Minister of Skills Development & Vocational Training Mahinda Samarasinghe patricipated in an Interactive Debate on “Peace, Sovereignty and Solidarity for Development” held in Venezuela 15 September in the eve of XVII NAM Summit .Making the Sri Lanka Statement the minister said that Sri Lanka had been fortunate to have met a number of its development goal targets, despite the present world economic climate.

As one of the co-sponsors of the Bandung Conference of 1955 and founder member of the Movement, Sri Lanka has remained committed to the principles and purposes of NAM. "We have continued to grow in strength and now embrace over 120 Nation States, representing two thirds of the members of the United Nations, accounting for over half of humanity.Today,

we are confronted with a number of challenges: ranging from terrorism, and religious extremism, social upheaval, conflicts, the plight of refugees, mass migration, social inequity, erosion of human rights, scarcity of resources, vulnerabilities in the global economy and environmental challenges from climate change that pose risk to our socio economic development." he said.

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe also said that the the Non- Aligned Movement should give high priority to the alleviation of poverty, the importance of food security, health and nutrition, education, water and sanitation, energy and infrastructure and greater access for women.

South- South Cooperation must not be merely a slogan. We must increase and strengthen collaboration, cooperation programmes and exchanges between members to promote meaningful development programmes and opportunities. 

To achieve Goal 15 of the Sustainable Development Agenda, both NAM and the wider international community must act now, take urgent action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, stop the loss of biodiversity and protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.

The Minister pointed out taht the Sri Lanka government of President Maithripala Sirisena has taken a number of initiatives to promote and strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction in the country as per the Sendai Framework for Action Cyber security threats have intensified and multiplied, and have evolved both in terms of quantity and in terms of technical complexity. There is an alarming rise in the use of advanced technology by terror groups in ideological brainwashing and recruitment efforts especially among youth, and we must be extra vigilant in order to combat these various threats.

NAM must also work in collaboration with UN Agencies such as UN women to ensure Women’s Empowerment especially in the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda and also in the areas of elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls and peace and security.

The National Unity Alliance Government of Sri Lanka under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, committed to good governance, the rule of law and protection of human rights.

The government is firmly convinced that durable peace, meaningful reconciliation and non-recurrence can only be guaranteed if the rights of all its citizens are protected and upheld and respect for our pluralistic society.

The government is now in the process of drafting our national human rights action plan for the period 2017-2021. We have already undertaken constitutional reforms to strengthen democracy and have now embarked on a comprehensive constitutional reform process that will lay the foundations for a new society based on these norms.

Mr Mahinda Samarasinghe also said that Sri Lanka stresses the importance of the maintenance of peace and stability, in the international arena and calls for the settlement of all disputes and differences by peaceful means through negotiation, consultation, arbitration or judicial settlements in conformity with the UN Charter and principles of international law.