USAID's Sri Lanka program (SL Engage) is capitalizing on increased active civic participation in the aftermath of the people’s movement by empowering new emerging youth groups to promote democratic accountability. In partnership with a youth-led civil society organization, SL Engage conducted a mentorship program comprised of eight workshops. Organized for 29 politically active young leaders, the workshops enhanced their capacity to promote values-based politics and develop peer-to-peer connections to build a value-based political leadership culture in their communities.
This approach is a significant departure from existing political practices that focus largely on positions and interests rather than values, which are critical to shaping political culture in the long term. Participants included aspiring youth political leaders, members of the Youth Parliament, and members of the Sectoral Oversight Committees, across the socio-political spectrum.
The participating youth have gone on to organically initiate 11 self-funded civic activities in their respective communities. One of the initiatives includes similar values-based workshops in the participants’ districts, replicating the techniques and information they acquired during the workshops. Two participants translated the original Sinhala content of the mentorship program into Tamil so that they could conduct similar training for Tamil-speaking communities. Other youth formed a collective to establish their own youth-led local organization that promotes a value-based political system.
This series of independent activities led by the youth participants demonstrates the level of agency youth feel they have to lead civic activities beyond SL Engage’s initial intervention, and further reflects the importance of deeper political cultural change in Sri Lanka.
One of the youth participants stated,
"The mentorship program was truly a transformative journey for me. It guidedme to relearn and unlearn, sparking a thirst for further knowledge. This experience inspired me to establish an organization aimed at educating and supporting the public in exercising their right to information. Moreover, it led me to do my first podcast on the Right to Information Act and its practices for a prominent political commentary YouTube channel in Sri Lanka. This extensive mentorship program has significantly shaped my path in political activism, equipping me to effectively lead my organization, thanks to the invaluable mentorship and leadership training I received here."
Sri Lanka Engage