Two decades of trusted, multi-party dialogue for Sri Lanka's shared future.
Discover the values, processes, and partnerships that make the OneText Initiative a catalyst for inclusive political transformation across the island.
“Generate inclusive discourse and knowledge on critical political and socio-economic development issues in a manner that ensures respect for diversity and pluralism in Sri Lanka”
— and modalities based on the ‘Shared Values’ to which we subscribe.
Founded in 2003, the One-Text Initiative (OTI) is an independent, multi-party political platform for facilitating structured dialogues at National, Provincial and District levels. Its key focus is building consensus towards a democratic political solution to the ethno-political conflicting situation and the issues related to post-war reconciliation, to ensure political and socio-economic stability in Sri Lanka.
Structured, confidential engagement across parties.
Evidence-based research and scenario foresight.
Capacity development for leaders and facilitators.
Owned and driven by Sri Lankan political stakeholders themselves
Over the years OTI has created a sustained political space and time-tested processes for inclusive political dialogue. It has garnered the highest level of trust of political stakeholders owing to the professional and responsible manner in which information is handled and disseminated.
Around the OTI dialogue table all stakeholders are equal despite their constituency strengths or the posts they hold in the Parliament, Cabinet or any other body, and are bounded by Chatham House Principles.
Qualified and appointed with the unanimous agreement of the parties themselves.
Subject experts brief the table so deliberation rests on evidence, not assertion.
Quality empirical and action research — a hallmark of the OTI process.
OTI is the regular and established meeting place for cross-party political actors to find middle ground to their competing interests, developing consensual policy options — ‘one-text’ documents — aimed at a national policy framework for creating unity in diversity.
Convened when the talks broke down, 2003
The One-Text Initiative was inaugurated following the breakdown of talks between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, in the backdrop of events that surrounded the Tokyo Donor Conference in mid-2003. Parties were keen to use the One-Text process concept and framework to facilitate dialogue among all stakeholders to the conflict — initially as a Track 1.5 intervention that could sustain and support Track 1 negotiations while informing Track 3 processes.
OTI invited a team of international experts to assess its processes and structures. Following the assessment, the institutional structure, membership, and management were re-organized — placing political party stakeholders firmly in the driving seat and limiting membership exclusively to political stakeholders. Since then, despite volatile conditions outside including times of intense war, parties have used the OTI process to discuss, understand, and agree on many political issues.
Turning post-war space into inclusive structures
The ending of the three-decade-long civil war marked a significant change in Sri Lankan society. OTI observed a victory-based ideology gaining dominance in the country's society and polity. At the same time, the removal of war as a bargaining factor of power and legitimacy created new opportunities — space that could be used to build more inclusive structures and processes.
Parallel to events on the battle front, OTI held regular Scenario Building Sessions as an assumptions-based future strategy planning tool. These helped stakeholders from the governing party, opposition, and numerically minority Tamil and Muslim parties share information and discuss future actions — reaching consensus that the root causes of conflict remain, and can only be resolved through a just, equitable, democratically pluralist, and socio-economically stable Sri Lanka.
The MSD support structure and the Chatham House Rule
A core principle that administers the confidentiality of the source of information received at a meeting. When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received — but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers, nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.
This allows free expression of views without concern for organizational restraints, official duties, and affiliations — resolving predicaments of boundary, guaranteeing anonymity, and protecting the freedom of interaction necessary for these conversations.
See how the process works in practice
The values above become concrete in the OTI process — five phases from trust building to implementation stewardship, governed by shared values and principles of engagement.