Mareena Evansalin Alosiyas was abandoned by her husband in 1985. All her life, she did not realize the world outside her circle. But when she stepped out, she made sure to show the world that there are no boundaries for success. Today, Mareena Evansalin Alosiyas runs…

In Sri Lanka, many women go for work in order to earn a living or to support their families.  According to the World Bank report, Sri Lanka's labor force participation rate - Female is 35% in 2017.  Here are some of the photo's submitted by Udara oshan Nissanka under the topic…

Damith Chandana is a 21 year old school leaver who lives in Uda Bowala village in Kandy. He studied in Kingswood College and now he is continuing his further education.  He is regularly engaged in community work with his peers in the area. Last August, he saw a Facebook post on…

Chamal Malintha Gunasinghe is an 18-year-old student who lives in Meegahathenna, a remote town in Walallawita divisional secretary area in Kalutara district of Sri Lanka.  "Our town is the center point for a number of very remote villages. People visit the town to buy and sell commodities at the…

I had been serving as a waiter at an Adult and Assisted Living Care home, which was facilitated under AH/ALP. There were around three hundred residents. Almost all of them were adults except very few though a lower number came under assisted living.

Sri Lanka Ministry of Women and Child Affairs has appointed a technical committee to draft a Child Day Care Centre Policy.  Ministry sources said that the committee is now identifying the existing policies in relation to child care in local and international settings.  Public views would also be obtained prior…

Politician Geetha Kumarasinghe lost her parliamentary seat recently after a lengthy court procedure because she was proven a dual citizen of both Sri Lanka and Switzerland. Under the 19th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka, the dual citizens are not qualified to represent the national parliament. They cannot even contest…

Sri Lanka Ministry of Education announced that the Provincial Educational authorities of the North Central Province had informed them that the school principal who had sacked a 16 years old school girl wrongly accusing her of being pregnant had been interdicted. An inquiry is pending with regard to the conduct…

Strengthening and supporting the voice of children and youth is extremely vital in creating a vibrant society, where diversity is respected; acknowledged; celebrated and tolerated. It is also highly important to realize that the children and youth can propose extremely creative and sustainable remedies to transform complex social conflicts…

Everyone comes out of a mother’s womb. It is so unfortunate a truth that some, or rather, most, Sri Lankans who own a beautiful culture of being sensitive to others, seem to forget this. It is a common truth that people come to Colombo for…

Sri Lanka Ministry of Education and the National Child Protection Authority have started seperate investigations against a school principal on an incident of sacking a girl from a school suspecting she was vommiting because of pregnancy.  Newspapers reported that the teenage girl who had not eaten breakfast due to poverty had…

International Day of the Girl Child 11 October 2017 Today and every day, let us support the power of girls before, during and after crises to build better futures for themselves and their…

  Cover Photo Thanks to Nayana Sanjeewa

On 30 September 2017, the United Nations celebrated the International Translation Day for the first time paying tribute to the work of translators who play an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, creating understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security. On 24 May 2017, UN General…

Opinion Editorial by Ms. Ritsu Nacken, Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sri Lanka, in commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons, 1 October 2017. -- Ageing is an issue close to my heart. I come from…

By Rajendra Sathyajith Wijesinghe Content would be lengthy. But I invite all of you to go through which I feel either neglected, unattended or remain unanswered in refer to the aged, where I tried to find answers through my father.  Loneliness As to…

In August 2017, iVoice made a public call to youth around the island to submit their innovative ideas that address a social issue in their community. Over 100 innovative ideas were submitted that ranged from solid waste management to improving reproductive health education in schools, to awareness sessions on gender-based violence.…

We are happy to announce the 20 shortlisted best ideas of the iVoice innovative idea competition selected by the independent panel of judges. The 20 shortlisted competitors will participate in the final round of the competition on 20 and 21 September in Colombo. With the assistance of iVoice team, Sri…

Ministry of Women and Child Affairs is in the process of submitting a comprehensive National Action Plan for Women Headed Households to the Cabinet for approval, prior to the initial hearings of the 2018 Budget.  In Sri Lanka, one in four households are headed by women, of which…

This is a touching story about a young man. Although it is a personal matter in one sense, it is about a problem common to certain communities of this country. Therefore, I hide the true identity of the protagonists of this story. Let’s call him Thilak. He was born…

He is Withanage Jayawardana Perera; we call him ‘Jaya’. I have travelled many times in the office vehicle driven by him. On one such tour, we visited Rambukkana to write a media report on a medical clinic that had been set up following the 2016 landslide. The clinic…

According to Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey – 2015, only 38.5 percent of Sri Lankan women over 20 years of age are in the labour force. One major reason for women to be out of labour force is the obligations towards children. Childcare is mainly mother's duty in Sri Lankan social…

That was a remote corner of Batticaloa district. Nobody scored 8As in O/Ls in that small village other than Sara. She became  the talk of the town in that very night  O/L results were released! She didn’t come from a well to do family, she was the eldest daughter…