Search

The purpose of this study was to examine how INGOs in Sri Lanka work to increase social capital and trust between two specific ethnic groups- the Tamils and Sinhala. The study uses a qualitative approach, where this dissertation draws on Michel Foucault’s Discourse Analysis with the concepts of power/knowledge and governmentality as central themes in the empirical data. The empirical data is provided by five prevalent international organizations that were present towards post-war Sri Lanka, from 2009 and onwards. The strategies employed by the different organizations are defined in relation to the thirty principles of The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as their relevance is universally recognised for setting standards in a post-war context. In relation to the particular discourse of peace and reconciliation, this research identifies two contrasting themes: "Empowered and Included" and "Marginalized and Excluded." The former explores themes such as Recognition, Empowerment, and Engagement in Peace and Reconciliation, while the latter delves into Lack of Implementation, Vulnerabilities, and Marginalization in peace processes. By investigating these themes, the study analyzes the intricate interplay between INGO interventions and the historical and existing socio-political landscape, offering insights into fostering trust and social cohesion among ethnic groups in a post-conflict society.

The purpose of this study was to examine how INGOs in Sri Lanka work to increase social capital and trust between the two ethnic groups, the Tamils and Sinhala. The study is qualitative, and the empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews. Representatives from seven INGOs and one professor from Sri Lanka were interviewed. The INGOs worked in many different ways to increase social capital and trust. They used many different working methods, depending on which strategy they had chosen. Distinct strategies were, e.g., empowerment, participation and avoiding project names such as peace building. Different methods were, e.g., community projects, work at micro, meso and macro levels and the use of volunteers as ambassadors. For the INGOs in Sri Lanka to be able to work as effectively as possible towards increasing social capital, trust and sustainable peace, it is important that the methods follow the strategies used. At the same time, they must consider the difficulties inherent to minimizing their own influence. There were difficulties for INGOs in working with and applying their strategies and methods. There was an apparent connection between their methods and strategies, which showed that the interviewed INGOs worked in a carefully prepared way.

The purpose of this study was to examine how INGOs in Sri Lanka work to increase social capital and trust between the two ethnic groups, the Tamils and Sinhala. The study is qualitative, and the empirical material was collected through semi-structured interviews. Representatives from seven INGOs and one professor from Sri Lanka were interviewed. The INGOs worked in many different ways to increase social capital and trust. They used many different working methods, depending on which strategy they had chosen. Distinct strategies were, e.g., empowerment, participation and avoiding project names such as peace building. Different methods were, e.g., community projects, work at micro, meso and macro levels and the use of volunteers as ambassadors. For the INGOs in Sri Lanka to be able to work as effectively as possible towards increasing social capital, trust and sustainable peace, it is important that the methods follow the strategies used. At the same time, they must consider the difficulties inherent to minimizing their own influence. There were difficulties for INGOs in working with and applying their strategies and methods. There was an apparent connection between their methods and strategies, which showed that the interviewed INGOs worked in a carefully prepared way.

cme-obe, the text is in Sinhala.

cme-obe.

Sinhala characters used in the Sinhala script by over 70% of the 18 million population in Sri Lanka, have been descended from the ancient Brahmi script. The Sinhala alphabet consists of vowels and consonants and the consonants are modified using modifier symbols to give the required vocal sounds. In the process of developing an OCR for the Sinhala script, characters are initially recognised through a multi-level filtering process using the Linear Symmetry [LS] feature [1]. The recognised character is then segmented to identify the associated modifier symbol/s. Since the use of LS recognises characters prior to segmentation, the most difficult task of separating touching characters is easily solved. A method to determine the skew angle of the script is also presented. Experiments conducted so far for widely used fonts of different sizes yield encouraging results.