COLOMBO – Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and Centre for Investigative Reporting Sri Lanka (CIR) have been listed among the nine recipients of the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) in Sri Lanka and the Maldives announced this year.
The Canadian High Commission in Sri Lanka, in a media statement released on Tuesday (29) also listed the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, Maldives; People’s Action for Free & Fair Elections (PAFFREL); Environment Foundation Limited (EFL); Planeterra; Northern Cooperative Development Bank (NCDB), and Zero Waste Maldives among the recipients deeming the deeming the selection a highly competitive process.
The CFLI supports small-scale, high-impact projects conceived and designed predominantly by local partners in Sri Lanka and Maldives, enabling Canada to respond to local needs by working at the community level and also strengthen the country’s relationships with civil society and local communities.
This year, the CFLI’s call for proposal focused on key thematic areas: Inclusive governance, Environment and climate action and Growth that works for everyone, including women’s economic rights.
The statement said that given the current pandemic, the CFLI program was also able to respond to COVID-19 related proposals, including a contribution of $100,000 CAD in support of the Maldives Government’s efforts in providing basic services to the homeless and the most vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19 in Malé.
In Sri Lanka, it said CFLI has already supported CMEV and PAFFREL’s contribution towards ensuring a creditable parliamentary election — free of violence and with the distribution of PPE to voters and observers at selected voting locations.
From pandemic response, to election monitoring, to women’s economic empowerment and climate action, we stand proud to work together with Sri Lankans and Maldivians to find solutions to issues that matters to them, the statement noted.
-ENCL