The first association was formed in Colombo in 1882 and became a full member of the World Alliance of YMCAs in 1962. After political independence, the National Council of the YMCAs of Ceylon was formed on 30 June 1962. Today, there are 37 YMCAs in Sri Lanka and their main programmes are in Christian discipleship, human resources development and membership growth, poverty alleviation projects, migrant workers programmes, and peace reconciliation work.