SRI LANKA: Oblate Father Oswald Firth, chairman of the People’s Association for Peace and Development, has appealed for justice for war widows living with a social stigma and insecurity. “The major problem widows encountered was economic survival. Employment they engaged in was always temporary and ill-paid,” he told the state-appointed Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission on Jan. 20 in Colombo. According to government statistics, there are 89,000 war widows in Sri Lanka. Father Firth said his association has helped 250 war widows living in Batticaloa. The association was established by Father Firth as an NGO to promote inter-ethnic harmony in the eastern region affected by the country’s civil war. SR12974.1638