A fortnightly program titled ‘Sambhashana’ presented by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) aimed at stimulating public discussion on vital issues of governance and anti corruption was launched at TISL office in Colombo on 08th September 2011.
Through discussions and film forums, TISL seeks to promote concepts of integrity among the public and to generate a discussion on vital issues of governance that have an impact on the daily life of people.
There will be a minimum of two events per month – on the first and fourth Thursdays of the month, commencing at 4.30 pm. On the first Thursday a movie will be screened.
Launching the programme, TISL CEO Dr.Wijaya Jayathilaka said that the idea behind the ‘Sambhashana’ is to create a regular platform or space for citizens to discuss, debate and consensus building on current topics relating to corruption and governance.
Explaining the title ‘Sambhashana’, he said it means discourse, discussion, social interaction and fellowship, in Tamil and Sinhala. “TISL has the vision to establish a nation of integrity, where corruption and tolerance of corruption is a zero. Now this is a lofty idea and achieving this is a journey with many challenges” he added.
“Being sincerely and purely good, being politically correct and doing nothing wrong is not easy, but once internalized the behavior should become second nature and natural. This is the level of internal transformation that is necessary. This process is made easier if we have enabling environment. The latter is something that all of us can contribute to,” Dr. Jayathilaka said.
Based on a more intense and intellectual discussion and debate initiated during the ‘Sambhashana’ programme TISL will develop a series of policy briefs to be shared with key stakeholders.
The film ‘The Whistleblower’ was screened to launch the programme.