Have NGOs failed in peacebuilding? An interview with Jehan Perera

by Sanjanah | April 27, 2009 at 12:06 am

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Based on his significant experience as a civil society activist, I asked Jehan whether NGOs in particular had fostered any appreciable difference in the quality of governance in Sri Lanka. Jehan stated that after a quarter century of working in civil society, he was acutely aware how little impact it had in shaping the political agenda in Sri Lanka and could in no way compare with the power and reach of a politician or political party.

A video interview with Jehan Perera from the National Peace Council (NPC) Sri Lanka. Watch the complete interview here.

The video looks at the impact of NGOs in peacebuilding in Sri Lanka within a context of violence, both physical and verbal, directed against them. Jehan is one of the best known peace activists in the country, and in this interview he looks introspectively and retrospectively at his own life work, through which lessons are drawn for civil society activism. The interview also touches upon what Sri Lanka needs to do after the military defeat of the LTTE to restore democracy and ensure the rights and aspirations of the Tamil community are adequately met.

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