OUR STORY

Youth Environmental Forum (YEF) was founded in 1994 by a handful of concerned and motivated activists who wanted to work towards safeguarding the environment. YEF was registered as a non-governmental organization at the Department of Social Services in 2001. It was further registered with the Central Environmental Authority in 2003 as an environmental organization.

Activities of YEF were mainly based on environmental conservation and sustainable development, including sustainable agriculture, but later expanded in to areas such as youth entrepreneurship development, organic agriculture. With the devastating tsunami of December 2004 YEF’s activities were expanded into the areas of disaster management and rehabilitation. YEF has successfully completed following projects funded by various organizations before it completely shifted its focus to educating children affected either by the tsunami, war or poverty and became the YPF (Youth Progressive Foundation).

The Youth Progressive Foundation (YPF) is a public service organization based in Sri Lanka. We currently run a variety of programs for children and youth, with great efficiency, transparency and care.

Our goal is to build a dedicated and committed youth force irrespective of race, creed, religion or any political affiliation under the ‘One nation-One people’ banner, to drive development, sustainable peace and economic growth for Sri Lanka. The Youth Progressive Foundation hopes to be identified in the long term as an organization for positive economic and social change in the country.

YPF's Children’s Resource Centre began in Hambantota, which was set up to provide humanitarian services to the disadvantaged children in Hambantota district, who were in destitute conditions due to the Tsunami. Now it’s mandate has broadened to cater to displaced children who were affected by the ethnic conflict that ravaged the country for close to 30 years.

We now have an additional 3 Children’s Resource Centres to widen educational and cultural knowledge of the children of the Eastern Province. We have an English language teaching program and an Information Technology Unit to make the children computer literate. In order to develop aesthetic skills of the children dancing, music and drama have also been introduced to hone their skills. There will be a Sports Unit to train the children in sports like Cricket, Volleyball and Badminton.

Our Work

Organic Farming Development Project: Funded by the MONLAR, this project included promotion of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), organic farming, sustainable agriculture system development which lead to increased income generation among the rural community.

Organic Farming Development Project: Funded by the SLCDF, this project aimed to propagate organic farming and environmental protection.

Tsunami Disaster Management Projects: After the tsunami of December 2004, YEF carried out a number of successful projects funded by donor organizations. Following is a summary of these projects conducted apart from the dedicated voluntary relief work.