CaFFE Organization

Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) will soon commence regional workshops of the Janani Project, an initiative to build digital literacy and empowerment among grassroots female politicians. CaFFE Executive Director, Manas Makeen and the research team have already met with Assistant Elections Commissioners of the areas in which the workshops will be held to discuss the digital issues that grassroots female politicians face in the areas. CaFFE Executive Director and the research team have also met with representatives from the civil society, trade unions and CaFFE’s long term collaborators to further understand the unique challenges in each area as well as to lobby for their support for the successful implementation of the project.

CaFFE has officially requested the assistance of the Elections Commission and Assistant Elections Commissioners as well, and had received positive responses. The workshops will be held in three rounds, targeting the same group of women.

The first round of workshops will be an introduction to social media and digital safety and it will also act as a brainstorming session. CaFFE has conducted a research on the issues faced by  grassroots female politicians in December last year and these sessions will complement that research. The second round of the workshops will focus on the legal aspects of digital media use and using existing laws to counter harassment, while the third round of workshops will focus on building the technical capacity of participants.

The workshops will be conducted by experts in the area with the support of the Elections Commission, Assistant Elections Commissioners, civil society organizations and a number of senior female political and social leaders. CaFFE has also established an Advisory Council including Former Minister Ferial Ashroff (UPFA), Former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran (UNP), MP Rohini Kavirathne (SJB), MP Thalatha Atukorale (SJB), Former MP Hirunika Premachandra (SJB), Urban Councillor Samanmali Gunasinghe (JVP), Senior Research Fellow at LIRNEasia, Dr. Sujata Gamage and CaFFE Director Surangi Ariyawansha.

For further information or if you are a grassroots female politician interested in taking part in the workshops, please contact us at caffesrilanka.lk@gmail.com

(More Details : Manas Makeen Executive Director – 0776539793 )

Media Unit

CaFFE Organization