H.E. Mrs. Kshenuka Senewiratne presented her credentials, accrediting her as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland, to H.E. Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. H. E. Mrs. Senewiratne will also function as the Consul General of Sri Lanka in Switzerland.

H. E. Mrs. Senewiratne earlier served as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland with concurrent accreditation to Ireland.  Mrs. Senewiratne also served as Deputy High Commissioner in London and at the Sri Lanka Missions in Brussels and New York.

Address by Hon. Rohitha Bogollagama, Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Sri Lanka Expatriate Forum 2009 on 14^th November 2009 at the Presidential Secretariat 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

On behalf of His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, I warmly welcome you all this afternoon for an interactive session on the role the Sri Lanka Diaspora can play in the post conflict developmental efforts. I am confident that our interactions will be fruitful in view of the overwhelming response we have received to the invitation extended by His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa, for this important event.

Peace benefits must be strengthened through economic measures and inclusive reconstruction efforts, says UN Assistant Secretary General 

Colombo, November 13, 2009. “We appreciate the efforts of the Government of Sri Lanka, in the past few weeks, to accelerate the release and return of IDPs and as agreed with the Secretary General in May, to resettle a majority of the IDPs by January 2010,” said Mr. Ajay Chhibber, UN Assistant Secretary General (ASG) and Assistant Administrator for UNDP, while on a three day mission to Sri Lanka, which concluded today.

The Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing together with the National Gem and Jewellery Authority and Gem and Jewellery Association organized a colorful Sri Lanka Pavilion at the International Gem and Jewellry Fair 2009 from November 5^th to 9^th  at the China International Exhibition Center in Beijing.

Sri Lanka has made its way into recognition at the World Tourism Award honorees 2009 which will be held at World Travel Market in London today (Nov. 11).

Five of Sri Lanka’s leading hotels and resorts will be award winners at the 16th World Travel Awards. Lighthouse Hotel & Spa, Hilton Colombo, Taj Samudra Colombo, Taj Exotica Bentota and Ayurveda Pavilions were voted for awards by travel agents worldwide.

(November 10, Canberra, Sri Lanka Guardian) Des Browne, the British Envoy to Sri Lanka, told the Tamil Diaspora in Australia that, after the comprehensive military victory, the only option available is to engage the government in working out a solution for the Tamils.

In the open dialogue with the Tamil representatives he dismissed outright any possibility of the international community supporting a separate state. He told the Tamil Diaspora that big powers like Russia and China will be sympathetic to Sri Lanka as they have their own separatist problems.

Excellencies,

Sri Lanka and Kuwait signed the Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (IPPA) on 05^th November 2009 marking Sri Lanka’s first such agreement with Gulf countries which includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.  At a simple ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance of Kuwait. Mr. Khalifa M. Hamada, Undersecretary to the Ministry of Finance signed the agreement on behalf of Kuwait while Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Kuwait Sarath Dissanayake signed for Sri Lanka. The negotiations on the IPPA have been concluded in June 2009.

It is necessary to protect the independence of the judiciary, to build a nation that upholds the rule of law. In our country we had a glorious past which protected the rule of law, and with the past experiences we are committed to protect its autonomy and prestige, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa after laying the foundation stone for a new lawyer's office complex at Hulftsdorp, Colombo, yesterday (2).

President of the Republic of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa on November 1 during a one-day visit to Colombo. During the meeting it was acknowledged that there are possibilities for further developing bilateral political dialogue and cooperation in the economic, cultural and other spheres of mutual interest. It was pointed out that both sides enjoy excellent cooperation in the framework of the UN and other international organizations.

Students from faraway schools in Sri Lanka mesmerized the French audience at the prestigious UNESCO auditorium when they performed traditional dances at a colourful concert aptly named ‘Varna’ held on October 29 to mark the 60th anniversary of UNESCO-Sri Lanka relations.  

35 Tamil and Sinhala students from the schools in Gampaha, Kirindiwela, Vavuniya, Ingiriya and Horana kept the spectators spell-bound for nearly two and a half hours when they performed dances such as Varnam, Ves, Bharath Natyam, Kolattam, devotional songs, harvesting dances and culminated with a fantastic drum symphony.

(Colombo Lankapuvath October 30) This is the time for all expatriate Sri Lankans to use their knowledge and skills to develop the motherland, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing Sri Lankan businessmen, professionals and University students in Nepal yesterday (29).

In order to accelerate the de-mining process in the Northern region of the country, the Sri Lankan Government has purchased 05 more Bozena machines from the government of Slovakia.  

The machines cost Rs 250 Million were brought to the island today (30) where Minister of Disaster Management and Resettlement Abdul Risath Bathiyutheen handed them over to Minister of Nation Building & Estate Infrastructure Development S. M. Chandrasena at the Bandaranaika International Airport.

The United States had welcomed the Government's acceleration of the voluntary return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their villages.

We are encouraged by the Government’s announcement that it intends in the next few weeks to facilitate the voluntary return of over 40,000…. and we understand that thousands have already been released, said a statement from the US Embassy.

Mr. Michael James Zwack who recently assumed duties as the Representative for the UNHCR in Colombo called on Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 28^th October 2009 and presented his letter of appointment. 

During the call on Minister Bogollagama, Mr. Zwack reiterated the commitment of the UNHCR to work in close coordination with the Government of Sri Lanka.

Mobile family planning clinic

Press Release from the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition on the current status of the IDP health care issue as of 15.09.2009 and its response to challenges.  

With a view of addressing all the health care needs of the IDP population, health sector plans were implemented under the guidance of the national IDP steering Committee chaired by Dr.Ajith Mendis (DGHS) which meets once fortnightly in Colombo. Against the back drop of rampant misinformation both locally and internationally it was deemed as of paramount importance that the national IDP steering Committee informs public of its activities periodically.

The Russian Federation’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Sergey V. Lavrov, who is currently on a historic one day visit to Sri Lanka held discussions with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 26th October 2009.

The former strongholds of the LTTE -- Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi Districts -- are among the areas in which the internally displaced Tamils of Northern Sri Lanka will be resettled under the government's current IDP resettlement programme. 

The resettlement of a total 41,685 persons from 12,095 families will take place in the current phase of resettlement which began yesterday, Oct. 22.

The United States has forwarded to the Sri Lanka authorities a document captioned “Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka”, which contains a report from the US State Department to the Appropriations Committees of the US Congress.