Staff
Dr. Ulf Metzger, GTZ Senior Advisor
Wijaya Jayatilaka, Director
Wijaya is a sociologist with an MA in Sociology and a PhD in Rural Sociology. He is also a Fellow of the Sri Lanka Institute of Management. Wijaya has been a senior lecturer at the University of Peradeniya since 1979 and held senior management positions in the University. He worked as a Senior Program Officer of the Commonwealth Youth Program based in India and was the Director of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. As the Director of the Local Technical Secretariat he managed the IRQUE project for the University of Peradeniya during its inception. Wijaya has held many posts in various government and NGO national level committees and has been a trainer with wide experience in gender, education methodology and project proposal formulation. He joined FLICT as National Coordinator in July 2005.
Priyadharshini Niles, Finance Manager ACMA
Priyadharshini counts over 20 years of experience in the field of Finance & Management. She has worked as Management Accountant for Ceylon Oils & Fats Corporation for four years and later joined Ceylon Leather Products Corporation where she held the post of Finance Manager for five years. Her experience with National Apprentice and Industrial Training Authority (NAITA) as Director, Finance & Administration marks her credibility and accountability in management and overall administration. She joined FLICT in March 2004.
Marisa Fernando, Program Officer
Marisa has a background in sociology with a Masters in Economics and Rural Development from the University of Manchester. She also holds a Diploma in Conflict Resolution and Security Studies from the University of Bradford. At FLICT she has worked extensively with peace committees and youth networks. She takes the overall responsibility for monitoring and evaluation, with a special focus on assisting partners to develop and implement Result Based monitoring systems. Marisa joined FLICT in January 2005 and has been working for GTZ since 2000.
Sutheshna Kodeeswaran, Program Officer
Sutheshna joined FLICT in October 2005 and holds a BA in Economics. She has worked for Social Policy Analysis and Research Center, University of Colombo as a research associate. ILO study of 'School to work transition', Institute of Policy Studies’ study on 'Community Based Poverty Monitoring' in Batticaloa district and evaluation of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung activities on conflict management are some of the main engagements during this period. Since 2004 she worked for the Social Scientists' Association as a project coordinator for 'State of Democracy in South Asia' and was mainly responsible for a survey on 'State of Democracy and Human Security in Sri Lanka'. She is currently reading for her Masters in Human Resource Management.
Hasini Haputhanthri, Program Officer
Hasini is trained as a sociologist at Delhi University, India and gained her Masters in Asian Studies from Lund University, Sweden. Her current research is on Cinema and Conflict Transformation in Sri Lanka. She started her work in development in 2003 and moved on to work for television as a scriptwriter and a creative writer in advertising. At FLICT, she bears the overall responsibility of Public Relations and works with partners using art and media for conflict transformation. She joined FLICT in February 2007.
Humaira Muzammil, Program Officer
Humaira initiated her career at Rural Development Foundation as a trainer and instructor in 1999. She moved on to work in Sarvodaya Peace Secretariat as a Program Coordinator and has extensive experience in organizing peace campaigns around the country. Humaira received special training at Japan International Cooperation Agency and participated in a Special Needs of Women and Youth Workshop in Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Centre, Israel. She joined FLICT in March 2007 and coordinates the CCPI program.
Hemantha Ubeysekara, Program Officer
Hemantha has a background in Political Sciences and International Relations. He completed his Masters in 2007 from Jawaharlal Nerhu University, India. He joined FLICT as a consultant in July 2007 and rejoined as a Program Officer in February 2008. Hemantha will be mainly working with Partner Organisations working with Good Governance and civic participation.
Constanze von Soehnen (Conny), Junior Consultant
Conny is a lawyer specialised in public international law. During her school time and studies she engaged voluntarily in projects of numerous civil society organisations and NGOs. After successfully passing the 2. Bar Exam in 2007, she worked 4 months for UNHCR in Berlin and then joined GTZ in Sri Lanka as Management Assistant to the Country Director in September 2007. Since March 2008, Conny recurrently works as Consultant for FLICT giving support to the Senior Advisor and input to Focus Area 3.
Chamari Dissanayake, Administrative Officer
She is currently following Professional Qualification in Human Resources Management (PQHRM) at Institute of Personal Management(IPM). Prior to which she completed the Certificate level of HR (CCHRM) at IPM.
She also has a Diploma in Confidential Secretarial from the Polytechnic Institute and an International Diploma in Computer Studies, NCC - UK examination. She has been with GTZ as a Secretary since November 2000. Prior to her employment at FLICT she worked with CEFE (Competency based Economies through Formation of Enterprises), which is also a project implemented by GTZ.
Niroshana Chaminda, Events Coordinator
Niroshana started his work with FLICT in January 2008 as a Program Administrator / Event Coordinator. He is responsible for organizing of FLICT events mainly the CCPI activities. He has worked with several organizations such as Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) and The Asia Foundation and having a over five years working experience in international funded projects in Sri Lanka including the activities that related to organizing of training programs, human resources functions, program administration functions and the event management etc. He is having a Diploma in International Relations, BCIS and Advanced Certificate on Human Resources Management, NIBM
Wasundara Weeratunga, Accounts Executive cum Secretary
Wasundara joined GTZ in August 2005 as a secretary and started working as an Account Executive cum secretary in FLICT since March 2006. Before joining GTZ she worked for six years in Industrial Technology Institute and HSBC. At present she studies Human Resource Management and Accounts.
Heinz Jayasinghe, Administrative Assistant
Heinz has a Diploma in Business Management from LIBM. He has been working with GTZ for nearly two years and joined FLICT in January of 2007. He works as an Office Assistant cum driver.
Upali Anura, Driver
Upali has been working for GTZ since 1998 as a driver. From1998 to 2004 he worked at the Rural Banking Inauguration Project in Kandy. After that he has one-year experience with Fedrich Ebert Foundation. Upali has been working for FLICT since June of 2006.