On March 8th, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the U.N. held a debriefing session on the "Observation of the Progress of National Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka", which Japan hosted last year, to Member States.

The project was organized by Japan in association with Columbia University. Former Deputy Permanent Representative Kazuo Kodama (head of delegation by proxy), Ambassadors to the UN of Romania, Bangladesh and Nigeria, and a professor at Columbia University, visited Sri Lanka in 2012 and participated in the project along with the Ambassadors of Brazil, Italy and South Africa in Sri Lanka. The delegation had discussions with a variety of parties concerned such as President Rajapaksa, various politicians, NGOs and religious group leaders, aiming to observe the progress of national reconciliation and reconstruction efforts.

       On 22 February, Ambassador Nishida conveyed the findings through this Observation Mission to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as with participants from the interested Permanent Missions to the United Nations at the debriefing on 8 March. At the beginning of the debriefing session, Ambassador Nishida delivered a report on this project, followed by statements by the delegation previously mentioned. Finally, the participants took the opportunity to make their own comments and assessments based on the statements by the delegation on the current situation in Sri Lanka, and the overall discussion was very fruitful for both delegation and participants.

For more information:
Chairman’s Report on Observation of the Progress of National Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka
Chairman’s Summary on Observation of the Progress of National Reconciliation and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka