Empowering

Capacity

Capacitating the communities and empowering women will lead to a sustainable development of the communities.

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Community Capacity Building and Women Empowerment
OPEnE is one of the few development focused NGOs operating in Mannar and its interventions are contributing to change. OPEnE has created space for itself through consistent and long-term engagement in its chosen areas of focus, namely community empowerment, education and sustainable livelihoods. OPEnE has thus cultivated excellent relationships with the communities in which it is working.
OPEnE believes in collaborative engagement at all levels of the society to build inclusivity and thus promote sustainable change.
The long-term commitment and considerate approach of OPEnE staff are much appreciated by the beneficiary communities, adding strength to OPEnE’s on-the-ground effectiveness. The long-term community engagement has enabled OPEnE to better understand the issues that continue to keep war-affected communities from advancing in their lives and support them to advocate and ensure their well-being on their own.

Our community empowerment work focuses on capacity-building and building resilience. We work to support and facilitate communities in advocating to duty bearers and stakeholders for their rights, including access to the quality of services to which they are entitled.

The limited participation of women in economic activities is a bottle-neck to community resilience and socio-economic development, particularly as women are more likely than men to reinvest incomes in their families and communities.

Sri Lanka has the 14th largest gender gap in labour force participation in the world: Male dominated state structures and deeply patriarchal gender roles prevent women from participating fully in the labor-force. This particularly true for the fishing community in Mannar, where women who are eager to work are subjected instead to second class treatment are deprived of income-generating opportunities. The lack of income, social capital, and opportunities to learn new skills increase the dependence of women on others, reduces their bargaining power, injures their sense of self-worth and increases their vulnerability to gender based violence and other such harm.

We work to address these issues through women’s Self Help Groups and livelihood programs.

We work with women to form and strengthen Self Help Groups (SHGs). The SHGs promote the women’s own social, economic and political development and support them in building capacity and promoting social cohesion in their communities. We help to improve internal governance and accountability of the SHGs and provide training in business, leadership and management skills, including financial management.

We also support women to enter and build sustainable livelihoods in the fisheries and agriculture industries through our fisheries sustainability, food security and other programs.