Alinea was recently awarded the four year National Languages Equality Advancement Project (NLEAP), funded by Global Affairs Canada. NLEAP builds off the success of the National Languages Project, implemented by Alinea (2010 – 2015). NLEAP aims to reduce poverty and improve economic and social equality of Tamil and Sinhala speaking women and men throughout Sri Lanka by strengthening the implementation of the Sri Lankan Official Languages Policy and enhancing acceptance by Sri Lankan men and women of the cultural diversity and bilingual nature of their country.

Working with government and civil society organizations, NLEAP will:

  • strengthen gender-sensitive bilingual communication skills of public servants;
  • improve the capacity of key ministries (national and provincial) to deliver public services in both official languages (Sinhala and Tamil), especially in bilingual communities;
  • increase the effectiveness of the Official Languages Commission;
  • increase awareness of language diversity and language rights; and
  • increase the ability of citizens to communicate in the official languages.

Alinea is responsible for managing and implementing the project, including the development and implementation of a gender strategy and integration of governance considerations through a variety of measures.