Call for Support for ACPR’s Work
ACPR was established to fill the void of the need for a think-tank based in the North that could report on issues affecting the Tamil polity in the North-East of Sri Lanka in both English and Tamil – that which genuinely and sincerely reflects the war-affected Tamil communities’ views and priorities. We are also equally committed to deepening democracy in the North-East, which involves action against all forms of oppressive structures both internal and external to the community. We believe that ACPR has established the foundations towards achieving our mission.
It was very important to us that in establishing ACPR, we remain activist at the core and that in spirit we remain a ‘movement’ as opposed to developing into an archetypical ‘NGO’. Accordingly there are four core principles we have held closely in establishing ACPR: (1) We are solely accountable to the war-affected communities in the North-East; (2) We will not have our research and program priorities determined by donor agendas or priorities; (3) We will aspire to abide by rigorous standards of ethical research and advocacy. (4) We will always serve to deconstruct and democratise knowledge in the service of the oppressed and marginalised. These core principles are a key part of why we think ACPR has become a valuable institution in Jaffna, that is poised to truly make a difference in working towards accountability and building capacity in the North-East.
As Sri Lanka continues to deny the rights of Tamil communities and fails to provide accountability and justice for atrocity crimes committed during the war and as the Tamil community struggles to define its mission and direction in the post war context, it is now more important than ever to utilise the small space that has opened up post-2015 to build capacity on the ground and conduct evidence-based research. We are thus interested in making sure that our work is sustainable and that ACPR can continue. We rely heavily on the support of individual donors and crowd-funding to make that a reality and ensure our independence.
For those who are interested in making a donation please email us at [email protected].