Reflections from a journey …

A journey towards the lesser known, underserved and unreached.

Sometime in early 2014, If I recall correctly, I received a telephone call from a prominent member at that time of the The Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka (FPASL), Mrs Lakshmi Ranasinghe,, making an overture to extend my time to serve in the FPA as a volunteer. After a brief period of hesitation to venture into an unknown territory, this interest began to gather momentum,, and it was Dr Mrs Pramila Senanayaka who took it upon herself to seal my fate to be a volunteer at the FPASL at a lunch meeting we had a few months later, changing my lifestyle and direction to some extent.

What began with a mandate to infuse knowledge on fiscal management and governance into FPASL, I was encouraged to take on greater responsibilities in the areas that I had knowledge and experience from my professional career. I migrated to be the Technical Committee Chair overseeing the Social Marketing Programme. I enjoyed every minute of working with the team,, and we made excellent progress. 

Be that as it may, fate played a significant role in my volunteer career progression at FPASL. The successive demise of two prominent, capable and experienced colleagues at the National Cuncil of the FPASL – a sad occurrence indeed, accelerated my being nominated as the eligible candidate for Presidency in 2016. I was traversing to unchartered waters.so to speak, yet had the confidence to take on the challenge. Past President Dr Pramila Senanayaka and many other senior colleagues in the NC provided encouragement and support. The initial 2-year term ultimately continued to be three terms of Presidency - 6 years in all, ending in 2022, reaching the mandatory limit to hold Presidency at FPASL. No regrets whatsoever. I enjoyed every minute of it. There were rough times with pleasant endings. My thanks to all the colleagues at the NC, past and present, and volunteer members at the Tech Committee,including youth members, for making my tenure pleasant and interesting.

I was fortunate to have an excellent executive team led by Executive Director Thushara Agus, a personality to reckon with, and a visionary in the field of SRH. Thushara played a pivotal role in everything that happened at FPASL. Any attributes to the success of my Presidency are due to the support and guidance from the office of the Executive Director and her team. My thanks and gratitude to her and the team. I also wish to thank the staff at every level for understanding the ethos of FPASL and pursuing the work plan and the teamwork displayed.

As time passed, I did get exposed to the core areas of FPASL’s activities and traversed the learning curve. I was also given exposure to the role played by the parent federation - International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), activities under its global umbrella and had the very pleasant opportunity to serve as the Regional Treasurer of the South Asian Regional Office (SARO) of the IPPF, encompassing activities of Member Associations in South Asia for many years until the Regional office concept was done away with as a result of the reform process of the Federation being implemented. This exposure and experience were remarkable, meeting people from many Asian nations and social groups.

The reform process of the parent federation was a complex initiative. The Delhi conference of the world body held in December 2019 was a milestone. A gathering of Member Associations from 6 regions of the world representing 146 countries. Though the Sri Lanka MA was a small entity, we did play our part in bringing about a consensus among the MA’s to be united. What was agreed in Delhi was remarkable, in the best interest of the Federation and its ethos.

The FPASL team encouraged me to offer my volunteer services to serve on the Nominations and Governance Committee (NGC) - of the Federation with a mandate to recruit and evaluate the performance of members of the Board of Trustees and the Board committees. Reporting to the General Assembly. I was fortunate to be elected to be a member of the NGC. A position that carries significant responsibility in the governance framework of the Federation. This platform allowed me  the opportunityto share my lifetime experiences in governance and related matters at a global level. I currently hold this position as a member of the NGC. 

I will be stepping down from the position of President of FPASL this year at the AGM. I will continue to be associated with FPASL and the NC as its Vice President. My 3-year tenure in the IPPF NGC will come to an end this November, though I have given my consent to be re-elected to a further 3-year term to be ratified at the world assembly of MA’s in Bogota, Columbia. 

The above briefly tells the story of my tenure at FPASL, and its Parent Federation. A journey to reckon with. Looking back, I can only say how satisfying I can be. A learning curve to serve the less privileged, under-served, and unreached. I will continue to serve as long as I can. Volunteerism is indeed a panacea for all challenges.