Rupika Damayanthi De Silva is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n peace and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

activist. She is the founder of the

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Saviya Development Foundation which supports

peace building Peacebuilding is an activity that aims to resolve injustice in nonviolent ways and to transform the cultural and structural conditions that generate deadly or destructive conflict. It revolves around developing constructive personal, group, and p ...

, and women and

children's rights Children's rights or the rights of children are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors.

. She has worked to unify women's voices in Sri Lanka through an exchange program of Sinhala women in the north of Sri Lanka and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

women in the south. In 2004 De Silva worked to help women affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In 2012 De Silva was the recipient of the N-Peace Award as a role model for peace. She is a member of the

Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) is an International organization, international organisation that provides research training, career development and networking opportunities for women scientists throughout t ...

(OWSD).

References

External links

Rupika de Silva wins the N-Peace Award 2012: Sri Lanka
video {{DEFAULTSORT:De Silva, Rupika Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Sri Lankan women 21st-century Sri Lankan women Sri Lankan women activists