AFRIEL

09/11/2025

17/01/2025

🎉 AFRIEL Youth Network Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary! 🎉

A decade of incredible partnerships with community members, government partners, and civil society allies! 🙌 We celebrated our journey with reflections on the amazing work we have done together, all thanks to the incredible support from YOU!

We are excited to share our 10-Year Report, highlighting key milestones, achievements, and impactful collaborations that made this journey so meaningful. 🌟

Here’s to many more years of growth, empowerment, and positive change! 💪✨

https://www.afrielyouthnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/A-10-Year-Journey-with-AFRIEL-Youth-Network.pdf

17/01/2025

AFRIEL has officially partnered with the University of Kelaniya to launch a certificate course on participatory democracy for public officers!

To celebrate, we hosted an book launch on International Democracy Day, unveiling new training manuals developed with Dr. Nadeeka Damayanthi, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Political Science, University of Kelaniya. The event brought together influential leaders from all sectors to discuss how participatory democracy can transform Sri Lanka’s governance.

The MoU was signed by Senior Prof. Nilanthi De Silva, Vice-chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Mr. K. K. K. Dharmathilaka, Registrar of the University of Kelaniya, and Chairman of AFRIEL Ravindra De Silva. This partnership aims to empower public servants with the knowledge and skills needed to strengthen democratic practices in Sri Lanka.

17/01/2025

AFRIEL, in partnership with RTIC, held a proactive disclosure training in Polonnaruwa for 200 government officers, including IT officers and representatives from police and agriculture departments. The session aimed to enhance understanding of RTI regulations and improve practices. The Government Agent of Polonnaruwa highlighted RTI progress and challenges, including the issue of distinguishing between personal and public information. Commissioner led discussions on proactive disclosure and addressed specific challenges, such as managing inter-departmental RTI requests and ensuring consistency. The session also focused on Section 29 of the RTI Act, balancing transparency with privacy, and the importance of language consistency.

17/01/2025

AFRIEL and the Media Ministry held a 2-day refresher training for 23 RTI resource persons, reviewing current RTI practices and challenges after training over 9,000 government officers. Senior trainers, including RTI Commissioner, led discussions on public institutions' bureaucracy and strategies to delay or deny information. Updates on legal changes and recent RTI Commission decisions were also provided. The training ended with revisions to the government officer training session to deepen understanding of RTI processes.

17/01/2025

In collaboration with the Jathika JanaSabha Secretariat, AFRIEL conducted two Training of Trainers sessions for senior government officials on the Janasabha concept and participatory democracy. A total of 101 trainees from various government sectors attended the sessions. The ToT covered the historical context of rural governance systems, including lessons from Sri Lanka’s 1981 Development Council Act and the Indian Panchayati Raj system. Discussions also focused on the current need for participatory democracy, challenges to democracy, and future implementation.

17/01/2025

In the face of election delays in Sri Lanka, AFRIEL and its youth partners conducted a mock poll at Kandy Public Market on International Democracy Day to gauge public sentiment on the prioritization of upcoming elections. 742 citizens voluntarily cast their votes, with 90.59% expressing a demand for elections. Of these, 51.83% advocated for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, 26.54% favored a presidential election, and 12.22% prioritized a parliamentary election. Only 9.41% believed elections were unnecessary at the moment.

12/07/2024

අරක්කු බෝතල් බෙදුවා
මාවත
සම්පුර්ණ සංවාදය
Full video: https://youtube.com/live/9qvPkSWnPpk

24/06/2024

AFRIEL, in collaboration with our partner organizations, recently conducted an 3-day Training of Trainers workshop aimed at strengthening and fully implementing the provincial council system in Sri Lanka.

Provincial councils and power-sharing have often been tools for political power. However, we believe that the young generation, united beyond religious, ethnic, and caste barriers, can drive meaningful public support and broaden the dialogue on power-sharing models.

The workshop brought together 69 multi-ethnic youth from 25 districts. They were guided by esteemed facilitators, including Attorney-at-Law Jagath Liyana Arachchi, Attorney-at-Law Akalanka Hettiarachchi, senior journalist Vimukthi Dushantha, and AFRIEL chairman Ravindra De Silva.

Over the next month, these youth representatives will conduct hundreds of public dialogues with community groups to bridge the gap between public expectations and the Provincial Council system, which we view as the closest governing system to citizens, crucial for addressing critical problems faced by our communities.

Together, we are fostering a stronger, more inclusive political culture in Sri Lanka.

24/06/2024