Sri Lanka

About Our Work in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, we contribute to long-term peace and prosperity by strengthening institutions of governance and justice and addressing the root causes of political and social conflict. Our programs help advance inclusive economic growth and development at subnational and national levels, support women's entrepreneurship, advance gender equality, and increase access to justice through mediated dispute resolution. In the aftermath of multiple crises, we continue to strengthen civil society, promote citizen participation in decision-making, and support individuals and communities in their recovery from trauma. 

Contact Information

Dinesha de Silva

Address and Contact

The Asia Foundation – Sri Lanka 30/1 Bagatalle Road Colombo 3, Sri Lanka

[email protected]

+ 94 (11) 205-8701

What We Do

Psychosocial counseling support

In partnership with the government health sector and nongovernment organizations, The Foundation’s Mental Health and Psychosocial Support reached survivors of trauma and trained mental health and psychosocial care providers. The Foundation also funded longstanding local partner Women in Need, through its Gender and Justice program, to remotely carry out services during lockdowns to work with victims of domestic violence online and via mobile phones.

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Inside Justice

Inside Justice has been working to improve formal justice sector responses to cases of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence against women and girls in Sri Lanka since 2016. This project redresses cases of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence through access to just, fair, and sensitive judicial processes. The Inside Justice Project adopts a multi-stakeholder approach partnering with government institutions such as the Attorney General of Sri Lanka, local non-governmental organizations such as Women and Need and Women and Media Collective, and professional bodies such as the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.

Inside Justice materials include research and lesson-learned reports, advocacy and awareness campaign material, and other resource material targeting various stakeholders in the formal justice sector. The resource material and awareness material developed based on a victim-centered approach highlight the challenges, gaps, and practices a victim-survivor of domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence may experience in the formal justice process.

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Trafficking in Persons Projects

In 2017, The Asia Foundation began a program to support Sri Lanka’s trafficking-in-persons (TIP) prevention, protection, and prosecution efforts. The Foundation’s TIP program adopts a multi-stakeholder approach to strengthen institutional and human capacity, and promote victim-centered mechanisms. Through three diverse projects, the Foundation has provided technical support, enhanced capacity, and engaged in research and advocacy to strengthen the country’s TIP victim identification processes, protection services, and legal procedures.

These projects include Building an Effective Trafficking-in-Persons Data and Information Collection and Reporting System in Sri Lanka, supported by the US Department of State, Equipping Sri Lanka to Counter Trafficking in Persons, supported by the International Labour Organization, and the regional Optimizing Screening and Support Services for Gender-Based Violence and TIP study, supported by the US Department of State.

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Advancing Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality in Sri Lanka

Women’s Voice and Leadership–Sri Lanka (WVL-SL) was a five-year project from 2019 to 2024 funded by Global Affairs Canada. The project aimed to strengthen the capacity and the activities of women-led, women’s rights organizations and movements seeking to empower women and girls and advance the protection of the rights of women and girls and achieve gender equality. WVL-SL was part of Canada’s Women’s Voice and Leadership Program, which is currently being implemented in several nations across the globe. Canada’s feminist approach to international assistance recognizes advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls as the most effective way to reduce poverty and build a more inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous world.

WVL-SL worked with over sixty women’s rights organizations across Sri Lanka at national, district, and community levels. The project supported these organizations with multiyear funding, rapid response funding for distinct activities and short projects that allow for nimble, timely, and strategic responses to unforeseen events and to pilot innovative ideas, funding for institutional capacity building, funding for strengthening networks and alliances to amplify the voices of local women’s rights organizations and foster an enabling environment in which broader collective action can coalesce.

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