PM will be leading the Sri Lanka delegation of the UN General Assembly

(September 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake will be leading the Sri Lanka delegation to the 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, commencing 22 September 2009. He will address the General Assembly on 26 September regarding the “Strengthening of Multilateralism and Dialogue among Civilizations for International Peace, Security and Development” and meet the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. During his visit he will also address the Asia Society in New York on the theme “Sri Lanka’s Challenges ahead: Post LTTE Scenario and Ensuring Sustainable Peace”.

The Prime Minister will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the General Assembly Sessions it has been the practice to convene meetings of various multilateral and regional groupings and accordingly the Prime Minister will participate at the High Level Event on Climate Change and the 4th Summit of the Heads of States/ Governments of the Group of 15 (G 15) where Sri Lanka assumes the Chair.

Foreign Minister Bogollagama will lead the Sri Lanka delegation to the Commonwealth Meetings of the Foreign Ministers, and on Terrorism, and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). He will also participate in the Interactive Ministerial Meeting on Combating Violence Against Girls, Ministerial Meetings of the SAARC, the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), Group of 77 (G 77) and the Group of 11.

Minister Bogollagama is also scheduled to hold a series of bilateral meetings with his South Asian counterparts from Bhutan, India and the Maldives, and also from South Africa, Fiji, Denmark, Jordan, Australia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Chile, Austria, Oman, UK, France, Sweden, Czech Republic, Cuba and Spain. He will also meet High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy & Secretary General of the Council of the European Union Javiar Solana, Commissioner for External Relations & European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma.

In Minister Bogollagama’s interactions with the United Nations, he is scheduled to meet with the Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir John Holmes, Under Secretary General & Special Representative for Children & Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy and the Executive Director General of the UNICEF Ann Veneman.

At these meetings it is expected that a wide range of bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of importance will be subjected to discussion. Special focus is envisaged on the developments relating to the post-conflict phase in Sri Lanka and the ways and means Sri Lanka’s friends in the international community could cooperate in the efforts of the Government’s endeavours in reconstruction, resettlement, rehabilitation and reconciliation.

-Sri Lanka Guardian