| Our partner organisation in Sri Lanka is the Movement for the Defence of Democratic Rights (MDDR).
MDDR was founded in 1980 and has initiated the establishment of five
regional organisations (district organisations = DOs). DOs in Kalutara,
Galle, Kurunegala, Monaragala and Ratnapura work largely autonomously,
but they represent the same vision and goals as MDDR. In 1995, MDDR was
registered as a non-profit organisation under the Sri Lankan Companies
Act No. 17.
Vision:
A democratic society with a human rights culture in which all men and
women possess a common humanity without direct or indirect limitations
or hindrances, in the belief that these rights are indivisible and, as
such, may not be suppressed by any power.
Goals:
- Publicity work for human rights
- Actions to defend the autonomy of human beings and opposition to all social, economic and cultural forces which threaten them.
- Thematisation of human rights violations and promotion of these rights.
- To
be a party in the formation of a broad democratic front for human
rights through various activities and cooperation with local and
foreign organizations.
MDDR is a key partner of the Peoples Action for Free and Fair Elections
(PAFFREL). Since 2001, peace work has been the first priority. The
contacts which were established in the "Good Governance" programmes and
relating to economic rights [RJ2]help to expand the peace work through
discussions on topics relating to peace, political power, the
distribution of power and constitutional questions.
Programme:
- Peace programme: activities and coalitions for reinforcing
the anti-war ideology, and thus preparation of the basis for peace talks
- Good
Governance: election observation in nearly all districts of the
country, participation in the restoration of citizens' committees in
Galle and Colombo
- Human rights educational programme:
programmes for Singhalese and Tamil school children, youths and
teachers as well as for law students at the University of Colombo,
legal counsel in the MDDR office
- Active member of the
network of mothers and daughters of Sri Lanka: this women's coalition
was founded in 1989 during the terror period in order to search for
young people who had vanished. Now as before, it advocates women's and
children's rights.
|
Home 
