Sri Lanka has called on member states of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to seek to bring back the necessary attention at the highest political levels to the CD, in order to maintain the integrity and credibility of the Conference, as well as to create forward movement and momentum.
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha made this call today (23rd January) on the occasion of Sri Lanka assuming the responsibility of the CD as its first President of the 2018 session. Sri Lanka assumes the Presidency of the CD after 11 years.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today in Geneva during the 142nd Session of the Executive Board of the WHO that the World Health Day 2018 will be celebrated in Sri Lanka. This year’s theme will be the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The DG congratulating Sri Lanka which celebrates the 70th Anniversary of its Independence next month, said "there is no more fitting place for this event, as you know, Sri Lanka has a long history of providing free healthcare for its people.”
Consideration of the 5th and 6th Periodic Reports of Sri Lanka under the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) took place at the 77th Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) held at the Palais Wilson in Geneva, on 15th January 2018. Mrs. Chandrani Senaratne, Secretary of Women and Child Affairs of Sri Lanka led the Sri Lanka delegation.
The Sri Lanka delegation to the review included Ambassador H.E. Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva, Mr. A. Pathinathan, Chief Secretary, Northern Province, Mrs. T.T. Upulmalee, Acting Additional Secretary, Presidential Secretariat, Mrs. Chandima Sigera, Commissioner Department of Probation and Child Care, Ms. Ayesha Jinasena, Senior Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department, Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva, Mrs. Marini de Livera, Chairperson, National Child Protection Authority, Major General R.M.J.A. Rathnayake, Commissioner General of Rehabilitation, Ms. Badra Withanage, Director of Education, Ministry of Education, Dr. Priyani Senadheera, Director of Maternal and Child Health, Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Ms. Lanka Amarasinghe, Director , Women and Children Bureau, Sri Lanka Police, Ms. Shashika Somaratne, Minister Counsellor, Ms. Mafusa Lafir, First Secretary and Ms. Dulmini Dahanayake, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva and Ms. Rajmi Manatunga, Assistant Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Full Opening Statement - PDF Format
Full Opening Statement - Word Format
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
15 January 2018
Geneva
The 16th Meeting of States Parties to the Anti – Personnel Mines Ban Convention welcomed Sri Lanka on Monday 18th December 2017 as the newly joined 163rd State Party to the Convention, following the depositing of the Instrument of Accession on 13th December 2017 in New York.
“We welcome Sri Lanka to this ever growing movement,” said H.E. Thomas Hajnoczi Ambassador of Austria and Head of the Department of Disarmament at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is Presiding over the 16th Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Convention held in Vienna from 18-21 December 2017. The meeting also coincides with the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the Convention.
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka has become the 163th State Party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, the landmark international treaty that bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
Sri Lanka officials deposited the accession instrument at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 13 December joining the 80% of the world’s states that have undertaken to “never, under any circumstance use, produce, stockpile or transfer anti-personnel mines”, and do their utmost to assist the victims and survivors of these weapons.
“We welcome Sri Lanka to this ever growing movement,” said H.E. Thomas Hajnoczi Ambassador of Austria and Head of the Department of Disarmament at the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is presiding over the Convention.
Sri Lanka has called for an urgent review of the composition of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), to better reflect the geographical distribution, the importance of chemical industry, and the political and security interests of Member States in the contemporary world.
Addressing the 22nd Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague, last Wednesday (29th November 2017), the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to The Netherlands and Permanent Representative to the OPCW, Mr A.M.J. Sadiq made this call while delivering the National Statement on behalf of Sri Lanka. Elaborating further, Ambassador Sadiq noted that since the establishment of the OPCW twenty years ago, there have been major positive developments of economic and geo-political significance in Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean. Today, around 84% of the world population and 73 % of Member States of the OPCW belong to these regions.
Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ambassador William Lacy Swing, addressing the 108th Session of the IOM Council in Geneva, on Wednesday (29 November 2017) commended the Government of Sri Lanka for its leadership in migration issues and observed “our bilateral cooperation has grown exponentially over the last few years, but particularly in this year”. Referring to Sri Lanka's role in regional consultative processes - as until recently Chair of the Colombo Process (CP) and presently as Chair of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue (ADD), he thanked Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha for his leadership in steering a number of activities that has strengthened the relationship between the Mission in Geneva and the IOM.
Noting IOM’s engagement and support for Sri Lanka in several important areas such as border management, preventing trafficking in persons, human rights,
re-integration of refugee returnees, peace building and reconciliation and disaster management, Ambassador Swing expressed hope that IOM and Sri Lanka will continue to build on these excellent relationships. He also congratulated Sri Lanka on launching a comprehensive National Economic Development Programme; the Vision 2025 - A Country Enriched, under the leadership of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe. He further expressed IOM’s appreciation for Sri Lanka’s co-sponsorship and for its contribution towards hosting the ‘Second Global Consultation on Migrant Health’ in Colombo in February 2017, and in actively supporting the efforts at securing the global attention on migrant health.
- Adoption of the Working Group Report of the Third Cycle of Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the 28th Session of the UPR Working Group, 17 November 2017 in Geneva
- Third Cycle of Sri Lanka’s Review at the 28th Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group, 15 November 2017 in Geneva
- Sri Lanka to be reviewed at the 28th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group on 15 November 2017