A town hall meeting took place at the District Secretariat, Jaffna on 5th March 2024 to bringing together government officials, community members, and activists to address local concerns, with a special focus on issues affecting women. These significant gathering was jointly chaired by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Northern Provincial Council, and the District Secretariat, Jaffna.
The meeting was chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Northern Provincial Council, Mr. P. Vageshan, and the Addl. District Secretary, Mr. M. Pratheepan, took the co-chair. Multi-departmental senior government officials, Project Manager of Chrysalis Mr. M. Prabhakaran, Senior Project Coordinator Arasakesari Gregor Johansson, Gender Monitoring and Supervision Consultant P. Dharmendra, Jaffna District Coordinating Committee Coordinator Ms. Chantadevi Dharmaratnam, and Women Development Officers, Rural Development Officers, Members of Jaffna District Local Council’s Women Members Union, and representatives of Jaffna District Civic Organizations participated in this meeting. Mr. Selvin Ireneuss, a respected former government official and socio economic adviser, was facilitating the discussion, setting the stage for constructive conversation.
Mr. M. Prapaharan, Project Manager of Chrysalis, eloquently emphasized the vital role of Town Halls as a platform for citizen engagement in socio-economic development and as a proactive forum for addressing community challenges. Introducing the proposed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for future Town Hall meetings, he welcomed feasible suggestions, as the SOP continues to evolve. The event concluded with a commitment to follow up on the raised points and provide updates in the upcoming meetings.
This meeting was made possible through the support of Chrysalis, under the project “Promoting Peaceful, Inclusive, and Resilient Communities through Women-led Solidarity Forums (BRIDGE)” in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, generously funded by the European Union.
