Sri Lanka is to receive €8.5 million from the European Commission (EC) to support the country’s efforts to prevent violent extremism, build community resilience, and promote peace and tolerance.
It is also aimed at contributing to the ongoing peacebuilding process through internally displaced persons and refugees being able to return to their land.
This allocation comes after High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini’s meeting earlier this month with Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, where she underlined the European Union’s readiness to support Sri Lanka in the face of the challenges of terrorism and violent extremism.
The €8.5 million Commission support will follow a three-pronged approach: It will support Sri Lankan policy makers, competent authorities and the security and judicial branches in their mission to prevent and respond to terrorist threats and attacks in a human rights compliant manner; it will focus on the prevention of violent extremism and will support relevant local stakeholders to develop and disseminate positive awareness raising campaigns, notably via partnerships with global social media actors; and it will contribute to the last stages of mine clearance in the three northern districts of Sri Lanka, and focus on peacebuilding to reinforce national cohesion and reconciliation.
According to the EC, the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka in April killed 258 people and injured many more and preventing and responding to terrorist attacks like this is an additional challenge for the country along with numerous other challenges.
These challenges are in transitioning to durable peace after many years of conflict, such as refugees, internally displaced persons, and land identified as potentially contaminated with mines and explosive remnants.
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