A group of 39 Sri Lankan Civil Service Officers successfully completed a comprehensive capacity-building programme on “Disaster Management” at National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), India, on 05 June 2026. The programme aimed to strengthen the capacity of civil servant officers engaged in disaster preparedness,response, recovery, and resilience-building efforts.
- A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between NCGG and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) during the State Visit of President H.E. Anura Kumara Disanayaka to India in 2024 to train 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over five years. With this programme, a total of 400 officers have been trained, to date, under the MoU.
- This third specialized Disaster Management programme, requested by SLIDA, provided officers with two weeks of intensive, interactive training. The curriculum covered topics such as disaster management planning and policy, risk assessment, preparedness and mitigation strategies, response mechanisms, early warning systems, disaster risk governance, urban and local resilience, climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- The participants also undertook field visits to key institutions such as the National Disaster Management Authority, National Disaster Response Force, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority, Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force, PM Gati Shakti Experimental Centre PM Gati Shakti Experiential Centre and Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya.
- Capacity-building is an important pillar of India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka. Reinforcing India’s commitment further in this sector, Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, during his State Visit to Sri Lanka in April 2025, announced additional 700customized training slots annually for Sri Lankan professionals. Thissignificantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India thus willnow benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.