The Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador William Lacy Swing expressed his appreciation for Sri Lanka's active role in the preparations for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as well as the role in the Migration Health discussions during the meeting between Deputy Minister of Foreign Employment Manusha Nanayakkara and the Director General of IOM on 10 October 2017 at the IOM Headquarters in Geneva. During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and the IOM. In particular, the Deputy Minister spoke of the training and capacity building requirements of Sri Lanka.
68th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme (ExCom) of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), held during the period 2-6 October 2017 in Geneva at the United Nations. Ms. Rosemary McCarney, Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations chaired the meeting with the presence of High Commissioner of UNHCR, Mr. Filippo Grandi.
Ambassador Ravintha Aryasinha, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations made an intervention under the general debateof 68th ExCom.
Full statement
9 October 2017
Sri Lanka Permanent Mission
Geneva
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha addressed the 57th Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of Member States of WIPO on 03 October 2017 in Geneva.
Director General of the National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Geethanjali Ranawaka and Counsellor Ms. Shashika Somaratne also participated in this session.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
03 October 2017
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says the UN is ready to provide every possible assistance to Sri Lanka in its efforts to build as a prosperous nation where the reconciliation is strengthened.
He further said that the UN will provide its maximum support to build as an exemplary nation in the world, where all the Sri Lankans can live with prosper and reconciliation, while closely associating with Sri Lanka and its citizens.
President Maithripala Sirisena says Sri Lanka is performing for the betterment of its people with much responsibility, in keeping with the charters of UN, as a member of United Nations. He said the government is taking the process to ensure human rights and reconciliation forward step by step. The President made these remarks during his meeting with Prince Zeid al-Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Justice and Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorala visited UAE in her capacity as the Chairperson Abu Dhabi Dialogue and met the Human Resources and Labour Minister Saqr Ghobsh.
The Minister said that he is willing to extend all support to strengthen the relationship between the two countries during the time Minister Athukorala is holding the Chairperson of Abu Dhabi Dialogue.
Minister Athukorala also had discussion with all the ADD Ambassadors who are resident in Abu Dhabi.
Source : www.news.lk
The Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha has called on Colombo Process (CP) member states to bring together consular representatives from Asian migrant sending countries in the GCC region, to share experiences and best practices in meeting the day-to-day consular support needs of migrants. Noting that low and semi-skilled migrant workers from the CP countries in the GCC faced similar issues, and recalling the decision of the CP Ministerial Meeting held in Colombo in August 2016 to embark on ‘Consular Cooperation’ as a new thematic area among CP countries stationed in GCC, he welcomed the operationalization of this process through the recent convening of an IOM sponsored Migrants in Countries in Crisis Initiative’s (MICIC) workshop in Kuwait to address the emergency aspects of ‘Consular Support’. He urged that the idea to bring together consular staff from CP countries in destination countries should be replicated in other GCC countries as well, and must also focus on the day-to-day consular support needs of migrants and to collaborate with destination countries for mutual interest .