During the Opening Session of the 206th Session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which was held from the 3rd to the 17th April 2019 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Hon. Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Representative of Sri Lanka to the UNESCO highlighted the significance of the Thripitaka Buddhist Scriptures and the efforts made by HE Maithripala Sirisena, the President of Sri Lanka to make the Thripitaka a ‘Memory of the World’.
The Minister further emphasized on the decentralization process of UNESCO and emphasized on the need to enhance UNESCO’s presence in the world. He explained that it would be a counterproductive exercise if UNESCO is to recentralize its operations, to merely one big regional office for each region. He emphasized that for example, the Asian Region alone plays host to a majority of the World’s population and, is also, vastly diverse and thus, it will not be practical to concentrate resources only in one office for an entire vast and diverse region.
Hon. Minister further highlighted that the geographical distribution of the staff of UNESCO secretariat remains a concern for Sri Lanka who is currently a non-represented Member State. He, therefore urged UNESCO to facilitate fair competition and balance in recruitments to ensure equal opportunities for applicants from around the world.
He expressed Sri Lanka’s solidarity to UNESCO’s objectives in promoting education, science and culture to bring together nations of the world.
Hon. Minister was accompanied by Ambassador Buddhi K. Athauda and diplomatic officers of the Permanent Delegation of Sri Lanka to UNESCO.
