Addressing the forum on ‘individualized approach’ on the sidelines of the Intersessional Meeting of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention today, Sri Lanka Permanent Representative Ambassador Azeez recounted how Sri Lanka achieved success in what was considered a perilous task in 2009.
Ambassador Azeez highlighted Sri Lanka’s engagement in demining activity as one which had its own complexity and uniqueness. The National Policy on Reconciliation and Co-existence, in place in Sri Lanka since 2017, both underpinned and nourished the ongoing programmes of peacebuilding and development in the country, he stressed.
The Sri Lanka delegation to the Intersessional Meeting that took place in Geneva from 7-8 June, was led by P. Suresh, Secretary to the Ministry of Resettlement, Rehabilitation, Northern Development and Hindu Religious Affairs and Director of the National Mine Action Centre. Delivering a national statement at the Intersessional Meeting, he thanked the partner countries and partner organizations for the assistance provided for Sri Lanka Mine Action Programme, which he stated was expected to be completed by 2020.
Statement delivered by Ambassador Azeez
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
8 June 2018
Delivering his initial address to the Conference of Disarmament (CD) of the United Nations, Ambassador Azeez stated that the inaction in the CD over the past twenty years has only led to the loss of a generation of professionals and experts in the field of Disarmament. He stressed “the gap in Disarmament Education is now all too glaring".
Thanking Sweden and Switzerland for giving leadership to the CD at this most crucial time, followed by Sri Lanka early this year, the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka added that negotiations in the CD, by their very nature, involved addressing challenging issues, exchange of perspectives, and understanding.
The essential task of that process remained as one of endeavouring to achieve consensus outcomes. The eventual goal of general and complete disarmament underpinned the fulfilment of that task, he emphasised.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
22 May 2018
“Building a better and secure future for all is a shared call that we can shirk only at our own peril”, stated Ambassador A.L.A.Azeez, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, addressing the Second Preparatory Committee Meeting of State Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) today.
Ambassador Azeez highlighted the importance of the NPT as the global regime for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament that called for a balanced and non-discriminatory approach to building international peace and security. He stressed that the non-proliferation treaty regime should be taken forward, while promoting and safe guarding the economic development prospects for all, through equal access to the technology advancing peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
He also called upon the State Parties to seriously address the prevalent dichotomy between the lack of progress in disarmament and increasing emphasis and efforts on non-proliferation, urging them to “manifest their support for, and investment in, disarmament training and education provided by the UN and other organizations” .
The Second Preparatory Meeting that began its deliberations on 23rd April 2018 in Geneva would continue until 4th May 2018 and is aimed to help evolve a negotiated outcome at the NPT Review Conference to be held in New York in April/May 2020.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to UN in Geneva
24th April 2018
The window of opportunity that was opened up, and the positive spirit generated in moving forward the substantive work in the Conference of Disarmament (CD) with the adoption of Decision 2119 under the Presidency of Sri Lanka, ’can be carried through to creatively looking at ways and means of arriving at a negotiated outcome at the 2020 NPT Review Conference,’ said Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka in Geneva. He made these remarks chairing a panel session titled ‘ Reviving the NPT and Conference on Disarmament: Means and Processes to Ensure Success’ at the Framework Forum Roundtable, co-organized in Geneva on 19th April 2018, by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) and several other organizations.
Echoing the words of the UN Secretary General who stated that “it is time to translate the Decision into resumption of negotiations”, Ambassador Azeez added “this development has come up at a critical time when there is growing impatience among the non-proliferation and disarmament community over the long spell of ‘inaction’, spanning over two decades”.
Noting that the second round of consultations of the parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, are to commence next week in Geneva, to prepare for the NPT review in 2020, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative remarked “While non-proliferation should receive a clear focus along with a pronounced emphasis on peaceful use of nuclear energy, the advancement of these objectives would be effective and meaningful when sustained efforts towards the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons follow in tandem”. He said “it was time to be imaginative, yet pragmatic”.
Mr. Sico van der Meer, Clingendal Institute, the Netherlands, and Ms. Tarja Cronberg, Chair,Middle Powers Initiative, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute(SIPRI), joined this panel as speakers addressed ‘How to make the NPT RevCom in 2020 a success?’ and ‘Long term reform needs for the NPT survival?’ respectively.
Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka
Geneva
20 April 2018
The Impact of Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Achieving the SDGs is Becoming Apparent
As we pursue Sustainable Development targets with an objective to ‘leave no one behind by 2030’, it is becoming apparent that the kind of impact technology and AI can make in realising the 17 SDG’s and its 169 targets, the CDA a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to UN, Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya said addressing the Meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts (GCE) on Emerging Technologies in the areas of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) held in Geneva on 9th April 2018. The use of AI to automate UNDP’s Rapid Integrated Assessment (RIA) systems, which helps in determining a country’s readiness for implementation of the Global Development Agenda, and in building interlinkages among national and sectoral policies is clearly, among one of the many positive narratives of the peaceful application of AI, she noted.
Highlighting that there are several challenges before the GGE, Sri Lanka stated that a careful study of different definitions available so far, and an objective consideration of the language used in different national defence doctrines could serve as the first step in finding a ‘working definition’ for LAWS. The degree to which AI has already been built into military weapons systems and the accepted degree of autonomy related to the critical functions of these weapons, the ‘predictability’ of their functions and the ‘reliability’ of its operations under changing conditions during a conflict is another challenge. Also, the difficulty of the ‘attribution of accountability’ is getting blur with the use of AI in military weapons systems. Nevertheless, the test of public conscience and laws of humanity as referred to in the Martens Clause should guide the Member States, even if any IHL principles are founded to be inapplicable, Sri Lanka stated.
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha has said "Sri Lanka makes its best contributions to the international community when it leads from the centre", rather than positioning itself in a manner "either to be taken for granted, or to remain isolated".
The Ambassador who this week relinquishes his tour of duty as Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, made this observation in his farewell address to the Conference on Disarmament (CD) on 27th March 2018, where last month under Sri Lanka's Presidency, the Conference unanimously adopted Decision CD/2119 setting up 5 subsidiary bodies to commence substantive work. Addressing the High-Level Segment of the CD, UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcoming this Decision stated, “I believe you are off to the best start in nearly two decades, and I look forward to building on this new momentum”.
Recalling that for long years Sri Lanka had been an active player in the field of disarmament, Ambassador Aryasinha expressed satisfaction that Sri Lanka was once again able to make a meaningful contribution through CD/2119 during its recent Presidency, notwithstanding the challenging global environment we live in today. He said the decision "was a balance between flexibility and safeguards, and it offered a framework for a more focused and continued debate on all core issues on the CD agenda. “I believe this has the potential of being an irreversible first step in getting the CD back to work, and in asserting its credibility as the single multilateral forum for negotiating disarmament treaties" he said.
- Sri Lanka’s leadership at the Geneva based Conference on Disarmament commended
- Special Envoy of the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention HRH Prince Mired Al-Hussein to visit Sri Lanka
- UN Secretary General welcomes Decision adopted under Sri Lanka’s Presidency to advance work of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva