User:Bhagya Wijayawardane

= Bhagya Wijayawardane = Bhagya Uppala Wijayawardane also known as Bhagya Wijayawardane is an award-winning Sri Lankan educationist, social entrepreneurship pioneer, environmentalist, Artist and youth activist on agriculture, education, sustainable development and entrepreneurial issues in Sri Lanka and Asia. Bhagya represented Sri Lanka and delivered a keynote speech of the High Level Meeting by UNESCO MGEIP in 2016 and is the first Sri Lankan appointed from the Asia-Pacific region to the GENOA International Network.

Early Life
Bhagya born during the Sri Lankan Civil War, completed her education in Political Science at Bishop's College serving as the Founder and president of the the Red Cross Society, secretary of the Environmental Society, Presidential candidate for Girl guiding and a gold medal receiving swimmer.

Activism and Work
Bhagya started volunteering at age 10 and started at medical camps by her church community as a volunteer that gave medication to people from disadvantaged communities as well as tutoring to slum children and working with disaster relief organizations as Sri Lanka Red Cross an intern, later when the 2004 tsunami struck Sri Lanka she helped victims at the rehabilitation camps conducting art therapy workshops, especially targeting children and has helped over 200 schools. over 1500 youth in the Northern and Eastern region. She also has worked with international relief teams as the Oxfam, ICRC in rehabilitation programs providing livelihood opportunities for the war- affected women and youth through income generation activities such as handicrafts, organic farming, eco-tourism, and access to education through skills training. In 2018 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations presented Bhagya with a Queens Young Leaders Award in July 2018. Recognized by the Royal Commonwealth Society and her project was featured in the Youth Solutions Report, a flagship initiative of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth, that features 50 game-changing projects led by young people from the Commonwealth. She is also featured in the Book Project. She was a young parliamentarian since it's inauguration at the Sri Lanka Youth Parliament and was serving in the National Committee of BCIS. She was also part of the organizing committee for the South Asian Games 2010

= Continuing Activism = Bhagya continues her passion for agri and entrepreneurship while engaging as a sustainable development advocate. She has trained and mentored over 2,000 youth as the next generation of urban farmers and environmentalists and social entrepreneurs. Her entrepreneurial work promotes and develops gender equality, social justice, access to education, communal harmony and human rights in impoverished communities. Bhagya is a founding member of the Commonwealth Agriculture Network working towards linking youth with agriculture, an Active Citizen of British Council, Young Connector for the Swedish Institute, a global champion for climate change for Oxfam Yoxuth Partnerships. She was selected for a training by th e GENOA Network on Eco Village Design Program in Orissa, that led her to develop her interest in sustainable agriculture and further her knowledge in organic farming and healthy practices. She also received a fellowship for the Local Pathways Program and is a Global Schools Ambassador for Sri Lanka for 2018. She was also recognized by the Premier Global Media Platform for Women for her activism