Academic Pursuits
Through his capacity as Chairman of the FCE, Dr. Rupesinghe also seeks to provide policy support to each step of the Sri Lankan peace process writing articles and issue papers, and participating in seminars and TV opinion programmes. This role supports continued public discussion of pertinent issues and allows for the sharing of expertise with key decisionmakers, stakeholders and fellow civil society organisations.
Since his return to Sri Lanka after the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE in 2002, he has also initiated the National AntiWar Front (NAWF), with a presence in all the districts of Sri Lanka. It has been engaged in public demonstrations, sitins and vigils, to call for peace and a negotiated solution to the country’s civil war.
While his nationbuilding efforts are invaluable, Dr. Rupesinghe remains open to criticism from political circles and outside, levelled by those critical of his endeavours towards peace. He has encouraged open discussions with such individuals and groups and believes that transparency and dialogue is the only way of reaching a national consensus on the issue.
One of his valuable contributions has been his theoretical and conceptual reflections on advancing early warning and conflict resolution; the role of third parties in the mediation of protracted internal conflicts; and an advanced concept of multitrack solutions to civil wars. The advocacy programme, which he created, was to persuade governments and international organisations to develop programmes for early warning, early action and develop coalitions and burden sharing in civil wars.
As part of this work in influencing policy, he contributed to the discussion and creating policy instruments on early warning systems with the European Union (EU) and the O.A.U, and sought to influence the policy debate in UK, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Finland, Denmark, Germany and Japan. In Japan, his efforts led to the formation of the Centre for Preventive Diplomacy.
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