Workshop - University Grants Commission - Sri Lanka

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The personnel from the Universities of Ruhuna, Southeastern and Eastern were the lead
institutional persons in this project in Sri Lanka. The University of Ruhuna selected and
worked with the two villages Madihe East and Gandara Central in the Matara district. The
people in these villages were mainly Sinhalese and the University of Ruhuna was able to
interact with the community members and facilitate their implementation of the project.
The Southeastern University selected and worked with the two villages Akbar and
Maligaikadu in Amparai district in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. The people in these
villages were mainly Muslims and the Southeastern University was able to interact with
the community members and facilitate them to implement their project.
Eastern University selected and worked with the villages Puthukudiyiruppu and
Palameenmadu in Batticoloa district, Eastern Province. In these two villages the people
were mainly Tamils and the Eastern University was able to work with them.
The roles and responsibilities of the three institutions were to interact with the villagers
and be actively involved with the villagers in the implementation of project activities. The
institutions were also required to encourage their students to interact with the villagers and
thus obtain experience in rural community development. The three institutions were also
responsible for the finances that were allocated to each district and reported directly to the
Sri Lankan project director who had his office at the University of Ruhuna.
In the partnership that was forged for this project, 7 NGOs had agreed to work with the
main universities. Due to unforeseen circumstances all seven NGOs could not fulfill their
commitments. The Sri Lanka Center for Development Facilitation (SLCDF), which served
as an umbrella organization and had networks with smaller NGOs and CBOs agreed to
take on a major commitment in Batticoloa.
Batticoloa district, at the start of the project was deeply affected by the ethnic conflict
which engulfed the country at that time. Eastern University was constantly under pressure
both by the rebels and the armed forces. Personnel had difficulty moving out to the
villages. At this time SLCDF, which had networks in Batticoloa offered to take on a major
role of the project and implement them on behalf of the university. This proved to be a
very effective partnership and strategy and as such the villagers benefited and so did the
personnel from the Eastern University.
The Canadian lead partner of this project was University of Guelph and the Sri Lankan
lead partner was the University of Ruhuna. In 2008, when there was a change in the Vice
Chancellor position, Ruhuna opted not to be the Lead any more but was happy to maintain
the office of the project director etc. At this time all three Sri Lankan universities agreed to
be equal partners.
The Canadian partners were mainly facilitators and assisted the personnel from the three
Sri Lankan universities. When a need was expressed, the project identified local resources
and sometimes brought in Canadians to assist.