I am pleased to be here today, addressing the General Assembly on behalf of my country on this important occasion commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). As a comprehensive framework governing the uses of the ocean, the …
I must congratulate Ambassadors Mitch Fifield and Egriselda González López on their reappointment.
At the outset, my delegation would like to reiterate that the revitalization of the General Assembly is a political process and that its principal objective should be to strengthen the role of the Gen…
The Government of Sri Lanka and its people stand in solidarity with the Government and the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan affected by the unprecedented floods, which caused immeasurable damage to the lives and property of our fraternal country in South Asia. That unfortunate incident hig…
I am honoured to represent Sri Lanka at the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, which after two years brings together world leaders post-pandemic in this Hall in person.
Permit me the honour of congratulating His Excellency Mr. Csaba Kőrösi on being elected President of the General Ass…
I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this high-level meeting on a subject of critical importance to the inhabitants of this planet and, it would not be wrong to say, for the future of the planet itself.
The use and testing of nuclear weapons are, needless to say — indeed, as has been said ad n…
I thought that I would leave the Assembly with some thoughts on peacebuilding drawn from our own experiences of a conflict that lasted more than 30 years. At the end of that conflict, we had 12,000 security detainees, 594 child soldiers, a programme of restorative justice and a Lessons Learned and R…
Sri Lanka voted in favour of resolution 76/300, entitled “The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment”. Sri Lanka agrees with the positive sentiment underlying the need to ensure a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in order to promote human well-being and the full enjoym…
As the world grapples with a triple crisis, it may be important to consider this particular crisis, which has been with us for generations. We have heard that the new, Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 re-establishes the ambitious goal of reducing road traffic deaths and
injuries si…
It was observed during the opening plenary of the founding Conference of the United Nations in San Francisco that what existed at the time betrayed the hopes of those who believed in it. It is obvious that no one wishes for a United Nations that has no rights or power, that does not interfere with a…
Let me thank the President for creating this platform to discuss the progress made and to review the challenges ahead with regard to the 2021 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. I believe this will give us the impetus to reassess the progress made and determine the road map towards the ambitious …
Sri Lanka is pleased to submit draft resolution A/76/L.56, entitled “World Seagrass Day”, for the consideration of the Assembly under agenda item 15. We thank delegations for their constructive engagement throughout the intergovernmental consultations, which have enabled this draft resolution to be …
In 1977, when 150 nations were set to reach agreement on the law of the sea agreement, it was observed that rarely has any generation had a clearer choice to make between order and anarchy. For the previous four centuries, the issue of the jurisdiction of States was governed by the concept of a narr…
We have all heard the famous words of Albert Einstein, who said,
“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.”
Having considered the rationale of that message rather seriously, we have taken preventive measure…
I would like to make a few remarks on behalf of my country at this important forum in which we are discussing the scourge of human trafficking. As an acute challenge faced by the world today, human trafficking has a devastating impact on individual victims and leads to suffering in multiple forms. T…
We thank the Secretary- General for seizing upon a moment in history that he
himself refers to as “an inflection point”, reminding us that we have reached a point of no return. However, we are pleased by the adoption of resolution 76/6.
Conflicts across the planet appear to be becoming worse. Clim…
I would like to congratulate Judge Hofmański, President of the International Criminal Court, on the presentation (see A/76/PV.29) of the well-rounded report of the International Criminal Court (see A/76/293). Although Sri Lanka is not party to the Rome Statute, it keenly follows the rich jurispruden…
I would like to congratulate Judge Donahue, President of the International Court of Justice, for the concise but comprehensive report (A/76/4) she presented to us this morning with regard to the work of the Court during the period from August 2020 to July 2021. This year is especially important, as …
My delegation thanks the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly for their comprehensive statements, and we take note of the Secretary-General’s report (A/75/729).
As a country that had to face the scourge of terrorism for more than three decades, Sri Lanka wholeheartedly condem…
First of all, may I congratulate you, Mr. President, on the great character you have shown today in your search for consensus. I must also congratulate Ambassador Al-Thani for the magic formula — that is how I will describe it — she has come up with to instil new life.
It is not good enough to enga…
