D.M. Jayaratne: Address to World Summit 2013

February 24, 2013

Commentary on Peace, Security, and Human Development

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Religious Youth Service Heals War Wounds in Northwestern Sri Lanka

December 21, 2012

Puttlam District, Sri Lanka - In the ongoing process of healing the wounds of civil war, participants in a Dec. 15-21, 2012, Religious Youth Service project built a community center in a northwestern Sri Lanka village  where Muslim civilians found safe haven during the civil war. 

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Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN Hosts Tea Ceremony

November 27, 2012

New York, USA - The Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations hosted a Japanese Tea Ceremony organized by staff of UPF's Office of UN Relations on Nov. 27, 2012.

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Religious Youth Service Project Planned in Northwest Sri Lanka

November 6, 2012

Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka - In the Puttlam district of northwest Sri Lanka are living many Muslims who were displaced during the country's decade-long civil war, and RYS-Sri Lanka is inviting local and international youth to help build a community center in the district's coastal town of Kalpitiya December 15 to 21.

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Day of Peace Commemorated at Sri Lanka's Youth Parliament

September 24, 2012

Colombo, Sri Lanka - UPF-Sri Lanka celebrated the “UN International day of Peace” on September 23 at the Youth Parliament of Sri Lanka in Colombo. The Youth Parliament was established in 2011 to strengthen social harmony and build mutual understanding among the youth of the nation after the heart-breaking decades of conflict. Thus it was very fitting to celebrate the UN International Day of Peace at the Youth Parliament.

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Day of Families Observed in Colombo

May 18, 2012

Colombo, Sri Lanka - The UN International Day of Families was commemorated on May 18 at the Auditorium of the Department of Education of the Western Province of SriLanka.

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Decades of Religious Youth Service Build Bonds Among Sri Lankan Youth

December 22, 2011

Since 1992, Religious Youth Service has been offering Sri Lankans a model of how ethnic, religious, and even political differences can be bridged during the 1983-2009 civil war and its aftermath. Here is a sampling of reports through 2011.

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Sri Lanka Religious Youth Service Project Proves That 'Nothing Is Impossible'

December 22, 2011

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka - In a village that suffered some of the most brutal fighting of the Sri Lanka civil war, Religious Youth Service brought 43 people from four religious traditions to help build a community center as part of a service-learning project from December 16-22.

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Sri Lanka Seminar on Marriage and Family

November 1, 2011

Colombo, Sri Lanka - A seminar on marriage and family in Colombo Nov. 1, 2011, addressed the importance of these institutions in modern society.

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Day of Peace Observed in Negambo

September 23, 2011

Negambo, Sri Lanka - UPF-Sri Lanka offered a workshop on character education and peacebuilding at the central college in Negambo on September 23 to mark the International Day of Peace.

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Religious Youth Service Alumni Honored in Sri Lanka

August 3, 2011

Colombo, Sri Lanka - Three students of the Amal International School Sri Lanka who are alumni of Religious Youth Service projects won a trip to San Francisco, California, in August 2011, where they will participate in ThinkQuest workshops.

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Poem: Meditation

June 28, 2011

Be still and know that I AM God, said He.

Seek me first for you and I are Eternity.

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Religious Youth Service Rebuilds a Pre-School in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

December 17, 2010

Jaffna, Sri Lanka - After the 26-year Sri Lanka civil war ended in May 2009, much work remains to settle displaced people and help resume normal peacetime life. Religious Youth Service organized a project to help repair a pre-school building December 11-17 on the northern tip of the island as part of a national rebuilding effort.

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RYS Helps Provide Clean Water for Blackwood Village in Sri Lanka

August 28, 2009

Badulla, Sri Lanka - The Blackwood Village in Beragala, Badulla did not have pipe-borne water. Religious Youth Service volunteers helped renovate the existing mini reservoir which had been abandoned in recent times, thus restoring the pipe-borne water way. RYS also supported the road repair, including the reconstruction of a bridge which was badly damaged, on the roadway that lead to the Hindu Kovil, which was also in a very dilapidated state.

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Sri Lanka Ambassador Hosts Peace Forum in Washington, DC

August 15, 2009

Washington DC, United States - A gathering of peacemakers explored the theme, “A New Vision for Peace in the 21st Century,” held at the residence of the Ambassador of Sri Lanka on July 30 in Washington DC. Speakers presented the core principles and practices that can facilitate movement toward a world in which people of every race, culture, and religion can live together in peace.

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Day of Families Celebrated in in Colombo

May 15, 2009

Colombo, Sri Lanka - In collaboration with the Department of Education of the Western Province, UPF-Sri Lanka organized a half-day seminar to mark the UN International Day of Families on May 15 at the main auditorium in Colombo of the Department of Education of the Western Province.

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RYS Alumni Celebrate UN's "International Day of Peace" in Sri Lanka

September 19, 2008

Colombo, Sri Lanka – To mark the United Nation's "International Day of Peace" on September 21, 2008, the Western Province Schools of Sri Lanka organized a talent contest amongst the school children. Many of the participants were RYS alumni. The competition was held from September 12-19, 2008 in Colombo. The theme of the competition was simply "Peace."

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Day of Peace in Sri Lanka

September 19, 2008

Colombo, Sri Lanka - School children participated in a talent competition on the theme of peace.

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Sri Lanka: Reaching Out Together for Peace

August 30, 2008

Colombo, Sri Lanka - In the midst of impoverishment, a large crowd of people of mixed origins and ages gathered for the ceremony to open the Religious Youth Service project in Sri Lanka, August 23-30: building a new preschool, the only one of its kind to accommodate Tamil children with other local children.

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RYS Lays Foundation for Multi-Ethnic School in Colombo

August 30, 2008

Colombo, Sri Lanka – In the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the midst of impoverishment, a large crowd of people of mixed origins and ages gathered for the ceremony to open the RYS Sri Lanka '08 project - the building of a new preschool, the only one of its kind to accommodate Tamil children with other local children.

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