HISTORY/BACKGROUND OF KINNIYA VISION:

Kinniya Vision was established in May 1996 and registered in May 1997 under Non Governmental Organizations (Registration & Supervision) Act, No. 31 of 1980 as amended by act, No. 8 of 1998.

The organization was set up by a group of concerned professionals brought together by the common desire to struggle against ignorance, poverty, inequity and injustice. Kinniya vision wants to take an active role in Trincomalee's development process by working towards sustainable human development through participatory approaches. Kinniya vision is committed to helping people to achieve the greatest degree of self-reliance and social integration.

Kinniya Vision’s activities are not limited to any one geographical area of Trincomalee. We are implementing development projects through out the district independently as wells as in collaboration with other actors. We are also engaged in research and studies on important development issues. A major aspect of our work involves awareness raising and capacity building of local communities. We want to build on the skills and experiences of communities that with Kinniya Vision is striving to illustrate the powerful link between local and global changes by combing micro and macro – level activities.

AIMS:

Kinniya vision's aim is to facilitate the process of educating and empowering deprived communities and disadvantaged groups so that they can improve the quality of their lives and live with dignity and peace.

THE OBJECTIVES OF KINNIYA VISION ARE TO:

- Engage in social research and studies.
- Promote education.
- Develop human resources and build capacities of communities.
- Raise awareness and advocate on human rights issues.
- Reduce gender imbalances.
- Promote peace
- Facilitate development of deprived communities.
- Assist disables and vulnerable groups-women, children and elders
- Conserve environment
- Promote participatory approaches.

AREAS OF FOCUS:

Kinniya Vision’s areas of focus are Water, Sanitation and Public and Health Education, Pre school, Language and Computer Education, Vocational skills training, Micro Finance and promotion of Gender, Psychosocial Counseling and Socio Economic Infrastructure Development.

PRINCIPLES AND VALUES:

The work of Kinniya vision is rooted in a number of core values, which are:

EMPATHY:

With the deprived and vulnerable communities. This means working with poor, seeing things from the perspective of the deprived communities, and enabling the poorest to analyze their own and problems and come up with their own solutions.

EQUITY:

Kinniya Vision works with all groups of people, valuing their perceptions, opinions and rights. We do not discriminate on the basis of religion, culture, race or socio –economic status, and try to adapt to different social, culture and economic contexts.

PARTICIPATION:

Kinniya Vision tries to give space to others, involving everyone at all appropriate levels of decision – making. We believe in respecting, listening and consulting.

ACCOUNTABILITY:

Kinniya Vision is committed to being transparent, and accountable to all, both within the organization as well as to stakeholders, particularly the communities with which we work. We are willing to share information with everyone and are open to questions and challenges.

INNOVATION:

The Kinniya Vision approaches a flexible one, adapting to local conditions and learning by doing. We like taking new initiatives, being creative and are willing to experiment and take risks.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS:

Structure of the Organization: The organization structure shall comprise the

following: The General body, The Executive Committee, The Management Committee, The Advisory Committee.

General Body: The General body shall consist of approved and accepted members from men, women and youths. At present there are around 102 members in the General Body.

Executive Committee:

The General Body shall elect the Executive Committee at the Annual General

Meeting. The term of Executive Committee is 2 years.

An Executive Committee on the guidance of the Advisory Committee and General Body shall administer the affairs of the Kinniya Vision and responsible in law for the management of the whole of the affairs and answerable to the General Body.

Management Committee:

The Executive Committee shall appoint the members for the Management Committee. Management Committee Members should be appointed from the senior managerial level staff of Kinniya Vision.

The maximum members for the Management Committee will be 5 members. The term of period of the Management Committee will be decided by the Executive Committee and the period will be notified to the selected members in the appointment letter when the appointments are made.

The Management Committee is responsible for the implementation of policies, procedures, systems, plans, programs, projects and decisions made by the Executive Committee and answerable to the Executive Committee.

The Advisory Committee:

The Advisory Committee is a permanent body and made up of founder members along with some other members selected from intellectuals and professionals.

The members for the Advisory Committee will be selected from the intellectuals and professionals by the Executive Committee.

The Advisory Committee will consist of 10 members. The Executive Committee shall have the authority of deciding the number of members to be appointed to the Advisory Committee. The members of Advisory Committee will select the Chief Advisor in consultation with the Executive President to lead the Advisory Committee.

The Advisory Committee will be responsible to guide and advise the Executive Committee and other bodies on particular aspects of their responsibilities also help set the policies and strategic direction for the organization The Advisory Committee:

4. Volunteers: Volunteers join Kinniya Vision on a voluntary basis. There are around 132 volunteers working with us at present.