Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday Sep 21, 2024
Saturday, 1 November 2014 02:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
UN Resident Coordinator of Sri Lanka Subinay Nandy
69 years of the United Nations also marks 59 years of UN’s continued and strengthened partnership with Sri Lanka. This strong partnership is affirmation of the common values and the shared vision that unite all of us in supporting the people of this beautiful country.
2014 marks the penultimate year to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and Sri Lanka has shown good progress in achieving them.
Today, we will share with you some of the early findings from the 2014 MDG Country Report. The report has been prepared in partnership between the Government and UN, with technical support from the Institute of Policy Studies. It is currently being finalised and we hope to be able to launch it formally later this year. We have used select data from the draft report for putting together a booklet in all three languages – particularly for all the children who will be here this afternoon.
Looking back on the year – UN in Sri Lanka
Like previous years, 2014 has been busy with continued close engagement and partnership with our counterparts.
We continue to support our partners at all levels to address the humanitarian and development needs of the most vulnerable communities. Along with Sri Lanka’s transition to a middle income status, the UN is graduating its assistance more towards engagements that inform development policy processes and influence implementation.
In this regard, we have large hopes for our engagement with several Government ministries where we are working together to strengthen the mechanisms that are in place for both the prevention of violence against women, and the protection of victims.
We are also proud to have been a close partner of the Government’s this year in the organisation of the World Conference on Youth, and the launch shortly thereafter of the National Human Development on Youth.
We have also been instrumental in providing support to implement the National Human Resources and Employment Policy for Decent Work, for example helping to set up the public dispute settlement mechanism and operationalising an electronic labour inspection system.
Humanitarian assistance is also being transformed. With a view to strengthening capacities to generate evidence to assess and establish residual humanitarian priorities, specifically in relation to IDPs, we have been working through the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Country Team, together with the Government, on the Joint Needs Assessment or ‘JNA’ process, which we hope to finalise before the year end.
On a more solemn note, this year also marked the 10th year remembrance of the tsunami. As a close partner of the Government of Sri Lanka in the field of disaster management, we are proud to have worked with the Ministry of Disaster Management to support the launch of Sri Lanka’s Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme, which is aligned with the 2005 ‘Road Map Towards a Safer Sri Lanka’ and the UN sponsored Hyogo Framework of Action.
Let me take this opportunity to commend Sri Lanka for its highest level engagement at the Climate Summit during the 69th UN General Assembly Session this year. This communicated Sri Lanka’s commitment towards ensuring measures to address climate change issues.
As an island nation and being in a region prone to natural hazards, the importance of increasing forest cover; increasing the share of non-conventional renewable energy in national energy balance; and rehabilitating inland water sources and protecting the coastline; will remain key priorities for Sri Lanka.
In both related areas of addressing climate change and building a strong resilience to the threat of natural disasters, the United Nations remains highly committed to working with the Government of Sri Lanka.
As I talk about preparedness, let me note very briefly the dreadful Ebola Virus Disease outbreak. In this regard, the WHO has been supporting the Ministry of Health in strengthening national preparedness measures for response. The national airport, for example, is now more equipped for screening passengers and a referral hospital has already been designated in the country. I am pleased to note Sri Lanka’s generous donation of much needed gloves for the affected countries in Western Africa.
This year is also important because it marks the 25th year of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 20th year of the International Conference on Population and Development – two key instruments for the UN and the Government of Sri Lanka.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most rapidly and widely ratified international human rights treaty in history. Sri Lanka, has made strong progress in implementing the CRC and, as we see with the MDG related data, most national indicators on children are very good compared to other nations in the region.
The solid legal and policy framework offers the opportunity for the majority of children to enjoy basic services across the country. The quality and access, however, remain uneven, and we continue to support the Government of Sri Lanka in meeting the needs of districts which are lagging behind.
The implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development, Programme of Action in Sri Lanka has helped enable the country to boast strong demographic, health and gender indicators.
Looking at the challenges yet to be overcome
However, while we note these achievements, much remains to be done, especially as the country goes through the demographic transition and prepares for the challenges of having an aging population as well as addressing existing gender disparities.
In terms of gender, the draft findings in the MDG Report show that Sri Lanka performs well against the target of having equal numbers of girls and boys in school. At the secondary level there are even slightly more girls than boys. However, these achievements do not fully translate when it comes to employment or the representation of women in governance and political structures.
The importance of the role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts, engaging in peace negotiations and humanitarian response is highlighted in Security Council Resolution 1325, which celebrates its 15 years this year.
For a post-war country like Sri Lanka, the Security Council Resolution 1325 especially asks that the role that women can play in the reconciliation and healing process is embraced, and opportunities promoted for them to have an active and meaningful engagement.
The early findings from the draft MDG Report also identify nutrition as being an area where there is a need for both a final push towards the 2015 goals and also for longer term sustained action. More than 20% of children under-five are estimated to be underweight. The nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women is also a concern, and we remain committed to work with our partners to avoid the challenges in terms of both underweight children and even maternal mortality. In this context we very much welcome the President’s statement that ‘Sri Lanka wanted to work with the UN (in particular, UNICEF, FAO and WFP) to collectively implement a nationwide accelerated nutrition initiative’ and we commit to do our part.
Addressing regional disparities is another challenge that requires focus and attention. Recently for example, the poverty rate in Monaragala increased despite the data showing a relatively high labour force participation rate. This would suggest a high proportion of working poor there
Likewise, while the data suggests that recovery in many of the social sectors is underway in the North and East, we also see that the proportion of employed people living below the poverty line, while low in certain Districts, is high in others, suggesting a need for sustained attention to livelihood and decent work promotion and market development in those areas, alongside attending to the needs for reconciliation and lasting peace.
In light of these challenges, be they related to demographic changes, empowerment of women or youth, or uplifting of lagging areas, our hope would be that today’s budget includes within it a restoration of the previous strong focus that was given to social sector spending.
Wider engagement
As we look at the breadth of the UN’s work with Sri Lanka, we also see a strong emphasis on the peace and reconciliation agenda. UN engagements in 2014 at all levels encouraged Sri Lanka to continue making progress on the post conflict agenda, including issues of political dialogue, inclusive governance, reconciliation and accountability. We also remain engaged with Sri Lanka in addressing the rising incidents of violence against religious minorities that have taken place since the beginning of this year.
In our engagements here, we constantly emphasise our mandated roles and work that Sri Lanka also subscribes to vis-à-vis tasks and responsibilities assigned by different inter-governmental processes.
As a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, still in the process of healing wounds of a recently concluded armed conflict, the need for greater respect and acceptance of equal rights for all communities and all segments of population is imperative for sustaining peace and development.
As John Hume, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize winner and one of the architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, said: “All conflict is about difference, whether the difference is race, religion or nationality.
Difference is not a threat, difference is natural. Difference is of the essence of humanity and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace – respect for diversity.”
We count on Sri Lanka’s leadership and commitment to keep reaching out to minorities and curb the incitement of violence, with the aim of protecting all minority groups in Sri Lanka.
The UN recognises the achievements of Sri Lanka in relation to the resettlement, reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts – in a span of slightly over five years Sri Lanka has made great strides and there are notable changes in the infrastructure and facilities available in the north and east today.
However, in line with our strategy of comprehensive engagement, where alongside humanitarian and development issues, the UN also engages in more challenging areas of political dialogue, human rights and peace building, we must continue exploring ways of working together to promote reconciliation and peaceful co-existence among communities.
We premise our approach on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission’s National Plan of Action and the commitments that Sri Lanka has made in being a signatory to all major International Human Rights Conventions.
On the specific issue of asylum seekers in the country, the UN looks forward to strengthening its work to provide support along the lines of international customary laws and obligations while meeting normative standards to ensure justice to all.
Looking forward
Looking forward, we note that Sri Lanka has made notable progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and is ready now to progress to the next level of development, and an ever more brighter and prosperous future.
The UN awaits, with much anticipation, the finalisation of the post 2015 development agenda and for the final set of sustainable development goals to be announced next year. And we look forward to continue working with the Sri Lankan Government and other development actors as we jointly strive to realise these new set of development goals and to achieve prosperity, equity, freedom, dignity and peace for all Sri Lankans.
Ending remarks
Let me thank everyone who is with us today, our Government partners for their longstanding collaboration, our bilateral and multilateral partners for their continued support, the international and national NGOs with whom we work so closely, our colleagues from academia and different research institutions, our private sector partners and members of the V-Force. Indeed, I especially thank our young V-force members who have been the driving force behind today’s event – supporting us with everything from proof reading of materials to logistics late into last night.
I will also take this opportunity, to thank the UN staff in Sri Lanka, for being the courageous, spirited, and dedicated driving force behind all the achievements and successes we celebrate today.
Today, you should celebrate yourself, for working for the UN and helping the organisation to serve the people of the world, by giving voice to the oppressed, standing up for universal human rights,seeking dignity and respect for women and girls, feeding the hungry, protecting the most vulnerable, and, most importantly, seeking justice in order to make this place a better world.
Excellences and dear friends, let me reiterate once more the high value that we place on our relationship with all our partners. Sri Lanka was one of the first member states to join the United Nations system, and while next year we will mark seven decades since the formation of the United Nations, more importantly, we will also mark six decades of Sri Lanka becoming a UN member. This strong partnership is what has allowed us to show much progress in the Millennium Development Goals, as well as continued achievement in sustainable growth and prosperity.
Today, as we mark the 69th United Nations Day, we also mark our commitment to continue our strong partnership with Sri Lanka.
