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"To us all towns are one, all men our kin.
Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill
Man's pains and pains' relief are from within.
Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !."

- Tamil Poem in Purananuru, circa 500 B.C 

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Tamilnation > Struggle for Tamil Eelam > Conflict Resolution - Tamil Eelam - Sri Lanka > Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD)


CONFLICT RESOLUTION: TAMIL EELAM - SRI LANKA

Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD)
Official Website at www.cjpdonline.org

Centre for Just Peace & Democracy (CJPD)

Our Work...   About Us...  Our People...
 

Our Work...
22 September 2007Humanitarian Action in the 'Undeclared' War in Sri Lanka - Seminar organised by Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD) in association with the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP) and International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and  Racism, (IMADR)
17 June 2007International Dimensions of the Conflict in Sri Lanka - Seminar organised by CJPD in association with Transcend International
22 February 2007Sri Lanka's Endangered Peace Process and the Way Forward
7 April 2006An International Seminar on "Envisioning New Trajectories for Peace in Sri Lanka" in Zurich in collaboration with the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies, Sri Lanka Office.
10 April 2006Workshop on 'Advancing Mine Action in Sri Lanka: Mobilising the Sri Lankan Expatriates and Tamil Diaspora', in Zurich in collaboration with Geneva Call
23 July 2006Workshop on 'Advancing Mine Action in Sri Lanka: Mobilising the Sri Lankan Expatriates and Tamil Diaspora', in Paris in collaboration with Geneva Call
About Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD)

The Centre for Just Peace and Democracy (CJPD) is an action research centre working towards a negotiated resolution to the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

With approximately a million Tamils living in India, North America, Europe and Australia, the Tamil Diaspora has historically played a significant role in the conflict in Sri Lanka. CJPD was founded in 2004 to formalise pre-existing networks of activists and academics in the Tamil Diaspora and beyond who have worked to bring about a just peace in Sri Lanka. CJPD will work with all communities to promote a just peace.

While CJPD does not represent either party to the conflict, it draws on the trust and relationships built by its members to gain insights into the Tamil perspective that are not available to those outside the Diaspora.  By combining intellectual rigour with a sound practical understanding of ground realities CJPD seeks to increase the quality of interaction between the parties to the conflict, civil society groups both within Sri Lanka and in the Diaspora, and with the international community.

CJPD strives to provide a forum to channel diverse opinions and facilitate the formation of political opinions amongst all those who have an interest in resolving the conflict. By conducting primary research, publishing reports, carrying out analysis and organising conferences, workshops and seminars, CJPD contributes to the conflict resolution discourse on Sri Lanka.

CJPD is aware that an end to war needs to challenge the status-quo and the notion of impossibility. As a track 2 actor CJPD strives to end war and work towards formulating a negotiated and just resolution to the deep-rooted and protracted conflict in Sri Lanka.

Since 2004 CJPD has partnered with Geneva Call, the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies and TRANSCEND to deliver two workshops and two international seminars.

In 2007 CJPD signed a MOU with the Berghof Foundation for Peace Support for institutional and programme support.


Our people...

Management Team:

Mr Anton Ponrajah, Director, Administration and Finance, Founder Member - Switzerland

Mr. Ponrajah has been associated with peace activities at UN Human Rights sessions in Geneva for the last 20 years. In his quest to bring a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sri Lanka, he has been lobbying in the corridors of the UN Secretariat in Geneva year after year, and has built up a personal rapport with diplomats and INGOs from all over the world. He is a graduate from the School of Drama & Theatre, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and is presently the Principal, Swiss-Tamil Drama School, functioning in Lucerne since 1999. He is the Co-founder (with mainstream Swiss Theatre Professionals) of MARALAM Theatre in Zurich, and the Swiss-Tamil Theatre group, producing Swiss-Tamil intercultural programmes and Theatre activities for the last twenty years. He is an artiste in a number of Swiss TV serials. He has also conducted a number of Self Exploration courses in Swiss Schools and Community centres at the invitation of Swiss authorities.

Mr A.C. Tarcisius, Director. Academic, Founder Member - UK

Mr. Tarcisius, is a graduate from the Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka, subsequently did three Post Graduate Diplomas, in Education and in Administration at the University of Colombo and at the University of Sri Lanka. He was an Education Officer attached to the Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka. He was a member of the National Cultural Council, Sri Lanka. He has won Presidential and National Awards for his academic and professional achievements in Sri Lanka. Seeking asylum in the UK, he was registered for PhD at the SOAS, University of London, doing his research in Tamil Education and Theatre Arts and went up to M.Phil level. Mr Tarcisius was attached to the BBC, World Service, London, as a journalist. He was also attached to the Research Department (Audience) of the BBC. Mr Tarcisius was the founder of the IBC, a 24-hour Tamil Radio, broadcasting to Europe, Middle East and Asia and was the Managing-Director for the first three years. Subsequently, he served as the Director-Programme, in a Tamil Television Station in Europe.
As an eminent educationist and Social Reformer, Mr Tarcisius was called upon to be a member of the prestigious panel that worked on formulating the syllabus and the Tamil Language text-books for expatriate Tamil children from Australia through Europe to the US. He has conducted workshops for teachers in all major cities in Europe, in the art of teaching. As a Tamil Folklore expert, Mr Tarcisius has been travelling to almost every European country since 1985 and conducting Tamil Folklore and Cultural workshops.As a journalist, he has also been recognised as an outspoken advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Mr Nadarajah Elango, Diaspora Coordinator, Founder Member - France

Mr Ana Pararajasingham, Head of Research - Australia

Mr.Pararajasingham holds a master's degree in management from the University of Technology, Sydney, and works as a Management Consultant. He is also a Fellow Member of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants (FCPA) and Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMAUK). He worked with the World Bank (as a Consultant) to assess the needs of the war-torn NorthEast on behalf of multilateral donor agencies in 2003 and to help assess the needs arising from the damage caused by the tsunami in 2005. He appeared before the Australian Parliament's Joint Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence on several occasions to present the case for international action in the conflict in the island of Sri Lanka.In 2002/03 he developed and delivered a course on Project Management for personnel working for Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the North East of Sri Lanka, a project funded by UNICEF. He has served on the Editorial Board of the 'Tamil Nation' fortnightly and has written extensively on the conflict in the island of Sri Lanka and on related human rights issues, and has presented papers and participated at several conferences on the conflict in Sri Lanka.

Mr Prasanna Chandrakumar, Programme Coordinator - Australia

Ms Christina Williams, Programme Officer - USA
Ms David Demani, Office Administrator - Switzerland

Mr Nadesan Satyendra, Adviser - UK

Advisory Board:

Dr Rev A.J.V. Chandrakanthan - Canada
Mr Balasingham Basharan - Norway
Ms Verena Graf - Switzerland
Ms Vinothini Kanapathipillai - Australia
Mr Viraj Mendis - Germany
Mr Suthaharan Nadarajah - UK
Prof  John P. Neelsan - Germany           
Mr Gill Piquis - France
Mr Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran - USA  

 
Institutional Support:

Dr Norbert Ropers, Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies - Sri Lanka
Ms Luxshi Vimalarajah, Berghof Foundation for Conflict Studies - Sri Lanka

Resource Network:

Dr  Karunyan Arulanantham  - USA                     
Rev  Prof. S.J. Emmanuel - Germany
Mr Arjuna Ethirveerasingam - USA
Dr Jay Maheswaran - Australia
Ms Karen Parker  - USA
Prof P. Ramasamy  - Malaysia
Dr Sachithanandam Sathananthan - India                
Prof Peter Schalk - Sweden
Prof N. Shanmugaratnam  - Norway
Dr. Arjuna Sittampalam  - UK
Dr Sachi Srikantha - Japan
Prof Sri N. Sriskandarajah  - Sweden                 
Dr D. Sriskandarajah - UK
Dr Rajan Sriskandarajah  - USA
Mr M. Thanapalsingam  - Australia    
 

 
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