Non-Violent Direct Action Group (NVDAG) works to enhance the quality of life of war-affected children, young people and women by encouraging them to participate in social change, community development and rehabilitation activities. NVDAG started in 1979, as a community-level response to the violence in Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

The group's goal is to build a society based on non-violence and peace, respectful of human rights. For this, NVDAG believe they need to actively engage in the lives of the war-affected children, young people and women. The participants include refugees, displaced groups and war widows. They work to transform the negative experience of war into a positive experience of a close knit community that can work in harmony.

NVDAG encourages their target groups to get directly engaged in social change activities. They empower these groups through concrete actions at the community-level such as rehabilitation and community development. Their beneficiaries work together in these activities, and during the course of these actions, rebuild their lives.

The group also has shelter programs for those who need protection, and pre-school activities aimed at encouraging young children to work in harmony with each other despite caste and religious differences.