SL RESPECTS AND PRESERVES RULES-BASED ORDER: KARIYAWASAM
As a nation, Sri Lanka respects and does its part in preserving the rules-based order both nationally and internationally, Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam said on Thursday. He expressed these views at a ceremony which was held at the United Nations office in Colombo to mark the 73rd United Nations Day and to unveil the “Una Mccauley Conference Room” at the Office.
Speaking further, Mr. Kariyawasam said Sri Lanka’s commitment and respect for the UN Charter, multilateralism, the rules-based world order, the SDGS, the Paris Climate Agreement and the pursuit of clean energy, are clear.
This is because it is not only the 73rd Anniversary of the UN and the 63rd anniversary of Sri Lanka’s membership in the UN that we commemorate today, but the memory of a very special individual, Ms. Una Mccaulay, who made a significant contribution to the UN-SRI Lanka partnership
He said Sri Lanka’s vision is to create a peaceful, stable, reconciled and prosperous nation for all our citizens. “Ours is not an easy journey, especially considering our conflict afflicted past. It is not an easy journey to reach our objective of “never again” through reconciliation and sustainable development with a distinct peace dividend. We need all the support we can get, and we value deeply in this regard, the work of the UN in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kariyawasam said it is a special honour to represent the Government of Sri Lanka to mark the United Nations Day with the UN Country Team. “This is because it is not only the 73rd Anniversary of the UN and the 63rd anniversary of Sri Lanka’s membership in the UN that we commemorate today, but the memory of a very special individual, Ms. Una Mccaulay, who made a significant contribution to the UN-SRI Lanka partnership.
I feel privileged to unveil the “Una Mccauley Conference Room” here at the United Nations Office in Colombo. Her memory, as most of you who worked with her know, will always live in the hearts and minds of the people she touched and worked with during her long years of service here as the UNICEF Representative and thereafter as UN Resident Coordinator. Dedicating this Conference Room in her memory, I think, is an important and most appropriate gesture. Her name will now be associated with a place for people to meet; share their ideas and views; a place that facilitates debate, reasoning and the seeking of solutions. This is so much a part of what Una stood for,” he said.