The ceremony to launch the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies- Young Community Leader Awards 2008 (BCIS-YCL Awards) was held on the 13 March, 4:00pm at the BCIS auditorium in the presence of Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi Minister of Youth Affairs.
The Bandaranaike Center for International Studies is the academic wing of the S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike Memorial Foundation. This institute has a glorious past of 32 years whose vision is to become a Center of Excellence in International Relations, Diplomacy, Conflict Resolution and Youth Empowerment.
At this ceremony Dr. Thusitha Tennakoon the Director of the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies stated strongly that the objective of this Awards ceremony is to recognize and reward the youth activists/young community leaders of the country who have rendered commendable services & vibrant leadership in the community development sphere. He also stated that this Awards Ceremony would also serve as a catalyst for further promoting & encouraging the volunteer involvement in finding viable solutions to the issues affecting the youth and their communities at grass-root, regional and national level. He further went to the extent of stating that this national event specifically focuses on rewarding the young community leaders, which will be a flagship event that promotes youth activism in Sri Lanka.
At the mid point of the ceremony Nivarthana Premarathne a Member of the Steering Committee emphasized on the importance of the Steering Committee which is the heart of the whole project comprising of young volunteers. She also stated that through this awards scheme the most outstanding community leader will be selected, by a panel of judges nominated by the Steering Committee and endorsed by the Council of Management of the BCIS, from 15 specified categories according to a marking scheme of their performance within the categories of:
Peace Building
Human Rights
Women’s Rights
Child Rights
HIV/AIDS
Community Health
Employment/ Livelihood Development
Youth Empowerment
Culture and Arts
Sports
Agriculture and Irrigation
Environment Sustainability
Education
Disaster Management
Information Communication Technology
For each of these categories Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded according to the performance and the service the applicant has rendered to promote the commendable work under prescribed categories. The most outstanding young community leader will be selected from the above medalists and will be awarded the “Young Community Leader of the Year” title and a project grant of Rs 01 Million.
The Chief Guest Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi most interestingly stated that youth involvement in community service is vital for all Sri Lankans. She expressed further that this initiative will be the wake up call for all youth activists to develop their skills in leadership and community development. She ended her speech by saying that the blessing of the government together with the Youth ministry will be bestowed upon the BCIS-YCL Awards.
The climax was when the YCL application pack was symbolically handed over to the Hon. minister and the official YCL trailer was shown.

The finale was as expected; many who were present at the launch were seen collecting the YCL application pack with great haste and enthusiasm which was evident that the YCL Awards has begun to reach the Zenith.
Applications now available at the BCIS YCL secretariat and our web site www.bcis.edu.lk