{"title":"Female Religious Leaders can be Strong Drivers of Dialogue and Mediation in Sri Lanka","authors":"","doi":"10.51595/1111168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/1111168","url":null,"abstract":"This policy brief developed as a part of the Female Religious Leaders for Dialogue and Mediation (FREEDOM) initiative focuses on the importance of engaging female religious leaders in dialogue and mediation in addressing contemporary social issues in Sri Lanka. It was developed based on information gathered through consultation workshops, key informant interviews, an online survey, and a review of the available literature, which was carried out from 1 - 25 March 2023. Recommendations are made for the improvement of the engagement of female religious leaders for dialogue and mediation, targeting the leadership of religious organizations, mediation, dialogue platforms, civil society organizations, government institutions, and female religious leaders and community leaders.","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127992131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Emotional Response to the Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka: From Fight or Flight to Action","authors":"Nwany Wijesekara","doi":"10.51595/1111167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/1111167","url":null,"abstract":"The financial crisis in Sri Lanka is escalating day by day with grave consequences on public life. Suffering at community, family, and individual levels is immense. Comprehensive macroeconomic and microeconomic solutions are needed to solve the financial crisis. Further, drastic improvements are needed in the areas of governance, transparency, and accountability at all levels in order to put the country back on track. The hard truth is that suffering will be a characteristic feature of the lives of the people of Sri Lanka in the future. This paper examines three possible pathways that the emotional response to the financial crisis could take at the community, family, and individual levels. It argues that the natural fight or flight emotional pathways could lead to withdrawal or violence, and further aggravate suffering. An action-oriented solution-focused emotional pathway could not only minimize suffering, but also could promote well-being at the community, family, and individual levels. Keywords: Economic Crisis, Emotional Response, Compassion","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"15 4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124612289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Global Observatory of COVID-19 Vaccine Incentives","authors":"","doi":"10.51595/11111163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/11111163","url":null,"abstract":"The availability of the COVID-19 Vaccines was a turning point in the global pandemic which was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. While making vaccines available was a major challenge that the global public health community has to deal with, the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy also has been a significant challenge faced in some parts of the world. Incentives have been used as tools to promote vaccine acceptance in some parts of the world. Do vaccine incentives work? Yes? No? The Global Observatory of COVID-19 Vaccine Incentives (GOCOVI), as a global virtual platform to track COVID-19 Vaccine Incentives, will curate and compile evidence in relation to the use of Vaccine Incentives for the promotion of vaccine acceptance.","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123389856","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Community Resilience and Adaptive Capacity: An Integrative Perspective","authors":"Agbo Chukwuemeka Ogugua","doi":"10.51595/11111162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/11111162","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this paper is to examine the adaptive capacity for community resilience. Adaptive capacity supports the residents of a local community to survive and recover during and after a disaster. The holistic view of community resilience is seen as personal attributes possessed by community residents which enables them to survive during and after a disaster. Reviewed articles and other secondary sources that discussed on the topic of community resilience and adaptive capacity were used for this study through content analysis and empirical evidence. The discussion of the theories in this paper shed more light towards understanding the four-way adaptive capacity. Community resilience increases the chance of community adaptation during and after a disaster. This study will encourage private businesses and professional individuals to become part of a community by providing them with resources needed to survive in the face or after a disaster. It will also contribute to related research in the future which focuses on adaptive capacity for community resilience.","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"82 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134540340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The CORRECT-19 Model: Eight Desired Roles of Religious Leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"N. Wijesekara, D.G.T.A. Jayasinghe","doi":"10.51595/11111121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/11111121","url":null,"abstract":"Religious leaders support communities in multiple ways during challenges such as disasters, emergencies, conflicts, and outbreaks. The COVID-19 Pandemic, too, has demonstrated the contribution of religious leaders in assisting communities across the world. On the other hand, a minority of religious leaders also have contributed to the aggravation of the outbreak, for example, by organizing religious mass gatherings, neglecting the warning given by health authorities. Thus, it is evident that the religious leaders have had both positive and negative roles during the Pandemic. The Resilience Research, Training and Consulting is implementing a project titled COmmunity Resilience through Religious Engagement for Community Trust during Covid-19 (CORRECT-19) through a grant supported by the Awareness with Human Action (AHA) project funded by the European Union. As a part of the CORRECT-19 project, we are conducting a series of focus group discussions and key informant interviews with the religious leaders from multiple religions, faiths, and spiritual traditions in Sri Lanka on their contributions during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We used content analysis to identify undesired behaviors, desired behaviors, and desired roles, using the evidence from the mainstream western medical and epidemiological systems as the point of reference in determining what is desired and undesired. The CORRECT-19 Model enlists eight desired roles of religious leaders during the Pandemic, namely the Faith-Setter, Health Promoter, Be-Friender, Social Worker, Community Mobilizer, Networker, Peacebuilder, and Advocate. We designed eight representative infographics to communicate the desired roles of religious leaders during the Pandemic. The CORRECT-19 Model depicting the eight desired roles is a helpful communication and advocacy tool in the active and meaningful engagement of religious leaders in managing the COVID-19 Pandemic.","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125439127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
I. Karunathilake, W. Weerasinghe, R. Rupasinghe, MC Weerasinghe
{"title":"Use of Proxy Indicators to Interpret the Epi Curve of COVID-19 in Sri Lanka","authors":"I. Karunathilake, W. Weerasinghe, R. Rupasinghe, MC Weerasinghe","doi":"10.51595/11111125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/11111125","url":null,"abstract":"Sri Lanka has taken measures to avoid the introduction and spread of COVID-19 well before the country confirmed its first COVID 19 case on 27th January 2020, on top of its detailed epidemiological surveillance and infectious disease control system. Traditional indicators such as the daily case numbers have been used as an indicator to keep track of the outbreak progression. However, as the pandemic continued, the need to have proxy indicators was felt, both to better understand its behavior as well as future trends. The objective of this study was to explore the use of proxy indicators, namely the observed test positivity rate (TPR) and the mobility trends against the epidemic curve to interpret the behavior of the COVID-19 pandemic; their usefulness, and limitations. The information for the study was gathered using the COVID-19 daily status reports published and made publicly available by the Sri Lankan health authorities for the duration of 01/04/2021 to 30/06/2021. Trends of change of mobility during the period are gathered using regularly updated Google Community Mobility Reports. It is seen that the ‘trend’ of cases as depicted by weekly Observed TPR carries better information for decision making and evaluation of the methods to contain COVID 19 than using traditional proxy indicators such as the daily case numbers. The reported numbers in cases can be less than the actual numbers due to non-detection of cases in the community, under-reporting, delays in reporting, and PCR backlog. Trends of mobility changes and the trends of observed TPR together can be used to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the use of lockdown measures to contain the disease. It is recommended to adopt the use of such proxy indicators both in measuring the disease severity and the evaluation of the use of travel restrictions to contain the disease cost-effectively in a resource-limited setting.","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114618100","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nwany Wijesekara, K. Kodituwakku, Bamp Bulathsinghe, Jpt Sachinthani, Mmm Lakshani
{"title":"Eighty-six percent of Sri Lankans Wish to Receive COVID-19 Vaccine: A Window of Opportunity for Rolling Out a Successful Vaccination Campaign","authors":"Nwany Wijesekara, K. Kodituwakku, Bamp Bulathsinghe, Jpt Sachinthani, Mmm Lakshani","doi":"10.51595/11111116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.51595/11111116","url":null,"abstract":"All countries look up to the COVID-19 vaccine as the panacea against the pandemic. COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have been rolled out globally, while Sri Lanka, too, is ready for its own. To assess the public opinion concerning the COVID-19 vaccination in Sri Lanka, we carried out an online survey from 17.12.2020 to 18.01.2021. Eighty-six percent (n = 1080) of the respondents reed to accept the vaccine. In the meantime, 9 % (n = 108) did not agree to receive the vaccine, while 5% (n = 62) had no idea. The protection given by the vaccine, trends in spreading the disease in the country, and the trust in the vaccine were reasons given for agreeing to get it. Reasons for not agreeing to get the vaccine were “being developed too fast”, the concern of side effects, and lack of trust in the vaccine. Ninety-one percent (n = 1120) of respondents agreed that other preventive measures such as handwashing, social distancing, and wearing face masks must be continued even with COVID-19 vaccination. The respondents prioritized frontline staff, elderly persons, and persons with chronic diseases for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine first. Transparent and accountable vaccine procurement, a robust health system with a well-performing Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI), and creative vaccine financing tools were seen as key strengths in the COVID-19 vaccination program. Besides, Sri Lanka, a health-literate and vaccine loving nation with an almost non-existent anti-vaccination movement, was also seen as a crucial contributor. While the current public opinion provides an ideal ground for a successful COVID-19 vaccination program, due to the inherent vulnerability of misinformation and outrages associated with adverse events following immunization, existing programs for surveillance of adverse events following immunization and surveillance risk communication strategy must be augmented. The window of opportunity of favorable public opinion must be utilized to roll out a successful COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Sri Lanka. Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccine acceptance, Vaccine hesitancy, COVAX, Sri Lanka","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129952165","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nwany Wijesekara, H. Herath, K. Kodituwakku, H. Herath, Bamp Bulathsinghe, C.C. Magedaragamage
{"title":"How would Widespread Community Transmission of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka look like? \u0000A Population-based Simulation","authors":"Nwany Wijesekara, H. Herath, K. Kodituwakku, H. Herath, Bamp Bulathsinghe, C.C. Magedaragamage","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-101037/v1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-101037/v1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract\u0000Widespread community transmission of Covid-19 can overwhelm the capacity of health systems; Sri Lanka is no exception. We simulated the widespread community transmission of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka, using the Susceptibility, Infected and Removed (SIR) model through the Penn State University CHIME Model incorporated to ArcGIS Pro, by introducing one case of Covid-19 to the current population in each of the 26 health districts and running the model for 365 days. The simulation revealed that the number of patients requiring admissions, ICU care, and mechanical ventilation would peak at 1942, 583, and 388 per day, respectively, around 213 days from the onset. The cumulative number of cases needing admission, ICU care, and ventilation will be 245,916, 73,775, and 49,183 after 365 days. Colombo and Gampaha districts will report the highest number of daily total numbers of hospitalized cases over 1680. Health authorities can use the results of such simulations to prepare to face the worst-case scenarios of the Covid-19 outbreak to minimize morbidity and mortality. \u0000Keywords: Covid-19, Community Transmission, SIR Model, CHIME, Outbreak, Simulation, Prediction","PeriodicalId":123759,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Community Resilience","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128301866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}