Viyanga Gunasekera is a Researcher at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo. Currently, she is involved in projects studying barriers to Women’s Representation in Politics funded by Development Leadership Program (DLP) Australia, on Gender and Land under Gender, Justice and Security Hub of the London School of Economics, and on Social-Ecological Dynamics in Rapid Economic Development: Infrastructure and Coastal Changes in South Eastern Sri Lanka (SEDRIC) funded by the French Embassy. She was previously involved in studies that explored the psychosocial wellbeing of ex-combatants and pluralistic memories of post-war Sri Lanka.
She also has experience coordinating multiple international conferences such as ‘Questions of Memory, Justice and Reconciliation in Societies Post Conflict’ hosted by University of Lausanne, Switzerland, ‘Constitutional Review in Asia: Promoting Equality, Integrity and the Rule of Law’ hosted by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, on ‘Religion and Constitutional practices in Asia’ hosted by the University of Singapore, ‘Reimagining Women’s Empowerment in South Asia’ hosted by International Development Research Center (IDRC) to name a few.
Viyanga is reading for a MPhil in Psychology at the University of Peradeniya (Thesis titled: ‘Political vs Personal: The Discourse around the Eviction of Northern Muslims in Sri Lanka’). Her research interests include vulnerable people, reconciliation, memory, wellbeing, and women’s empowerment.
