That’s the name of the song done by Paranoid Earthling for the World Peace Day 2008. It’s youtubed for your viewing pleasure:

The video comes from the Young Asia Telivision Youtube channel, who is now putting out some quality material up there. BB is also on youtube, if anyone wants to subscribe.
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Last Friday I finished my summer internship at a frontline Architecture firm in London. It was a wonderful experience, Learning things about architecture was almost “not primary” (emphasise on almost). All that I observed and learnt were an amalgam of Architecture, people, stereotypes/or absence of it and about life itself.
I was guided at work right […]

As regular readers of this blog know, we are officially looking for new people to join Beyond Borders. If you know anyone between the ages of 18 to 25 who might be interested in the work we do, Please forward the following information and help us spread the word.
Three themes: Identity, Diversity and Active Global […]

We were most Impressed with the set of  (draft) guidelines put together by the Civil Liberties and Public Policy program on the “Principles of Meaningful Youth Participation”. In our work in the sphere of youth-led development both in Sri Lanka and internationally, we have encountered two basic views among young people in their understanding of […]

Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri and Prof. Nira Wickramasinghe both from the faculty of arts at the University of Colombo spoke at a Beyond Borders study circle in Colombo on how we interpret the construct called “history”. Following are some excerpts from their remarks.
Dr. Nirmal Dewasiri on the relationship between the past and the present :

Prof. […]

Beyond Borders kicked off the inaugural session of a series of  a study circle meetings on the ethnic conflict for young people who are interested in the issues related to the ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka. The Colombo study circle is part of a larger initiative by Beyond Borders which aims to strengthen youth voices […]

My latest post for the Beyond Borders blog is on youth participation on policymaking, where I argue that what is required is more of an attitudinal change rather than an institutional change, which say allocate “youth quotas” in governance bodies, whic…

I cringe every time I hear that self-patronizing statement. Ever so often, well-meaning people get up on stage and utter these revered words , ” Friends, young people are the future, they are the future leaders of this nation”. Now many variations of this same speech exists, but for each one of them, my response […]

The official publication of Beyond Borders India is out now. From the inside cover:
Beyond Borders India are young change makers who have resolved to challenge the existing restrictive order. As the decision-makers of tomorrow we should not only be aware of our own responsibilities but should remind others about their duty as well.
As […]

There are many pressing issues in the world today, some directly affect us while most are indirect and thus ignored. Young people have a thirst for knowledge and an acute interest in voicing viewpoints and thoughts on most issues but there isn’t a space for them to do so which is constructive as well as […]

Forum Theatre crew of Beyond Borders performed a revised version of “wrong Turn”, a forum theatre based on a poverty theme. The play was performed in ja-ela by invitation of the Law & Society Trust on the 26th of April, 2008. The play, intially produced on behalf of a CEPA event, was done in Sinhala […]

We are organizing a film/documentary (mini)Festival on Social and Development issues. In keeping with our vision for Active Global Citizenship, and in the spirit of free and open knowledge sharing, the event will be in the format of an unconference.
The entire event will be in the format of an unconference. That is, the event […]

Peace one day is a concept by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley. He was at a musical concert, when Jeremy had an idea: what if there was one day when the world stopped fighting? A worldwide ceasefire - a non-violence day? A Peace Day? After years of work Jeremy finally had his wish in 2001, when the […]

The Liberal Youth Forum (LYF-India) is a movement of young individuals, informal groups and formal associations collaborating to create access and choice in social, cultural, economic, political and environmental spheres for a freer and more prosperous India. On April 5th, 2008, the Liberal Youth Forum will formally announce its launch at Hotel Peninsula Grand, Andheri East, […]

Following is a video excerpt of a presentation by Prof. Ajith De Alwis (University of Moratuwa) on the impact of Climate Change in Sri Lanka. The video was part of a larger forum organized by Beyond Borders in collaboration with the Youth Yatra Project on Climate Change in Sri Lanka.
Prof. Ajith takes a youth-focus in […]

1. Appoint a committee
of professors, such-like.

2. Do extensive consultations and research for years.
Copy-pasting from Youth Policies which have been drafted following extensive consultations and research, also qualifies as “extensive consultation and research.”
3. Launch the policy
If you’ve done the extensive consultation and research as mentioned in step 2, the launch of the draft should be followed […]

Young people in South Asia and in particular Sri Lanka are disillusioned with both mainstream and alternative spaces for political action says K.Guruparan speaking at the International Conference on Youth and Democracy in South Asia in Pune, India.
Guru was presenting a paper on youth participation in decision making and policy making processes using Sri […]

Same Veil. Two very different perceptions.
Sometimes, a picture is more than just a thousand words.

BB-ite and the author of the ST Mirror’s Godaya Column, Dinidu De Alwis has started a (somewhat) novel concept aimed at helping the poor - Peer2Peer charity.
Dinidu has this his to say about what he calls The Godaya Initiative on his site :
The Godaya Initiative is a result of one of my travels to Hambantota […]

The Sri Lanka Youth Parliament is a youth led, youth run initiative, whose aim is to mobilize and create a network of young people to bring about positive and sustainable change to issues that affect youth and their communities in Sri Lanka .
The first step towards this endeavor was the ‘first sitting of the […]

The Sri Lanka Youth Parliament is a youth led, youth run initiative, whose aim is to mobilize and create a network of young people to bring about positive and sustainable change to issues that affect youth and their communities in Sri Lanka .
The first step towards this endeavor was the ‘first sitting of the […]

Most of us do it. I did it once, closed it down, and I’ve started again now. Sometimes it an addiction, sometimes it’s a soapbox, sometimes it’s a result of “utter joblessness” (The Gutter Flower). It’s blogging. And now, the Sri Lankan Blogosphere seems to be getting a new bunch: Teen Bloggers. What makes them […]

And it’s led by none other than Nalin de Silva. In the Daily News Midweek Review on the 13th of February, Nalin takes responsibility on behalf of the Veemansaka Parshadaya, an organization of which he is treasurer. And then he goes on the typical I’m-not-getting-laid-so-I’m-so-frustrated manner of bashing western society for everything that’s wrong with […]

The one question that I have always wanted to address is, what really is the role of Sri Lankan youth? Depending on our social positions, the ideas instilled in us differ. As some of us know, if you are a member of the Colombo society, generally the trend is to receive a good education, […]

Mithra Sree Karunanayake’s article on last week’s Sunday Divaina, attempts to explore one of the favorite topics of Sri Lanka’s neo-conservatives: Culture and International Schools .
Whilst most of the article is done in the typical International School bashing manner that one expects, Mithra makes a couple of valid points in his article.
He talks of the […]

It’s been the subject of much controversy since the olden days. It has been associated with everything from undying romance to utter moral breakdown: pre-marital sex. We spoke to a couple of young people from various backgrounds and of varying ages, and asked them for their opinions on the matter. The responses, to say the […]

I am the hot tropical sun, that shines on the long green grass… I am his rays, white-hot, shimmering, blinding bright…. I am the moist-laden wind that makes the mango tree whisper…and her many tales brought form teh azure Indian ocean…
I am the un-ending vista of a mountain plateu, 7000ft. above sea level, I am […]

Does the legal system cater to women? Many feminist don’t believe it does. Which could be agreed upon as the law provides inadequate protection for women’s injuries, which are among the most under reported crimes in the world.Why it is that Sexual harassment was not considered an offense for a long time? And pornography is […]