In an era where child protection and the advancement of women’s rights are deeply intertwined with the digital world, a vital capacity building and cyber security awareness program was successfully conducted on 26th June 2026 at the Kandy District Secretariat.

This timely initiative was organized under the strategic guidance of the "Clean Sri Lanka" project, utilizing the invaluable expertise of the Defence Cyber Command (DCC), Ministry of Defence. The intensive workshop aimed to equip frontline officers with the essential digital safety mechanisms required to protect women and children in the modern digital age.

The workshop saw an exceptional response, bringing together over 92 active participants dedicated to strengthening institutional capacity. The diverse audience included officers from the Women and Child Development Units across all Divisional Secretariats in the Kandy District, and officials from the Kandy District Secretariat itself.

The technical sessions were expertly conducted by Brigadier KVP Dhammika USP ptsc, Director of the Defence Cyber Command, along with a specialized team of cyber security experts of the Defence Cyber Command of the Ministry of Defence.

Recognizing that theoretical awareness alone cannot stop a live network breach or a sophisticated phishing attempt, the DCC team structured the interactive event around comprehensive live demonstrations and hands-on exercises. Officials from the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, alongside the officials of the District Secretariat of Kandy, were given practical insight into how threat actors operate and how standard administrative workflows can be hardened against intrusion.

The training itinerary fused rigorous technical training with the critical legal frameworks necessary for modern public governance. 

• Cyber Security Threats Landscape in the Age of AI and Quantum Technology 

• Cyber Security Best Practices: Zero Trust & Daily Digital Hygiene

• Risk Mitigation & Policy: Incident Reporting & Governance

• Live Attack Simulation: Phishing, Social Engineering & Malware

• Cyber Crime: Modus Operandi & Impact on Government Sectors

• Cyber Laws: Legal Frameworks & Institutional Accountability

• Practical Device Security, Configuring MFA & Secure Settings 

• Interactive Quiz, Gamified Knowledge Review

The event concluded with an open Q and A session, a collective feedback block, and a formal Vote of Thanks, marking a major step forward in the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and the Ministry of defence strategy to build a proactive, security-first public sector capable of defending state assets against an increasingly complex digital landscape.