Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama has underscored the importance that Sri Lanka attaches to its relationship with the UN system. He made this observation following high level interactions with UN officials at the UN Headquarters in New York last week. During his visit, apart from his meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the Minister also met the Executive Director of UNICEF Ms. Ann Veneman, UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs, Mr. Lynn B Pascoe and the UNDP Administrator, Mr. Kemal Dervis.

The Foreign Minister met the UNICEF Executive Director, Ms. Veneman on 7th May and briefed her on the initiatives taken by the Government to empower the people of the North and the East, the latter through the successful holding of Local Government elections in Batticaloa on 10 March 2008 and the elections to the Eastern Provincial Council on 10th May 2008. She responded by complimenting Sri Lanka saying "democracy is taking hold in the East". The Minister said that the Task Force appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, comprising three members representing the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities, would be able to address the development needs of the people in the North.

Discussing the challenges of development and rehabilitation in the North and the East, especially the road map for restoration of democracy, the Minister stated that rehabilitation and re-integration of former child combatants was a priority task, which required considerable resources and efforts. A successful re-integration process would need empowering children who had been involved in armed conflict with livelihood skills and value-based education so that they would be recognised as equal members of the society.

Minister Bogollagama drew the attention of the UNICEF Executive Director to the LTTE's continuing child recruitment practices, which compelled each family in the North to provide one child for that organization. The Minister explained how the LTTE had targeted civilians and civilian facilities, and its gross violations of human rights, including the ethnic cleansing of Muslims from the North. The LTTE was also engaged in organised crime, including arms-smuggling and narcotics trafficking. Ms. Veneman recalled reading an article recently, which described how Colombian drug dealers were using plastic submarines to smuggle arms and drugs, in an obvious comparison to the activities of LTTE.

Appreciating Foreign Minister Bogollagama's commitment and interest in strengthening mutual cooperation, Ms. Veneman reaffirmed her support for ongoing recovery activities in Sri Lanka and clarified that UNICEF's new approach to assisting countries is based on the need "to add value", which meant that "if a country is doing well in some areas, UNlCEF would help in other areas under its mandate, where progress is lacking". She also indicated that assistance for micro-credit and development of SMEs needed to be addressed in the overall context of UN's country programme in the near future.

The Foreign Minister met the UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Mr. Lynn B. Pascoe on the same day and briefed him on the APRC process and the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. He also briefed Mr. Pascoe on the significance of the Provincial Council elections in the Eastern Province.

Mr. Pascoe inquired about the role for the international community, following the termination of the ceasefire agreement with the LTTE. The Minister explained that LTTE terrorism was currently at its highest level and it was important that the LTTE is weakened militarily, in order to empower the people in the North through the democratic process. He referred to the positive developments in the Eastern Province following the eviction of the LTTE by the security forces. He said the Eastern Province could become a model for conflict resolution and mentioned the positive steps taken to rehabilitate and re-integrate child soldiers released by the TMVP, into civil society.

Minister Bogollagma met the UNDP Administrator, Mr. Kemal Dervis on the following day (8th May) and briefed him on some house-keeping issues with the UN that the Minister had helped resolve, since he assumed office. The Minister also stated that some other issues of mutual concern were addressed pragmatically during the visit of UN Assistant Secretary General, Ms. Angela Kane, to Sri Lanka in February 2008. He remarked that overall, Sri Lanka - UN relations were on a sound footing and that development work and delivery of humanitarian services were proceeding smoothly.

Responding to a query from Mr. Dervis, the Minister stressed the need for the UN to be extra-cautious in monitoring the conduct of its local staff, following the recent arrest of a local employee of the UNDP, who was detected at a check-point carrying a micro-pistol intended for use by the LTTE. It was important that the UN Office in Colombo ensures that its local staff did not breach Government security regulations.

Minister Bogollagma drew the attention of Mr. Dervis to a new tactic by the LTTE of moving its military facilities and offices closer to UN locations in the un-cleared areas and stressed that UN should warn the LTTE to desist from such action, lest it cause unnecessary collateral consequences.

The Minister also apprised the UNDP Administrator of the Government's roadmap for the restoration of democracy in the East and the appointment of a task force for development work in the North. Mr. Dervis assured the Foreign Minister, the UNDP's support for the Sri Lankan Government's development efforts.

Courtesy: Minister of Foreign Affairs- Colombo