The Migration Unit of Caritas Sri Lanka- SEDEC organized a capacity building programme for the Safe Migration Programme Officers on 16th and 17th January 2018 at the SEDEC premises. Safe Migration Project officers representing all the 13 Diocesan Centres participated in the two-day workshop held in Tamil and Sinhala mediums. This was held under the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) funded project on Safe Migration.
The DC participants had the privilege of gaining theoretical and practical knowledge on many aspects on migration related issues and activities. They included communication, advocacy, reporting and sharing of best practices of same.
The participants were made aware of the new trends and factors behind labour migration; the standards stipulated by the government of Sri Lanka and ILO pertaining to the safety of the migrant worker and understating communication techniques used for dealing with numerous stakeholders & partners in seeking solutions for migrant workers and their families especially in difficult cases. Under the advocacy training, the project officers were oriented on the steps related to understanding and recognising the roles of the different stakeholders who influence and fulfil the aspirations of the migrants and their families using practical examples from the field.
The resource team included Mr. Yasapala Silva, Consultant, Mr. M.T. Mubaris- Trainer from Center for Mediation, Mrs. Shyamalie Ranaraja, Attorney-at-Law, Supreme Court and Dr. Nimalka Fernando, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR).
Delivering the vote of thanks, Ms. Ruvendrini Perera, Manager, Safe Migration Unit explained how the SDC project and its implementation could go beyond the project period if DC’s could compliment the project activities, with the knowledge that had been gained during the two day workshop. She said the DC involvement in Safe Migration would definitely add sustainability and scaling up of local safe migration activities.