International cricketing stars Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar
Sangakkara joined youth representatives from the Connect Lanka
Training For Trusteeship programme of the Weeramantry International
Centre for Peace Education and Research, and Rotaract yesterday
(28/6), to launch the Career Guidance and Youth Empowerment (CGYE)
programme, which is backed by the National Youth Services Council,
IOM and United Nations Volunteers.
The main objective of the scheme is to create opportunities for
youth to find suitable careers or pursue their desired areas of
interest.
“IOM is a firm believer in the contribution youth can make
to society and for this reason we are supporting the CGYE
programme, which was initiated and is led by the youth of Sri
Lanka,” said IOM Sri Lanka Chief of Mission Richard
Danziger.
“The final phase of CGYE will bring in selected youth from
different project locations in Sri Lanka to one place for a
three-day workshop. We see this as a significant contribution to
national reconciliation efforts,” he added.
“Empowering youth is a key for sustainable development in
Sri Lanka and the role education has in this process is very
large,” noted Mahela Jayawardena, Captain of the National
Cricket Team. “I hope education institutions will join hands
with these youngsters by partnering with this project and thereby
empower the future leaders of our motherland.”
IOM’s involvement in the programme has been made possible
through its Government of Japan-funded project: Assistance for
Reintegration and Reconciliation to Northern Conflict-affected
Communities.
In addition to providing financial support, IOM will ensure the
participation of former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
cadres and displaced youth from the North. 
The acquisition of professional and leadership skills, along
with the connections they will develop with youth from other parts
of the country, will be an important step in ensuring their full
reintegration into society.
At the graduation ceremony last week for a similar IOM training
in the South, a young former LTTE cadre commented on the impact of
this type of project.
“I was wondering what I was going to do after my
rehabilitation and return to society.  I was living with
bitter thoughts from the past and bad dreams about the
future.  The training built my confidence and gave me courage
to move forward. Now I am sure that I can get a job and earn a
decent earning. This is the first time in my life I stayed with
friends from other ethnicities and I am now able to understand
their culture and way of life and attitudes. We ate, played and had
fun even though we had a bit of a problem with understanding the
language. I am sure I can live with any of them in different
places.”
 
For more information please contact 
Richard Danziger
IOM Colombo
Tel: +94.11.53.25.300
Email:
"mailto:rdanziger@iom.int">rdanziger@iom.int