Mihiri Ferdinando

For a decade, the Victims of Trauma Treatment Program has worked with Sri Lanka to heal the psychic wounds of war and natural disaster. When Covid-19 arrived, the pieces were in place to tackle the trauma of lockdowns.

Sri Lanka’s national mental health service has been overwhelmed by the pandemic. A new program is giving stressed-out counselors professional support and guidance to navigate the Covid crisis.

Two years after Sri Lankans voted to elect a new coalition government, and eight years after the bloody, three-decade long ethnic war ended, reconciliation efforts to rebuild the country are beginning to have positive, tangible impact on the daily lives of citizens, particularly in the North and East. Beyond investments in infrastructure and econom… Read more

On September 21, residents of Sri Lanka’s war-torn Northern Province will vote in the first provincial council elections of the region. The event is significant for the former conflict zone – the hardest-hit province in the country, scarred from 26 years of violent fighting and military rule.

May 2009 marked the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil conflict that left thousands dead and many more displaced from the fighting. Most of those affected, both Tamil and Sinhalese, come from the ranks of the poor. While large numbers of those displaced begin to make their way back home and the nation readies for a presidential election, much work ne… Read more