Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva and Chair of the Geneva-based Colombo Process Member States Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha presenting a report of the Fourth Senior Officials’ Meeting of the Colombo Process Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 24 August 2016 has detailed the tangible achievements of Sri Lanka's Chairmanship of the Colombo Process over the past 3 years.
For the first time, two Sri Lankan undergraduate students participated in the 2016 Summer Student Programme at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, the most prominent particle physics research institute in the world. Mr. Gamage Gihan Lakmal, a graduate from the Faculty of Science of the University of Ruhuna and Mr. Malinda Shiram de Silva, a final year undergraduate from the Faculty of Science of the University of Colombo, completed their two month programme last week. The Sri Lankan students were selected on merit by CERN, following a funding arrangement negotiated by the Permanent Mission, where CERN provides financial assistance for one student and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) funds the other student.
Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday (25 August 2016) inaugurated the 5th Ministerial Meeting of the Colombo Process (CP) at the Galle Face Hotel. Sri Lanka is the current chair of the CP and accordingly Foreign Employment Minister Thalatha Athukorale chaired the ministerial meeting as the incumbent chairperson. Director General of the Geneva based International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ambassador William Swing also officiated in the ceremony.
Representatives from the eleven manpower-exporting Asian countries in the CP - Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia - participated in the Meeting, which was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting. Cambodia was admitted as a new Member.
Work on Sri Lanka’s national Innovation Index set to measure the Lankan innovation portfolio, began in Colombo Tuesday.
Consideration of the 10th-17th Periodic Reports of Sri Lanka under the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) was held on 15th -16th August 2016 at the Palais Wilson. Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva introduced the report.
21 July 2016 Today Sri Lanka received certification from WHO for having eliminated lymphatic filariasis - one of the oldest and most debilitating, neglected tropical diseases. WHO Regional Director, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, presented the certificate to Minister of Health, Dr Rajitha Senaratne, at a ceremony in Colombo.
“The Ministry of Health has prioritized the elimination of this neglected tropical disease for several decades. We have now reached a major turning point, eliminating lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem," said Dr Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Health, Nutrition & Indigenous Medicine.
Statement by Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera to the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera, leader of the Sri Lanka delegation, addressed the 32nd Session of the UN Human Rights Council at the presentation of the Oral Update on the Implementation of the HRC Resolution A/HRC/RES/30/1 by the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, today (29 June 2016).
Hon. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva,Mr. Mano Tittawella, Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) and other senior officials of the Government of Sri Lanka were associated with the Minister.