Lankans get two top UN posts

Those who follow United Nations affairs were surprised to see two high-level appointments of Sri Lankans by UN Secretary-General António Guterres this week.

On Tuesday, the Secretary-General appointed Indrika Ratwatte as his new Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan. He will also serve as the humanitarian coordinator, according to the statement issued by the UN media office.

In his nearly three-decade-long career at the UN, Mr. Ratwatte served at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and continued his career with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1993.

His most recent positions have included Director of the UNHCR Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, where he previously served as Deputy and UNHCR Representative in Pakistan. He served with UNHCR as Deputy Representative in Tanzania and Pakistan, along with prior assignments in Thailand, Croatia, China, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was just the previous day that Ruvendrini Menikdiwela of Sri Lanka was appointed as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) by the Secretary-General.

Ms. Menikdiwela, who currently serves as the Director in UNHCR’s New York Office, brings to the position several decades of professional experience working with and for refugees in UNHCR, including as UNHCR’s Representative in Pakistan and Thailand. She also held several other critical legal posts during her long career with the organisation since 1988.