After years of conflict, “a new era of democracy” dawned in Sri Lanka this year, ushering in justice, freedom and equality, the country’s President told the United Nations General Assembly today, reporting that his Government supports a “fresh universal approach” that deals honestly with the past while pursuing sustainable development.

“Our new vision for the country involves achieving the twin objectives of sustainable development and reconciliation. A fundamental requirement in this context is dealing with the past honesty and building a modern Sri Lankan nation,” Maithripala Sirisena told the Assembly, explaining that, in the wake of years of conflict, his Government is now moving forward with a process of “truth seeking, justice, reparation and non-recurrence.”

Rising to 21st century challenges will require Sri Lanka to adopt a new social, economic and political approach, and, in that regard, he said that reconciliation must receive “priority attention.” Indeed, the new consensus Government he is leading has already taken several steps to introduce and operationalize the constitutional and institutional reforms required to accelerate the achievement of these goals.

Sirisena said Sri Lanka has suffered from conflict and while such turmoil could bring destruction to a society, there are also many lessons that could be learned during and after a conflict. “All forms of war and terrorism are a disgrace to humanity,” he continued, saying that the challenge of the modern era is to find ways and means to “defeat such brutality against humanity.”

“Sri Lanka succeeded in eliminating terrorism, which continues to throttle other developing countries in many regions – from Asia and Africa to Latin America,” he said, declaring: “We defeated one of the world's most ruthless terror outfits. Equally, our post conflict experiences also have been significant. We believe that all these experiences can be shared fruitfully with other developing countries affected by terrorism.”

Turning to the issue of sustainable development, he said to ensure broader advancement for all, it is necessary to pursue dialogue within the global South as well as between the North and South. “Development should result in the empowerment of women and youth and assure security for children. Frustration in youth usually leads to conflict,” Mr. Serisena continued, but noted that youth is the driving force for sustainable development.

“Therefore, we should transform the youth to a totally skilled workforce to succeed in the 21st century knowledge-based society. It should be a lead component of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda,” underscored the President, adding that the overall aim must be to have an inclusive model of development that is capable of uplifting development standards globally.

Stressing the need for a “fresh universal approach,” he said that extremism, over-consumption, arbitrary exploitation of the environment, violation of human rights, and massive income disparities can often cause insecurity, conflict, violation of fights, and exploitation.

As such, he said that the edifice of sustainable development should be built upon the foundation of self-discipline and equity. “If this could be practiced at personal, community, national and global levels, it would mark a giant leap forward for human kind.”

(un.org)

President Maithripala Sirisena's son, Daham Sirisena, explained his visit to the UN as part of the Sri Lanka delegation led by his father, saying that he was officially invited in place of his mother who could not attend.

Posting a statement on his Facebook Page, Daham Sirisena said that his visit could not be taken as an act of nepotism.

"The real meaning behind it [nepotism] is the abuse of power with influence favoring one's children, relatives and friends especially by giving them occupations. Open your minds to this definition and take a moment to think whether this is being practiced in Sri Lanka now," the President's son said.

Since he visited in place of his mother, it was not a case of nepotism, Sirisena argued.

Furthermore, he said that his presence did not have a negative effect on the country. He pointed out that he was able to attend a youth-led SDG event. "At the event The officials stated that, next time to bring in more youths with more innovative ideas which could in turn enrich our country by seeing my presence," he said.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday voiced Sri Lanka's full commitment to dealing with climate change and taking great efforts to minimize risks of possible environmental hazards.

The Sri Lankan President made the statement while addressing the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, a three-day event which began in New York on Friday.

"Sri Lanka will be fully committed to dealing with the 13th Sustainable Development Goal relating to climate change," the president said. "We will strive to minimize risks of possible environmental hazards."

He said that a proper study is required to ascertain how climate change aggravates Sri Lanka's contemporary development challenges such as poverty alleviation, food security, increased aging population and natural disasters.

To tackle climate change is one of the 17 targets contained in the Sustainable Development Goals, which was adopted by world leaders in New York on Friday to serve as the blueprint for the global sustainable development efforts for the next 15 years.

"Sustainable development cannot be achieved by a single country alone," Sirisena also said. "Our strategy will therefore envisage a framework for cooperation between the United Nations, regional organizations and other states."

(With inputs from Xinhua)

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to advance the dialogue on a political settlement for long-lasting peace in the country and expressed hope that he would implement the recommendations of the UNHRC's recently released report.

Ban met the Sri Lankan President here yesterday on the sidelines of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and discussed recent political developments in the country, according to a readout of the meeting provided by Ban’s spokesperson.

The Secretary General "encouraged the President to advance the dialogue on a political settlement and seize this opportunity to lay the foundation for long-lasting peace and stability."

Ban also welcomed the High Commissioner for Human Rights' recently released report on Sri Lanka and said that he was pleased with the government's positive and constructive engagement with the UN on the report.

Ban "hoped that the President would implement its recommendations," the statement said.

The report released earlier this month by the United Nations human rights office has identified patterns of grave violations in Sri Lanka between 2002 and 2011, and recommended the establishment of a hybrid special court to ensure that justice is served.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein had said that the Council’s investigation has "laid bare" the horrific level of violations and abuses that occurred in Sri Lanka, including indiscriminate shelling, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, harrowing accounts of torture and sexual violence, recruitment of children and other grave crimes.

The report also indicates that war crimes and crimes against humanity were most likely committed by both sides to the country’s conflict – the Government of Sri Lanka and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Reiterating his strong commitment to Sri Lanka, Ban said he looked forward to working closely with the President, the Government and domestic stakeholders during this "critical time."

The Secretary-General also encouraged the President to incorporate the Sustainable Development Goals into the national development agenda.

(Outlook)

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and President Maithripala Sirisena held a bilateral meeting yesterday in the backdrop of the 70th UN General Assembly in New York.

"Continuing the momentum. After PM @RW_UNP visits India, PM @narendramodi meets with President Sirisena of Sri Lanka" India's Ministry of External Affairs Spokesman Vikas Swarup said on Twitter.

The UN General Assembly convened yesterday at UN headquarters in New York. President Sirisena will address the gathering on September 30.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who left the island yesterday for the United States, reached New York this morning.

President Maithripala Sirisena said that the festival of Hajj symbolizes the spirit of unity when Muslims living across different continents and countries offer a prayer to Allah.

In his special Hajj message, the President pointed out that Sri Lankan Muslims "live in harmony with other communities, with mutual respect for each other and it is a reflection of their friendliness and the desire for coexistence, qualities they inherited from the teachings of Islam".

Full text of the message:

I am pleased to send this message of greetings on the occasion of the celebrations of Eid-Ul-Alha, the festival of Hajj by the Islamic community of Sri Lanka, together with their brethren the world over.

The Festival of Hajj is the most important annual event of the Muslims in the world, in which they pray to emphasize the importance of making sacrifices in the name of Allah.

Hajj symbolizes the spirit of unity when millions of Muslims living in different continents, speaking different languages and belonging to different nationalities and cultures offer a common prayer to Allah.

The government provides all required facilities to Muslims of Sri Lanka to participate in the annual Hajj pilgrimage, where they renew their commitment to the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and pray for peace, brotherhood and understanding among all people of the world.

The Muslims of Sri Lanka live in harmony with other communities, with mutual respect for each other and it is a reflection of their friendliness and the desire for coexistence, qualities they inherited from the teachings of Islam.

The prayers of all Muslims on this day of special religious observances will no doubt be directed towards progress, unity and peace with dignity for all.

I wish all Muslims of Sri Lanka a Happy and Peaceful Eid-Ul-Alha.

President Maithripala Sirisena left for the United States a short while ago, to take part in the 70th UN General Assembly in New York.

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Several ministers including Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and Skills Development and Vocational Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe also take part in the US visit.

The President will address the UN General Assembly on September 30.

This is the first visit to the US by President Sirisena since being elected in January.

President Maithripala Sirisena is to meet SLFP Parliamentary team tomorrow, a day before the next session of Parliament, political reports said.

In his first public response to the OHCHR report on alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Sri Lanka, President Maithripala Sirisena on Friday said the change of government in January rescued the country from facing “strictures” from the international community.

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Sirisena, flanked by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera, told a gathering of editors and heads of media groups in Colombo that there were indications that the international community would have insisted on the strictures. The new government has averted a much adverse report by the UN rights body due to the change of government, he said.

He also insisted that the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka would have named some people as perpetrators of human rights violations and barred them.

“The international community is satisfied with the actions taken by the government towards restoration of rights, media freedom, good governance and other positive steps,” Sirisena said, citing the adoption of the 19th Constitutional Amendment as one of the steps.

The amendment diluted the powers of Executive Presidency.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government would inform the international community of its intention of setting up a domestic mechanism to look into the alleged violations during the civil war.