Opinion

Impact of pandemic on right to education

Published

4 years ago

2021/09/13

Dr Laksiri Fernando

The World University Service (WUS) initially planned to celebrate its 100th anniversary in Vienna on 14-16 May 2020. The theme of the world conference was ‘Human Right to Quality Education for All,’ promoting the sustainable development goals on education, SDG 4.

Due to the pandemic, however, it had to be postponed and it is now scheduled to be held on 21-23 September 2021. Because of the pandemic, not only the conference but its theme is also affected. There are new challenges to the right to education because of the pandemic and new thinking also might be necessary to carry forward the intended primary goals of the WUS’ attempts on the subject.

Basic Facts

Nearly 875 million school population, and over 200 million university population are affected by the pandemic. Students, school teachers, and academics, are included in these figures. This is nearly 15% of the world population and in terms of education, career opportunities, and knowledge production and research this is devastating. Of course, the whole of the world population is affected by the Covid pandemic. But the above facts and figures are highlighted, given we are here focusing on education and the impact of Covid pandemic on the right to quality education.

When a right is normally violated or even infringed, there are culprits, or violators who are responsible. But in this case, it is difficult to pinpoint a violator, except in terms of who have aggravated or neglected the situation. Therefore, the Covid impact on education appears a common predicament, nevertheless exposing many underlying defects in the world education system or systems that this article would focus on.

Underlying Defects

What are these underlying defects? Inequality, lack of opportunity and discrimination are the most important causes even before the eruption of the pandemic. These three causes are interlinked although for the sake of simplicity or even otherwise they can be separated.

Inequality (1) between rich and poor countries, (2) between urban and rural (or remote) areas within countries, and (3) between rich and poor students/families are some of the features. In terms of schooling, 850 million children, equal to those who are in school, are always out of school for these and other reasons. This is even before the pandemic, and the situation has now worsened because the poor countries, poor areas and poor people have newly faced enormous difficulties. A new distinction is between ‘rich online’ and ‘poor online’ or ‘absence of online’

When parents are poor and also uneducated (or less-educated) for the same reason, the motivation to send children to school is low.UNICEF estimates roughly 160 million children are in child-labour or illicit employment due to various reasons. This is about neglect and exploitation. Even if some parents are motivated to send children to school, and even if school education is free and fair, there are certain amenities that the parents might not be in a position to afford. These are lack of opportunities from the demand side; no opportunity to claim even the right to education.

The lack of opportunities also come from the supply side, or the side of the governments or States. Some States might not give priority to education. (1) In conflict ridden countries, higher amounts of money, double or treble, are spent on defence or on military. This is unfortunate to say the least. (2) The neglect of public education also come from other sources of public policy. Privatisation of education is one. When it is done, the rich people might benefit, but not the poor or the marginalised. (3) The poverty of supply side of education also can be a vicious cycle. When inadequate money is spent on public education, the quality of education is inevitably poor. When the teachers are recruited from the same system, their inputs into the learning processes are also poor.

Most regrettable is discrimination in education. Discrimination in education (even if you are in school or university) can come from ethnic, racial, religious, indigenous, class or gender basis. Most widespread discrimination in some regions is based on gender. Women are discriminated either on religious interpretations or cultural basis. All these religious or cultural interpretations are given by men! All these are difficult to unravel because of political reasons. Men dominate politics. During the pandemic, these interpretations have become strengthened on easy excuses.

Different Effects of the Pandemic

One of the most direct effects of the pandemic on education is the closure of schools and universities. It is a disaster. On school closures, UNESCO has collected data and UNICEF has compiled a substantial report.i On university closures, the International Association of Universities (IAU) has collected information through a survey. ii

What are the key findings on school closures? (1) During one year between March 2020 and February 2021, schools in the whole world have been fully closed for 95 days and this means half the time intended for teaching and learning. (2) Countries in South America were the most affected with 158 days of full school closures, followed by countries in South Asia with 146 days. Countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region were the third most affected with an average of 101 days. All these means the poor and developing countries. (3) Worldwide, 214 million students have lost three fourths of school hours in 23 countries. Among these students, 168 million had missed all classroom hours in 14 countries due to school closures.

What are the key findings on university closures? IAU survey was conducted during March and April 2020 covering 109 countries. Almost all countries reported that they have been impacted by the pandemic and 59 percent of them replied that all campuses were closed at that time. In the case of Africa, closures reported were high as 77 percent. The main concern of 80 percent of responding institutions was on the impact on student enrollment in the new academic year. 46 percent believed impact would be on both local and international students. Private universities were more concerned about the impact on financial consequences.

In terms of research, 80 percent of higher educational institutions have been directly impacted. The most common impact has been the cancellation of international travel (83 percent) and the cancellation or postponement of scientific conferences (81 percent). This is what happened even to the WUS conference although it is not directly a higher education institute or a research forum. Even at present, scientific projects are at risk of not being able to complete on time at various institutes and by individuals.

It is true that the pandemic, as a positive challenge, has opened up new research on Covid-19 and other diseases. However, without being limited to medical and pharmaceutical research, social impacts of the pandemic also should be investigated and researched. Apart from valid restrictions on travel that has affected international cooperation and research travel, there has emerged unnecessary bureaucratic barriers in some countries.

For example, to participate at the WUS conference in Vienna, over a dozen of Sri Lankan academics have received funding from the Austrian ministries/universities. But for nearly two months now their leave, approvals and exist permits have been delayed unnecessarily. This appears infringing on academic freedom and educational benefits to the country. This is unfortunate.

Expansion of eLearning

Of course everything is not hopeless. Facing the Covid challenge the world has positively shifted to more and more eLearning. This trend has been there even before but not in this scale. This is easy in the university sector, but not so much in the school sector. This is easy in rich countries, but not in poor or developing countries.

According to the UNICEF report, schoolchildren in the countries with the longest duration of school closures are the ones who have had the lowest opportunity for fixed online connections. Although the radio or TV must have been used in these countries, these are not that effective as internet or zoom teaching. Interactive learning is something lost in these media.

The repercussions of school closures can be diverse and long standing. Through eLearning alone these cannot be rectified. Schools are important not only for children’s learning, but also for health, safety and well-being. Most vulnerable children in some countries have lost their single most nutritional meal a day. For children coming from dysfunctional (or violent) families, schools are also a safe and a pleasing place. In many countries schools also play a major role in immunisation and health support.

Even in the university sector, the (quick) adoption of eLearning has not been easy. Although two-thirds of them had reported that they have replaced classroom teaching with distance teaching and learning, they reported that it has not come without challenges. The main challenges being access to technical infrastructure, competencies of both teachers and students to adopt them, and pedagogical impact on some specific fields of study. However in the medium term or in the long-run, eLearning can be an escape route from future pandemics, lockdowns or travel restrictions.

Facing the Challenge

The challenge for the university sector and academics is not limited to the pandemic or themselves alone. Without uplifting the school sector, the university sector cannot thrive or survive. Without addressing the education problems in poor countries, education in rich countries cannot prosper. This is also a moral obligation. This was a main message of the UNDP initiated sustainable goals, SDG 4. Now there is a clear setback for these goals because of the pandemic, initially to be achieved by 2030.

In answering the pandemic question, university academics or the World University Service should stand for full vaccination of all sections and particularly the school students, children of that age, university students and teachers and administrators in schools and universities. Vaccine hesitancy should be overcome and a booster might be necessary.

Universities in all countries should reach the broader communities and extend education, assistance and relief. They should have the academic freedom to do so. There can be risks involved. But this is a duty. If the vaccination programmes are expedited and covered all countries, rich and poor, schools can be reopened fully soon or by 2022. There can be many mitigating and catchup measures that needs to be implemented in terms of learning and other ways. There can also be a necessity to develop and introduce new modalities in education. Blended or hybrid methods might be more appropriate. This is applicable to both schools and universities. University academics and academic cooperation between countries might be able to play a major role in this sphere.

There can be gaps that might emerge compared to the past. Truly estimating them and innovating devices to optimise the existing resources, while seeking necessary resources to bridge those gaps through international cooperation between governments, ministries of education and universities can be some tasks. Academics can take a lead. The main public policy advocacy of this article is for the universities and academics to get involved in school education more than before, and bring benefits to the society.

All News Advertisement

Opinion

Appreciation: D. L. O. Mendis Visionary Engineer, Philosopher, and Mentor

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

D.L.O. Mendis

Today, we honour the life and legacy of D.L.O. Mendis, a visionary engineer and philosopher whose contributions defined the standards of our profession. D.L.O. possessed a rare combination of analytical rigor and creative foresight. His numerous technical papers presented here and abroad related to water resources development stand as enduring monuments to his brilliance.

Beyond creating blueprints and technical specifications, D.L.O. presented bold ideas that challenged and strengthened our professional communities. He was a dedicated mentor to junior engineers, and a leader who firmly believed that engineering was, above all, a service to humanity. While we mourn this great loss, we take solace in knowing that his radical influence shaped our careers and the ethical code that governs our profession.

A Career of Integrity and Excellence

Throughout his career spanning more than 70 years, D.L.O. embodied the highest standards of integrity and technical excellence. He was particularly instrumental in advancing our

understanding of ancient irrigation systems, bridging the gap between historical wisdom and modern development.

Academic and Professional Journey

D.L.O.’s educational journey began at Ladies’ College(which accepted boys in lower grades at the time) before he moved to Royal College. He later entered the University of Ceylon as a member of the pioneering first batch of engineering students in 1950, graduating in 1954 in a class of nearly 25 students.

His professional path was distinguished and diverse:

Irrigation Department:

Served for nearly 10 years.

River Valleys Development Board (RVDB):

Contributed during the construction of the Uda Walawe reservoir.

Ministry of Plan Implementation:

Served as Deputy Director under Director M. S. M. De Silva, where his main contribution was the promotion of appropriate technology, particularly the advancement of historical Kotmale ironwork which has existed since the era of Parakrama Bahu the Great, and the South Eastern Dry Zone Project. (SEDZ).

Consultancy:

Served as a freelance consultant.

Leadership:

A prolific contributor of a large number of technical papers to the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka (IESL), eventually serving as its President.

Personal Reflections and Anecdotes

My association with D.L.O. spanned more than 50 years. I first saw him riding a bicycle past Akbar Hall while I was an engineering student. I later learned his family was residing at Prof. Paul’s residence nearby while he was serving at Uda Walawe Reservoir Project as a senior engineer for the RVDB.

Through D.L.O., I had the privilege of meeting legendary professionals outside the Irrigation Department, includingthe exceptionally bright M.S.M. de Silva and the international economist, Dr. Lal Jayawardena (Mr. N.U.Jayawardena’s son).

A Tribute to a Legacy

We extend our deepest gratitude for Mr. D.L.O. Mendis’slifelong service and offer our sincerest condolences to his family and colleagues. His monumental work and numerous publications remain a lasting gift to future generations of engineers.

May he attain the supreme bliss of Nibbana!

G.T. Dharmasena,
Former Director General of Irrigation

Opinion

Nature’s revenge for human greed and the plight of the Third World

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/2

Thilina Walpola

Now there is no doubt about the phenomenon of global warming, its far reaching effects and its causes. Yet Donald Trump says global warming is con and Europe, too, is dithering about what measures should be urgently taken to save Earth. Deliberations at the COP30 meeting in Brazil did not bring the desired results regarding emission of greenhouse gases. The biggest polluters like the US, who have not met the minimum goals regarding emissions, decided at the 2015 Paris Agreement, failed to provide guarantees that they will correct themselves in the coming years. Cyclones that hit Sri Lanka and other Asian countries last month are the direct result of unrestricted burning of fossil fuel and other activities that cause emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Extreme climate events hit poor countries like the proverbial lightning that strikes the begging bowl.

The last decade has seen some of the worst natural disasters in the history of mankind. The devastating impacts of the climate crisis reached new heights in 2024, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Yet human greed which is the ultimate cause of global warming continues unabated and CO2 emissions reach new records. The WMO’s report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest yearly number since records began in 2008.

The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded in the region. Heatwaves in Japan left hundreds of thousands of people struck down by heatstroke. Soaring temperatures during heatwaves peaked at 49.9C at Carnarvon in Western Australia, 49.7C in the city of Tabas in Iran, and 48.5C in a nationwide heatwave in Mali.

Record rains in Italy led to floods, landslides and electricity blackouts; torrents destroyed thousands of homes in Senegal; and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil caused major crop losses.

Storms were also supercharged by global heating in 2024, with an unprecedented six typhoons in under a month hitting the Philippines. Hurricane Helene was the strongest ever recorded to strike the Big Bend region of Florida in the US, while Vietnam was hit by Super Typhoon Yagi, affecting 3.6 million people. Many more unprecedented events will have passed unrecorded.

The world is already deep into the climate crisis, with the WMO report saying that for the first time, the 10 hottest years on record all occurred in the last decade. However, global carbon emissions have continued to rise, which will bring even worse impacts. Experts were particularly critical of the purge of climate scientists and programmes by the US president, Donald Trump, saying that ignoring reality left ordinary people paying the price.

“Leaders must step up – seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies – with new national climate plans due this year,” said the UN secretary general, António Guterres.

Extreme climate events like heat waves, intense rainfall, droughts, and severe storms have significantly increased in frequency and intensity over the past decades, driven by global warming, with studies showing a fivefold increase in climate disasters compared to the 1970s, and human influence now clearly linked to many specific events, according to reports from organisations like the UN, WMO, and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The number of recorded climate-related disasters (storms, floods, droughts, wildfires) surged from 711 in the 1970s to over 3,000 in the 2000s and 2010s.

The intensity of these events is also alarmingly rising. Heatwaves, heavy precipitation events, and sea-level impacts from cyclones are becoming more severe, with phenomena like extreme heat in North America now considered “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change. Scientists can now more confidently attribute specific extreme events (like heatwaves in Europe or floods in Asia) to climate change, moving beyond general predictions to clear causation. The warming atmosphere holds more moisture, fueling more intense precipitation, while human activities (like burning fossil fuels) continue to warm the planet, loading the dice for extreme weather.

These disasters could have been considerably lessened if the signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change signed in 2016 had fulfilled their commitment to the agreement. The goal of the UN agreement was to reduce the average global temperature rise well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, it was necessary to cut down CO2 emission by 20%, increase the renewable energy market by 20% and improve energy efficiency by 20%, the so called 20/20/20 targets. However, the agreement was non-binding for the individual countries.

Despite all this effort, green-house gas emissions reached an all-time record of 37 billion tons in 2018 and 41 billion tonnes in 2024. This has caused havoc all over the world, long dry periods affecting crops, desertification, forest fires alternating with torrential rain, huge floods and storms. Countries like China, the US, EU and India who in that order are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases have a great responsibility in saving the world from total destruction. Though China, EU and India appear to be on course to achieve Intended Nationally Determined Contributions towards emission reduction, they must do more in double quick time if global temperature rise is to be kept at 1.5C. In contrast President Trump in his usual bumbling and foolish attitude is planning to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. .

It has been calculated that if meat consumption is reduced by 20% carbon emission would be reduced by 5%. Cutting down on meat consumption would be good for health also and would lesson cruelty to animals. There are several similar measures that people and governments could do to mitigate this problem. But human greed seems to be uncontrollable. Obviously rich countries have the capacity to deal with extreme weather events and don’t care much about their devastating impact on poor countries.

In a country like Sri Lanka, for instance, when the waters rage, people have nowhere to go. Poor people with limited land resources cannot choose where to live. This is why hawkers whose wayside shops on the Kadugannawa climb were destroyed by recent earth slides are seen reconstructing the shops in the same places. There may not be sufficient land available to relocate all those who live in unsafe places like the foot of unstable hills, in river basins, sea beaches, etc. in a small country like ours. A significant portion of Sri Lanka’s population lives in disaster-prone areas, with nearly 19 million people residing in vulnerable spots like low-lying or landslide-prone regions, including hill slopes, making them highly susceptible to climate impacts. The National Building and Research Organisation (NBRO) has identified over 14,000 specific landslide-prone locations, affecting thousands of rural and estate homes, with thousands more at high or medium risk, especially in districts like Badulla, Kandy, and Kegalle.

To make life safe from extreme weather for at least the most vulnerable and the poorest may be beyond the means of our poor country with all its economic ills. Experts say we have to be prepared to live with climate change. Rather we may have to die with it unless the preventable is prevented ! According to climate scientists, global warming is preventable. The Director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media, Michael Mann is among many scientists who point to the “game-changing new scientific understanding” that global warming would stabilize relatively quickly (within a decade) if emissions were to reach net zero, meaning that the worst outcomes are avoidable if we act swiftly. The authors of the comprehensive IPCC reports emphasize that every fraction of a degree of warming that is prevented will save countless lives and protect vital ecosystems. These reports serve as the authoritative voice on climate science and policy recommendations.

The battle against global warming, it appears, has to be fought by the Global South as the North is not doing enough. It is the poor countries of the Global South that do not have the capacity to absorb the blows that nature delivers, and it is they who have to bear the brunt of the relentless onslaught. As I have mentioned in my earlier letters the Global South has to get together to fight the greed driven neo-liberalism which is the cause of so many ills including global warming. In this regard China, India, South Africa and perhaps Iran with the backing of Russia may have to take the leadership and construct an alternative to the present global economic system which would have to take strong cognition of the need to safeguard the environment and cut down on emissions drastically and quickly. This is not impossible if consumerism, which is the driver of neo-liberalism, could be controlled. To achieve this human greed will have to be restrained, perhaps by means of good morals. Unless the Global South realizes the impending peril and takes necessary measures we are doomed.

by N. A. de S. Amaratunga ✍️

Opinion

Remembering Douglas Devananda on New Year’s Day 2026

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Douglas in Geneva

I have no intention of even implicitly commenting on the legality of the ongoing incarceration of Douglas Devananda.

I’ve no legal background, and that’s because having been selected for the Law faculty at the University of Colombo on the basis of my A level results, I opted to study Political Science instead. I did so because I had an acute sense of the asymmetry between the law and justice and had developed a growing compulsion on issues of ethics—issues of right and wrong, good and evil.

However, as someone who has had a book published in the UK on political ethics, I have no compunction is saying that as a country, as a society, there has to be a better way than this.

It is morally and ethically wrong, indeed a travesty, that Douglas, a wounded hero of the anti-LTTE war, should spend New Year 2026 in the dreaded Mahara prison.

Douglas should be honoured as a rare example of a young man, who having quite understandably taken up arms to fight against Sinhala racism and for the Tamil people, decided while still a young man to opt to fight on the side of the democratic Sri Lankan state and to campaign for devolution for the North and East within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and its Constitution.

Douglas was an admired young leader of the PLA, the military wing of the Marxist EPRLF when he began to be known.

Nothing is more ironic than the historical fact that in July 1983 he survived the horrifying Welikada prison massacres, during which Sinhala prisoners, instigated and incentivized from outside (Gonawela Sunil is a name that transpired), slaughtered Tamil prisoners and gauged out their eyes.

Having escaped from jail in Batticaloa, Douglas came back to Sri Lanka in 1989, having had a change of heart after hundreds of youngsters belonging to the EPRLF, PLOT, and TELO had been massacred from 1986 onwards by the hardcore separatist, totalitarian Tigers. He was welcomed by President Premadasa and Minister Ranjan Wijeratne who took him and his ‘boys’ under their wing. There are photos of Douglas in shorts and carrying an automatic weapon, accompanying Ranjan Wijeratne and the Sri Lankan armed forces after the liberation of the islands off Jaffna from the Tiger grip.

It is Douglas who kept those vital islands safe, together with the Navy, throughout the war.

Douglas stayed with the democratic Sri Lankan state, remaining loyal to the elected president of the day, without ever turning on his or her predecessor. He probably still wears, as he did for decades, the fountain pen that President Premadasa gifted him.

During the LTTE’s offensive on Jaffna after the fall of Elephant Pass, the mass base built up by Douglas which gave the EPDP many municipal seats, helped keep Jaffna itself safe, with more Tamil civilians fleeing into Jaffna than out of it. I recall President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga giving him a satellite phone. Army Chief Lionel Balagalle gave him a pair of mini-Uzis for his safety.

Douglas was no paramilitary leader, pure and simple. His public speech on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, delivered without a teleprompter, is an excellent roadmap for the graduated implementation of the 13th amendment and the attainment of maximum devolution within a unitary state.

Like Chandrika, Douglas has had his sight severely impaired by the LTTE. As a Minister he had visited Tamil detainees imprisoned in wartime, and been set upon by a group of LTTE prisoners who had planned for his visit, concealing sharpened handles of steel buckets in the ceiling, and slammed the pointed metal through his skull. Douglas still needs repeated daily medication for his eyes which were miraculously saved by the Sri Lankan surgeons who repaired his skull, but at a subsequent stage, he was also treated by surgeons overseas.

No Sri Lankan, Sinhala or Tamil, civilian politician or military brass, has survived as many attempted assassinations by the Tigers as has Douglas. I believe the count is eleven. There’s a video somewhere of a suicide bomber blasting herself in his office, yards away from him.

Under no previous Sri Lankan administration since the early 1980s has Douglas found himself behind bars. He has served and/or supported seven democratic Presidents: Premadasa, Wijetunga, Chandrika, Mahinda, Sirisena, Gotabaya and Wickremesinghe. He has been a Minister over decades and a parliamentarian for longer.

He was a firm frontline ally of the Sri Lankan state and its armed forces during the worst challenge the country faced from the worst enemy it had since Independence.

During my tenure as Sri Lanka’s ambassador/Permanent representative to the UN Geneva, Douglas Devananda came from Colombo to defend Sri Lanka in discussions with high level UN officials including UN Human Rights High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay. This was in April 23, mere weeks before the decisive battle of the UN HRC Special session on Sri Lanka which we won handsomely. The media release on his visit reads as follows:

A high-level delegation led by the Hon. Minister Douglas Devananda, Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, which also included the Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, H.E. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, Ambassador/ Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights, and Mr. Yasantha Kodagoda, Deputy Solicitor General, Attorney General’s Department, represented Sri Lanka at the Durban Review Conference.

“Organized by the United Nations, the Durban Review Conference provides an opportunity to assess and accelerate progress on implementation of measures adopted at the 2001 World Conference against Racism, including assessment of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. On the opening day of this conference, Hon. Douglas Devananda made a statement behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka.

“On the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference which is being held from 20th to 24th of April 2009, the Sri Lankan delegation met with senior UN officials, and a number of dignitaries from diverse countries and updated them on the current situation in Sri Lanka against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s fight against separatism and terrorism.

Hon. Devananda and Hon. Bathiudeen, along with the rest of the delegation, held meetings with Ms. Navanethem Pillai, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (and a former Prime Minister of Portugal) and Mr. Anders Johnsson, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.’

(https://live.lankamission.org/index.php/human-rights/676-minister-devananda-meets-un-high-commissioners-for-human-rights-and-refugees-2.html)

In contemporary world history, a leader from a minority community who defends the unity of his country against a separatist terrorist force deriving from that minority is hailed as a hero. A leader who takes the side of the democratic state, arms in hand, against a totalitarian fascistic foe, is hailed as a hero. Evidently, not so in current-day Sri Lanka.

[Dayan Jayatilleka, Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador to the UN Geneva; France, Spain, Portugal and UNESCO; and the Russian Federation, was a Vice-President of the UN Human Rights Council and Chairman, ILO.]

by Dr Dayan Jayatilleka ✍️