National Social Integration week begins tomorrow:

Collective commitment, vital for unity

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

Society exerts a powerful force on individuals. in society everyone gets equal opportunities, and one is assured of individual well-being and quality of life. This creates a platform facilitating upward mobility for all - regardless of race or religion.

Be they young or old, abled or differently able, happy or sad, modern or indigenous, all those in such a society will be assured of socio-economic well-being and social justice. If all discrimination can be ruled out and integrate all the backward, marginalised communities into the social mainstream, ours will be the most beautiful neighbourhood.

A collective commitment is fundamental to empower those who have been marginalised and excluded. It is in this context that Sri Lanka began to celebrate a special social integration week since 2012. From tomorrow this unique week will start creating a platform for all to participate in it.

The annual Social Integration Week 2014 will be held from July 14 to 20 under the theme ‘National unity’ with a view to strengthening ethnic coexistence. The Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration organising the event has set the stage to celebrate the National Social Integration Week on a grand scale with special events organised countrywide. The objective is promoting national unity and unifying the country on the basis of equality and to provide a forum to build a positive and productive dialogue.

The Social Integration Week was inaugurated by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2012 with a theme that enveloped objectives such as access to education, economic activities, legal facilities, security and a safe environment for everybody. This year, the Social Integration Week mainly focuses on strengthening national unity. The inauguration ceremony will be held at the royal residence of King Parakumbahu (Wijayanthi Prasada) in Polonnaruwa.

Under the programs, two provincial centres for the Northern and Sabaragamuwa provinces will be opened. The centre for the Northern province is at Kilinochchi and the Sabaragamuwa centre at Kuruvita. A program will be launched aiming to empower women leaders in the Kilinochchi and Moneragala districts.

It is time for the true Sri Lankans to show to the world what is actually in their heart when the country is facing allegations and accusations as a nation hating other communities. It is time to show that the average citizen never hated and will never feel any hatred to other communities. It is time to show the world that Sri Lanka cannot be force-driven by any extremist group.

Informed society

Building an informed and integrated Sri Lankan society requires conscious and concerted effort and strong, proactive collaboration among State and civil society partners. The social integration week would be a stepping stone to enhance the potential of these organisations to embark on the principles of integration. It would be the catalyst to motivate a social movement for a cohesive Sri Lanka founded on equality and a sense of belonging based on understanding and mutual respect.

Thus, it’s time for Sri Lankans to move a step ahead and understand the other areas that need integration in society. “Social integration is not just about ethnicity. It is of a much broader perspective,” said Secretary to the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration Malkanthi Wickramasinghe. “There are many other groups living in a miserable condition and they need to be socially integrated to one Sri Lanka,” said Wickramasinghe.

National event

The Ministry initiated the Social Integration Week since 2012 as an annual national event in line with the National Policy Framework for Social Integration. “The National Policy Framework for Social Integration was formulated by an Inter-ministerial committee formulated under the Ministry of Social Integration funded by the GIZ.

The Committee drafted the Action Plan to implement this framework,” Wickramasinghe said. The policy framework identifies seven elements as key components in social integration - i.e. justice, education, social services, political participation, language, media, belonging and responsibility.

Giving priority to differently-abled children

“We get the pulse of the people when we go to meet people in different provinces. But all those opinions work isolated. There were sporadic activities that came up in the recent past in the society threatening the peaceful society. Various civil groups, religious dignitaries pointed out to the minister that it’s time to bring in a solution. He asked them what the Ministry needs to do. Then these people said that there should be a some kind of a forum at least for the citizens to know that unity is the need of the hour. In a diverse society 100 percent unity will not be possible, yet it should be built to affect the majority of the people. If people understand and accept that, then only can we work to eliminate it,” Wickramasinghe said.

After three decades of terrorism we are enjoying a peaceful life for nearly five years. Different communities lived apart taking in culture, language, ethnicity as barriers. Slowly but steadily people are uniting with other communities and are interested in learning the others’ language for a better understanding. School children from North and South are meeting quite often and many groups are formed from the communities to interact with others and slowly the misunderstandings seem to be fading away.

Social integration

The highly sensitive diverse society in Sri Lanka demands a conscious effort towards social integration. Three main pillars - ethics, education and empowerment - essential in ensuring social integration to bring in marginalised or excluded groups to the mainstream.

All citizens bear the responsibility, equally. The ministry is making efforts to particularly popularise mainstreaming vulnerable groups and mobilise language links and mass media as drivers for positive change.

“Social integration means not only addressing the question of ethnicity and religion. But also looking into the disintegration of the Sri Lankan community in terms of marginalisation due to poverty, caste issues and social strata,” she said. Disintegrated people do not feel that they belong to this country. Therefore they will not become responsible citizens. It is this responsibility of all citizens that helps strengthen existing initiatives for participatory and pluralistic democratic governance.