Jensila Majeed works tirelessly for the forgotten. Having been displaced from her hometown during the course of Sri Lanka’s brutal civil war, she has an intimate understanding of the incredible challenges faced by the half million Tamils and Muslims who remain internally displaced in her country. Today Jensila leads a grassroots movement helping Tamil and Muslim women overcome their history of ethnic conflict and jointly serve as leaders fighting for peace and the rights of displaced peoples.

The New Idea:

The end of the Sri Lankan civil war in May 2009 left in its wake the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Sri Lankans and great tension between ethnic groups. The government’s immediate post-war reconstruction efforts have failed to empower war-affected communities. Working with internally displaced Tamil and Muslim women, Jensila has formed a community-driven approach to reconciliation and empowerment. She is not only working to resurrect the peaceful relations that once existed between northern Tamils and Muslims, but to help them secure minority rights using a collective voice. Jensila effectively reaches out to internally displaced Tamil and Muslim women using a variety of techniques: awareness raising, joint livelihood activities, youth mobilization, and rights education programs.

The Impact:

Jensila has successfully impacted the national dialogue and policy surrounding internally displaced persons’ rights. In her effort to reconnect the Tamil and Muslim communities, she is also building a ‘peace village’ – a resettlement community of 70 homes that brings together a mixed group of Tamils and Muslims – as a model for others working on reconciliation issues. The community gives preference to war widows and young female heads of households while giving resettled families a chance to build sustainable livelihoods.

In 2010, Jensila was awarded the International Women of Courage Award>>

Invest in Jensila Majeed:

With your support, Ashoka will help Jensila expand her grassroots efforts to empower internally displaced women to fight together for their rights in Sri Lanka and other post-war countries.

Ashoka was able to elect Jensila as an Ashoka Fellow thanks to the generous support of numerous family foundations to the Ashoka Peace Fund. To the degree that the public assumes the sponsorship of Jensila's Ashoka Fellowship we will be able to support more entrepreneurs like Jensila.

Donate today to support Jensila's grassroots efforts to empower internally displaced women to fight together for their rights in Sri Lanka and other post-war countries.

This listing is for one month of the three years that Ashoka has committed to support Jensila's living costs.