At the signing of Grant Contract between the Embassy of Japan and UN Women Sri Lanka
2019/9/18
Ambassador's Speech
Mr. Mohammad Naciri , Regional Director of UN Women for Asia and the Pacific,
Ms. Dharshana Senanayake, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Development of Dry Zones,
Staff members of UN Women,
Members of media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the signing ceremony of the “Project for Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda in Sri Lanka” which is aimed at empowering women to create and sustain a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.
The WPS agenda stems from the international community's recognition that gender equality, empowerment of women and girls and respect for their human rights are vital to achieving and sustaining peace. In 2018, the G7 Foreign Ministers renewed their commitment to increasing women’s active participation in political, governance and security structures in order to achieve sustainable peace and security. To accomplish this, the G7 members proceeded to establish a G7 WPS Partnerships Initiative to provide targeted support to conflict-affected partner countries. It is in this context that the Government of Japan, as a lead G7 country for Sri Lanka, is extending its support to the Government of Sri Lanka in its implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions in cooperation with UN Women.
In March this year, under the G7 WPS Partnerships Initiative, the Government of Japan provided a grant aid worth USD 500,000 through UN Women for the project of “Empowered Women, Peaceful Communities: Promoting Peace and Preventing Intolerance in Sri Lanka” to support the Government of Sri Lanka’s development of a National Action Plan in the field of Women, Peace and Security.
Today, it is our great pleasure to make another contribution to promote the WPS agenda in Sri Lanka by extending a grant aid worth approximately USD 2million through UN Women. This grant aid will be utilized to enhance women's economic empowerment, improve awareness of women's rights, and promote women's political participation through rehabilitation of vocational training facilities, provision of training equipment to improve digital literacy, and holding workshops.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr. Mohammad Naciri , Regional Director of UN Women for Asia and the Pacific, and staff members of UN Women in Sri Lanka and Bangkok, and Ms. Dharshana Senanayake, Secretary of Ministry of Women and Child Affairs and Development of Dry Zones, for their untiring cooperation and efforts for this project. I look forward to the successful completion of the project, empowering women to create and sustain a lasting peace in Sri Lanka.
Lastly, I hope that it will contribute to further enhancing the longstanding friendship between Japan and Sri Lanka.
Thank you very much.