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| The Movement > Who are we? > Activity Areas |
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GMSL always looking at a holistic approach and to make sustainable changes supports the strategy of changing people’s habits and attitude by changing their understanding and thinking. This longer term effort however will be more effective than simply trying to incorporate new behavior to people’s habits and activities.
The GMSL implements its development, awareness and lobbying activities in 22 of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka. The districts in which the GMSL are not involved are those where the conflict has escalated, namely, Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.
The major activities of the GMSL are in the areas of Environment Conservation, Good Governance, Livelihood Protection and Recovery, Disaster Mitigation and Risk Reduction, Dispute Resolution, Gender Issues, Food Sovereignty, Consumer Projection and Awareness, Energy and Power, Bio-Diversity Conservation and Rejuvenation, Disaster Management, Health Issues and Youth.
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| The work of the movement can be summarized as follows: |
- Works to encourage citizens conceptually and practically towards environmentally aware lives, lifestyles and collective action geared to achieve sustainable development.
- Lobbies the government continuously to establish a holistic, sustainable development framework.
- Conducts comprehensive research and education programs in order to ensure mobilized communities engage in realistic and practical participation in sustainable development drives.
- Works to establish a legal framework to address the grievances of those who are affected by environmental, consumer and development issues.
- Works in partnership with provincial, district, national and international organizations with similar ideologies in order to optimize the impact of universal participation.
- Works to reduce dependency on donor agents and increase financial independence.
- Ensures comprehensive planning, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to provide the necessary checks and balances to programs and activities.
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The following are the outcomes of the above ideological base:
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Lobby incessantly for good governance
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Work to protect and enhance the quality of livelihoods.
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Mitigate disasters and work towards disaster risk reduction.
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Work to resolve conflicts.
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Work to re-establish traditional matriarchal society while protecting the rights of women.
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Work for the rights of consumers.
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As a true movement, work to coordinate and manage collective national efforts towards sustainable development.
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Work towards mobilization and enhancement of youth.
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Provide legal aid to those most in need of it.
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Identify profit-making ventures and work towards establishing them.
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Leverage strong media machinery to create greater impact of campaigns.
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While the GMSL has been lobbying for and advocating alternative models for sustainable development, it has also taken steps in the last two years to involve itself in a practical sense in these very same ideas that it is promoting with almost all of these activities being focused on marginalized and ignored communities that were affected by the tragedy of the December 2004 Tsunamis. The GMSL saw the tragedy as an ideal opportunity to demonstrate on the ground the effectiveness of what it was saying. After having successfully proved that this in fact is the case, a gradual winding down of these operations has been initiated with focus shifting back to work in lobbying and advocacy while expanding its grass-roots operations. Lobbying has increasingly become an international exercise due to the impact of global policy on local governance and economics. Grass roots operations are expanding in community rehabilitation, holistic agricultural practices, strengthening of the fisheries sector and small scale entrepreneurships. Thes GMSL has been very successful in these areas. Additionally, in order to become less donor dependent, the media arm of the GMSL has been spun off as a guarantee limited company (Siyathra Media).
The activities and the scope of effect of a majority of the movement’s interventions are directed towards the entire country, especially in the areas of policy lobbying and advocacy and over the last eight years it has built up a large following of grass-roots level voices in support of its activities. The GMSL is one of the few non-governmental organizations in the country that enjoys the support of most communities with whom it has worked due to its clean, transparent and accountable ideological foundations. This fact has also duly been recognized by the government and the GMSL is a key member of many government committees. |
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Green volunteers work at Nilaweli beach clearing garbage as part of the GMSL campaigns to conserve and protect environmentally sensitive areas |
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| Government level representation: |
- Director level representation on the Central Environmental Authority
- Advisor to the Ministry of Environment
- Civil Society mobilization and awareness creation partner of the Disaster Management Centre of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
- International Committee Member - NGO Forum on the ADB
- Convening organization of the Alliance to prevent negative pressure of the WTO
- Member - Environmental committee on tsunami rehabilitation work
- Member - Policy making committee on Bio-Diversity Management unit of the Ministry of Environment
- Member - National Fisheries Policy Making Committee of the Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources
- Member - UNDP GEF/SGP National Steering Committee
- Member - Disaster Management Council Committee
- Member - Committee on Persistent Organic Pollutants
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