The Instrument of Ratification of the ILO Convention concerning Employment Policy C 122 of 1964 was handed over by Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva to Mr. Georges P. Politakis, Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of Legal Services of the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 3 February 2016.
Sri Lanka is the 110th ILO Member State to have ratified this priority Convention, which is included among the four standards that are the most significant from the viewpoint of governance, giving clear signal of the Government’s commitment to actively promoting full, productive and freely chosen employment, in consultation with the social partners, bilaterally as well through the Colombo Process, the grouping of Asian Contractual Labour Sending Countries, as its Chair-in-Office.
CITES Secretary-General's keynote address on Wildlife and Tourism at Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Good morning and thank you to our colleagues from Sri Lanka Tourism for organizing today’s Public Seminar and for giving me the opportunity to address you.
In particular, I would like to thank and to recognize the Hon. John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Affairs, the Hon. Gamini Jayawickrema Perera, Minister for Sustainable Development and Wildlife and their staff.
Questions of how CITES works what CITES is, and is not, are frequently raised by the media and members of the general public and it is a great topic for today’s event.
In the time available, I will touch upon some of the issues that arise most often, and in particular, I will spend some time focusing on wildlife based tourism, which was profiled at a recent World Bank event, and law enforcement, as it is a topic that generates a lot of discussion.
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Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
Over 2,000 world leaders and economic specialists, including Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe participated at the inaugural ceremony of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland on Wednesday (20).
Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife, Mr. Gamini Jayawickrama Perera has re-iterated Sri Lanka's commitment to protect endangered wildlife species. He said consistent with this policy, the Government had decided to destroy a confiscated blood ivory shipment on 26th January 2016 at the Galle Face Green in Colombo. The consignment consists of 359 pieces of blood ivory, equalling 1.5 tonnes.
The Minister made these remarks during his meeting with the Secretary – General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Mr. John E. Scanlon, on the side-lines of the 66th Standing Committee meeting of CITES held in Geneva last week. Since ratification of the CITES Convention in 1979, this is the first time Sri Lanka has been represented at a Ministerial level at any meeting of this important global convention. Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission in Geneva Mrs. M.L.F. Mafusa, and Advisor to Minister Mr. Daniel Fernando were associated with the Minister.
Sri Lanka has been selected as one of the four pilot countries to participate in a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Project titled “Intellectual Property, Tourism and Culture.” This Project will contribute to promoting awareness of the role of IP in Sri Lanka and supporting the tourism-related economic activities of the country. Further it will enhance the scope for utilizing IP for development in a new area, under the ongoing cooperation between WIPO and GOSL through a 10 Point Action Plan.
Dr. Francis Gurry, Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) communicating this decision to Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, has informed that this selection was made pursuant to Sri Lanka’s expression of interest and formal proposal submitted to WIPO to participate in this Project in August 2015. This is the first time Sri Lanka has been selected to participate as a pilot country for a Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) Project. WIPO officials will liaise with the relevant authorities of the Government of Sri Lanka to begin project implementation early in 2016.
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the Holy See Ravinatha Aryasinha participated in a series of events held in connection with the Occasion of the ‘Annual Hearing of the Holy Pope’ on 11th January 2016 held at the Vatican. 83 Resident Ambassadors and other concurrently accredited non- Resident Ambassadors participated in these events.
During an interaction with His Holiness, Ambassador Aryasinha conveyed greetings from the President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to His Holiness and particularly appreciated the attention the Holy Father had given Sri Lanka over the past year long period since his visit to Colombo on 13 – 15 January 2015. He also assured him of Sri Lanka’s support to his global efforts, particularly in relation to social upliftment, the environment and inter-religious dialogue.