyiruppu and Delft
Activity organized with the ministry of national languages and social Integration
A Social Integration program was organized at Oddumadam to children of Muslim and Tamils to have social cohesion among the communities.
- Capacity building programs to the staff of Centre for Women and Development.
- Project planning training
- Project writing
- Financial Administration
- Budget preparation
- Leadership training
- Social Integration programs management training
- Training on Non violent communication
- Diploma course- 3 months diploma course on UNSCR 1325 and human rights