Sri Lanka - UN Relations

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Sri Lanka became a member of the UN on 14th December 1955. The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in Geneva was established in June 1965. The Permanent Mission functions as the Permanent Sri Lanka delegation to the Geneva Office of the United Nations (UN).

As Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the UN, the Mission represents Sri Lanka’s national interest in the Conference on Disarmament (CD), UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), UN Specialized Agencies based in Geneva such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Universal Postal Union (UPU), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) etc.

The Mission also liaises with other international organizations based in Geneva such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Sri Lanka is the current Chair of the Group of Fifteen (G15) - a Summit Level Group of Developing Countries, as well as the Colombo Process - the Regional Consultative Process on migration for countries of origin in Asia.

Admission of  Sri Lanka to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva

01 January 1897 Joins  the International Telegraph Union, which would become the ITU in 1933
07 July 1948 Joins the World Health Organization (WHO)
28 June 1948 Joins the International Labour Organization (ILO)
12 April 1949 Joins the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
13 July 1949 Joins the Universal Postal Union (UPU)
22 June 1951  Joins the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
14 December 1955 Admission to the United Nations
28 February 1959 Joins the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
 30 December 1964  Joins the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  (UNCTAD)
 30 June 1978  Joins Conference on Disarmament (CD)
20 September 1978 Joins World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
08 October 1984

First attended Executive Committee session of the United Nations  High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
as an Observer

September 1989 Founding member of  G 15 
27 November 1990 Joins the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
1 January 1995 Joins the World Trade Organization (WTO)
1 April 2003 Founding member of Colombo Process

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