The twin anniversaries of the 70th United Nations Day and the 60th anniversary of Sri Lanka's membership in the UN were celebrated last Saturday (24) under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the United Nations premises in Colombo.
The twin celebrations commenced in all its glory following a minute silence to honour Sri Lankan troops who laid their lives during the UN Peacekeeping Operations.

This is a landmark year for the United Nations in Sri Lanka, as it marks 70 years since the UN was founded on 24 October 1945 and 60 years since Sri Lanka became a UN member state on 14 December 1955.
To mark the occasion, the UN with the government launched a media and communications outreach campaign titled – "Our UN. Ape UN. Engal UN" – a theme which was resonant at the UN Day celebrations.
Several eminent personalities such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mangala Samaraweera, the United Nations UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Subinay Nandy, cabinet ministers, heads of UN agencies in Sri Lanka and Heads and Representatives from the Diplomatic Missions in Sri Lanka and many other distinguished guests attended the event.

President's speech
Sri Lanka is highly satisfied with the services rendered by the UN as a humanitarian organization to create better living standards and for social, economic and cultural issues, President Maithripala Sirisena said.
President Sirisena praised the great service rendered by the UN to the world during the past 70 years in maintaining world peace and security and for improving coordination between member states.
He said as the Sri Lankan President it was his honour and privilege to attend the anniversary commemoration ceremony. He recalled the commitment of his government to freedom, human rights and principles of good governance.
The President also said that in the past the country distanced itself from the UN but that changed with his government coming into power. He said he received positive experiences when working with the international community.

Sri Lanka's contribution
The President also stressed Sri Lanka's contribution in the UN peace keeping duties as an active and responsible member in the United Nations Organization and said Sri Lanka was able to produce great diplomats in different fields internationally such as Justice C. J. Weeramantry, one of the acclaimed legal personalities in the field of international law, Dr. Jayantha Dhanapala and Radhika Coomaraswamy.

The President commended the 26 affiliated organizations in the country for their role in achieving human development and the Millennium Development Goals and for the economic development of the country.
"The government expects the active and continuous support of the UN to make success programmes which are aimed at economic and social development of the country," the President said.
He also expressed his appreciation to the UN for its services to the country.
"We play a valuable role in the UN. Sri Lankan citizens have contributed and continued to provide their humanitarian services to the UN Peacekeeping Unit and in several other ways as well," he said, adding "At this historic juncture, I reaffirm Sri Lanka's commitment to continue working with the UN for the benefit of the people."
Incidentally, President Sirisena's visit to the UN Comlex was his first-ever visit there.

Ban Ki-Moon
The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Miroslav Jenca delivered the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's message. Accordingly, Ban Ki-moon said, "The 70th anniversary of the United Nations is an opportunity to highlight its many and enduring achievements and to strengthen our collective resolve to do more to promote peace and security, sustainable development and human rights.
Sri Lanka has contributed significantly to the work of the United Nations, from its peacekeeping operations to its specialized agencies, and Sri Lankan nationals have served with distinction in varied roles. I thank Sri Lanka for its efforts to help realize our shared goals, and I look forward to strengthening our partnership as we work together to overcome shared threats and seize shared opportunities."

Commenting on the twin anniversaries, the Prime Minister stated, "As the UN marks its 70th anniversary this year, its membership must take stock of the achievements of the organization and deliberate meaningfully on collective approaches to adopt, to meet current and emerging challenges. Sri Lanka takes pride in her 60-year partnership with the United Nations and remains committed to cooperate with the UN and contribute to its work in all fields."

Collision course
Furthermore, the Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, while addressing the gathering that included Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Leader of the Opposition
R. Sampanthan, said the ignorance on the part of a section of politicians and officials of the previous regime put the country on the path of collision with the UN and the international community.
He further said in the recent past, the country had been following an ad hoc policy with regard to foreign relations.
"May be due to ignorance by some officials and politicians of the time, we have been having a very low profile with regard to our dealings with UN obligations. We were like a group of beggars, trying to undercut each other and attempting to get some leadership within the group, which did not work. We toiled in vain towards this end, but we did not get anywhere."
"You can't just make a move like on a chess board, it won't work in foreign relations. We clashed with the global community and were almost heading for a crash. This is why we have a mandate from 8 January to formulate a resolution acceptable to the UN system. We were able to present a recommendation more acceptable to the UN Secretariat and regain the recognition of all parties in the global system," the Prime Minister said.

Significant
Minister Samaraweera, noting Sri Lanka's contribution, stated, "Several Sri Lankans have held important professional positions in the UN including as Under-Secretaries-General. Just five years after joining the UN in 1955 Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, had the distinction of serving in the UN Security Council. Having held the Presidency of the General Assembly and chairing several international conferences, Sri Lanka's contribution to the UN's norm setting process has been significant."
A stamp was issued by the Ministry of Posts, Postal Services and Muslim Religious Affairs to commemorate the twin celebrations, in addition to the coffee-table publication put out by the UN and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that highlights the Sri Lanka-UN partnership through a collection of photographs.
In partnership with the Ministry of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media, a video documentary was produced to showcase Sri Lanka's 60-year journey with the UN.