Social Justice & Governance

Lifelong Support: Autism Spectrum Disorder Beyond Childhood in Sri Lanka

Up to 2% of the global population have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The exact number is hard to pinpoint, but millions of people are affected world-wide, tens or hundreds of thousands in Sri Lanka alone. Awareness of ASD is slowly rising in the country, but there is much work to be done, and critical blind spots remain. One of them is that almost every existing support for autistic people--early detection, therapy, facilities--is designed with children in mind: but it is necessary to look further and think on the scale of entire lifespans.

Climate Migration: The New Wave of Refugees?

Climate change is considered the greatest threat that Earth has to counter in this century. Due to intensified human activity and unsustainable use of the planet’s resources, the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased while the planet’s ability to absorb the excess carbon dioxide has decreased due to the elimination and degradation of natural carbon sinks such as forests and oceans. This imbalance in the atmosphere has led to increased global warming over a long period of time, and scientists have confirmed the existence of climate change.

Women, Children and Climate Change: The Struggles of Vulnerable Groups Forced to Move

In the past decade, extreme weather events have been triggered all over Sri Lanka, taking place more and more frequently and intensely. The severe drought conditions in districts such as Jaffna and Polonnaruwa have continued unceasingly since 2016. More recently, the intense floods experienced in May-June 2018 in most Southwestern and Central regions of Sri Lanka saw the displacement of tens of thousands of families.