The high-level segment of the Conference on Disarmament commenced in Geneva on 23 February 2026 under the presidency of the Ambassador Omar Zniber of Morocco and will continue till 25 February 2026.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath addressing the Conference via a video message on the first day of the high-level segment, highlighted the importance of a robust multilateral system to overcome the prevailing challenges in the current global landscape to ensure enduring global peace and security to secure a stable world for present as well as future generations.
Reassuring Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieve expected goals, Minister Vijitha Herath recalled Sri Lanka’s active role in global disarmament affairs, over the past years, as a developing island nation from the Global South. Highlighting Sri Lanka’s significant commitments in preventing an arms race in outer space and the total elimination of the nuclear weapons, Ministry Herath underscored that Sri Lanka will continue to support the establishment of the Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones in the Middle East.
Emphasizing the fact that Sri Lanka is cognizant of the impact of emerging technologies on International Humanitarian Law, Minister Herath highlighted that Sri Lanka has been advocating for early commencement of negotiations on a legally binding instrument to prohibit Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Addressing the Conference, Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres highlighted the importance of renewed commitment to multilateralism to overcome the challenges posed by current geo-political tension. Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Norway and Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control and Non-proliferation of the U.S. Department of State and Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) also addressed the Conference on 23 February in person while many other leaders joined with video statements.
Ambassador Sumith Dassanayake, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland joined the high-level segment representing Sri Lanka.
The Conference on Disarmament was recognized by the Tenth Special Session on Disarmament of the United Nations General Assembly (SSOD-I) in 1978 as a single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. The Conference comprises 65 member States, including the five nuclear-weapon states. Sri Lanka became a member of the Conference on Disarmament in 1978.
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva
23 February 2026