A mega-youth event was held on Jaffna on the 22nd and 23rd of December to encourage the promotion of democratic values in the country.

The youth, belonging to a collective named ‘Youth for Democracy’ are from multi-religious, multi-ethnic backgrounds, planned initiatives towards strengthening democratic values for the next 5 years, at a time when democracy is at stake in the country.

Their goals are to eliminate corruption, increase the protection of human rights, promoting justice and ethnic unity and counter authoritarianism.

As part of its initiative, the group also engaged in a flag and sticker campaign against authoritarianism; 10,000 yellow flags and 10,000 vehicle stickers with a slogan that reads “Lankans Reject Dictators” are to be distributed in the coming months.

In addition, an all-island voter education campaign, launched jointly with People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), the Centre for Monitoring Elections Violence (CMEV), and AFRIEL Youth Network in Thirunavatkulam was held  at the end of the event to increase citizen engagement in election law violation reporting during upcoming elections.

The Youth for Democracy event was organised AFRIEL (Association for Friendship and Love), a youth-based volunteer network founded in 2013, currently located in Vavuniya.