This project which will cover the entire country, aims to harness the historical opportunity that has come about after nearly 3 decades of war to bring all communities together to work towards social and economic development as well as reconciliation. Despite the war being coming to an end, the country has a long way to go in building sustainable peace and prosperity for all communities. Presently many large scale investments in infrastructure development are on-going throughout the country which in themselves will not bring about stability. Sarvodaya, as the country’s largest and most broadly embedded people’s organization, realising the need for strengthening social investments in promoting good governance and reconciliation to establish sustainable peace in the country, moving from recovery to development, proposed this project to the Royal Norwegian Embassy.
The rationale for the new project is based on the fact that, thus far the Sri Lankan society has tried to address the common issues of citizens of different ethnicities in isolation, instead of having one voice and finding a solution together. The main goal of this project styled “Finding a Solution Together (FAST)”, is to “get the citizens to engage positively with each-other and with Government to further stabilise the peaceful Sri Lankan democracy”. The project will be centered on Sarvodaya’s broad good governance programme under the theme Deshodaya (awakening the Nation) that propagates a new political culture of civic responsibility and advocacy to promote good governance and reconciliation in the country.
The Find a Solution Together (FAST) project aims to provide an effective platform and clear voice for the positive transformation of Sri Lankan society and national policy through widespread people’s participation starting at the village level. This will include greater emphasis on the role of women, youth, and ethnic minorities in political participation through initiatives that address reasons for low participation. The project will be implemented in all 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka covering 52 Divisional Secretariat divisions for a period of 3 years. The total investment of this project is Rs.194 million with around 15% contribution coming from the communities themselves. The Norwegian Government has supported Sarvodaya’s integrated development programmes for over 25 years.