Healthy communities free of division and conflict set the groundwork for socio-economic development. Yet, in post-conflict and post-disaster situations, underlying mistrust and resentment between individuals and groups, in addition to the psychological wounds created by the disaster, prohibit progress. Activities which promote peace, independence and harmony between community members are essential components of the rebuilding process.
WUSC has put programs in place to rebuild fragile communities by:
- providing over 20,000 poor and underemployed women and youth in Sri Lanka with an economic alternative to conflict;
- Promoting cooperation between plantation estates and neighbouring villages to break down barriers between ethnic groups in Sri Lanka;
- building the confidence, knowledge, and skills of trauma-affected young women and men in Sri Lanka, including tsunami and war-affected youth;
- building peace and preventing gendered violence in Sri Lanka;
- increasing household income and self-sufficiency of vulnerable widows and their war-affected families in Afghanistan;
- offering basic literacy, numeracy, and vocational training to women and youth in conflict-ridden South Sudan.