(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Kenya Sunil de Silva emphasised the importance that Sri Lanka attaches to the United Nations (UN) peace building initiatives and briefed on the Government’s reconciliation process, during the discussion he had with Norwegian Peace Envoy and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Erik Solheim recently.
High Commissioner presented his Letter of Appointment as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) to Solheim as he had been designated by the UN Headquarters to accept Letters of Appointment in the absence of the Director General of UNON.
Silva, as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka, is also accredited to UNEP and to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Silva briefed the Executive Director on Sri Lanka’s progress in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the enactment of the Sustainable Development Act.
High Commissioner also stressed on the commitment of the Government for a Blue – Green Economic Policy. He informed the Executive Director of the UNEP that the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment has prepared a National Action Programme for Combating Land Degradation, comprising of 25 action programmes for the period 2015 – 2024 and that the Government is also on an ambitious path to increase National Forest Cover up to 32% of its total land.
Silva stated that the Government of Sri Lanka would share best practices and expand mutual cooperation in the conservation and sustainable utilisation of mangroves in the Commonwealth. He said that, to further strengthen its commitment, Sri Lanka joined the UN Clean Seas Campaign in December 2017 and has committed to join the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) this year. He also informed that Sri Lanka would host the 19th Session of the State Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CIETS) in Colombo, under the UNEP mandate.
