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Empowering youth a human right and investment – UNDP Rep in SL

Published

5 years ago

2021/04/3

Robert Juhkam, Resident Representative, UNDP in Sri Lanka

The National Youth Dialogue (NYD) on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship is an annual national youth engagement exercise led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka.

This year, too in adapting to the new normal, the National Youth Dialogue for 2020/2021 presented a fully virtual participant experience, via Zoom, spanning over five weeks, from Feb 16 to March 18 and included 28 sessions under 10 themes with over 100 speakers and facilitators joining in to share their stories, expertise and experiences with over 2000 participants, the UNDP said.

Together with Youth CO: Lab, the UNDP Asia Pacific programme on youth co-led by UNDP and Citi Foundation, NYD Sri Lanka is part of a family of National Youth Dialogues held each year in more than 20 countries across Asia and the Pacific region.

Speaking at the virtual closing ceremony, Robert Juhkam, Resident Representative, UNDP in Sri Lanka, stated, “Through existing and scaled up platforms for youth, such as the NYD and the HackaDev programme, UNDP Sri Lanka remains steadfast in our support to GoSL and other sectors to continue to build an alliance around youth development – create new partnerships and collaborations, and strengthen existing ones which will be the foundation upon which we can collectively invest our efforts and resources to provide an improved service offering. Empowering youth is both a human right based imperative and a needed investment to build forward better.”

The annual event serves as a national platform to foster meaningful youth participation and learning and engages a diverse group of young people across the island to set the agenda for youth policy action on the part of UNDP and its partners. The event also showcases the impact of UNDP Sri Lanka’s umbrella youth programme- HackaDev.

Speaking on her experiences as a participant this year, Zahra Taha noted, “This platform helped me identify the access points around me to new knowledge, resources, professional expertise support systems, new technologies and also awareness on crucial topics. I wish to highlight that the online experience that we gained through NYD was extraordinary. The interactive nature of the sessions using many online tools, kept the program lively and interesting.”

The event comprised thought and action provoking mini dialogues and innovative learning and development offerings, carefully curated for the benefit of youth.

Highlighting the Government’s role in engaging with youth, Theshara Jayasinghe, Chairman – National Youth Services Council, stated, “It is important to focus on how young people can come forward and lead, challenge existing notions and the status quo, and take risks in being innovative and entrepreneurial. This is why I am pleased that UNDPs National Youth Dialogue, not just in Sri Lanka, but across Asia and the Pacific region, through the Youth Co:Lab programme, has a heavy and consistent focus on these three key elements – leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship”.

The National Youth Dialogue tackled two main issues for young people; the post pandemic new normal and the decade of action towards realizing the sustainable development goals by the year 2030. Under this, a wide range of thematic areas covered during the dialogue included climate change, peace, gender, community engagement, personal development, arts and sports, digital citizenship, education, skills and employment opportunities.

Speaking of their role as an implementing partner of the project, Ravin Basnayake, Country Officer, Citi Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, noted, “We believe youth engagements such as the National Youth Dialogue helps in fostering learning and the development of future leaders, who can face the development challenges of today. This is why Citi Foundation together with UNDP created the Youth Co:Lab programme in the Asia and the Pacific Region and we are very happy about the impact of the programme thus far”.

Facilitators comprised of resource personnel from diverse fields including international athletes, global tech giants, private sector leaders, public officials, education reformists, media influencers and peacebuilders. The sessions were made possible through the efforts of over 25 partner and collaborator organizations, including six UN agencies.

Addressing the gathering Eric Falt, Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka stated, “As countries around the world consider their post COVID-19 policy options, through your leadership, innovative ideas, and entrepreneurial spirit, we need you to step up and re-engineer the post COVID world to make it more peaceful, just and where no one hopefully is left behind.”

The National Dialogue in Sri Lanka was convened in partnership with Biodiversity Sri Lanka, Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU), Vocational Training Authority (VTA) of Sri Lanka, Citi, Cisco, Centre for Communication Training, WHO Sri Lanka, UNESCO New Delhi Cluster Office, UNICEF Sri Lanka, UNFPA Sri Lanka, UNV Sri Lanka, HackaDev, Hashtag Generation, neOOne Associates, Sri Lanka Association for Software Services Companies (SLASSCOM), Citra Social Innovation Lab and Facebook.

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PM on inspection tour of newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand

Published

9 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

The Colombo Central Bus Stand, which has a history of over six decades and had remained without a proper maintenance for many years, has now been renovated under the current government’s development programme and vested to the public. Following that, the Prime Minister undertook an inspection tour of the newly renovated Colombo Central Bus Stand.

Originally constructed in 1964, the bus stand was refurbished with modern facilities to meet current needs and was officially reopened to the public on April 8. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide passengers with a higher-quality and more comfortable transportation service.

During the renovation process, special attention has been given to the comfort and safety of women, which was commended by the Prime Minister. In particular, a modern rest area designed to ensure privacy for nursing mothers travelling from distant areas received special praise.

The Prime Minister also reviewed the newly introduced passenger seat reservation system and information services established to assist commuters. In addition, the modern surveillance unit and other security measures installed within the premises to ensure passenger safety were also inspected.

During the visit, the Prime Minister engaged in conversations with passengers at the bus stand and inquired about their views on the newly renovated facilities and the quality of transport services.

It was emphasized that the government’s objective is to transform public transportation into a safe, technologically advanced service that can be used with convenience by all citizens.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

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Sun directly overhead Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon today (10)

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/10

Priyan

On the apparent northward relative motion of the sun, it is going to be directly over the latitudes of Sri Lanka from the 05th to 15th of April in this year.

The nearest areas of Sri Lanka over which the sun is overhead today (10th) are Nagawilluwa, Galgamuwa, Sigiriya, Palugasdamana and Mankerni about 12:11 noon.

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Opposition tells Minister Kumara Jayakody to resign

Published

11 hours ago

2026/04/10

Thilina Walpola

Prof. Peiris

No-faith motion to be taken up today

Former Foreign Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris yesterday (9) said that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake should remove Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody unless the minister stepped down on his own.Prof. Peiris, addressing a press conference called by the Opposition, said that Jayakody couldn’t under any circumstance continue to serve as a minister after the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) moved the Colombo High Court against the government member over a previous financial scandal.

Pointing out that Minister Jayakody had been indicted of a corrupt deal struck during the yahapalana regime, Prof. Peiris said it was wrong for the NPP to retain him as a minister, claiming that the offence was not committed during his tenure as a Cabinet minister in the current government.

Prof. Peiris and several other Opposition members dealt with the No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against Jayakody that would be taken up today (10) with the academic calling the vote an acid test for the NPP. Having campaigned on an anti-corruption platform at presidential and parliamentary polls, the NPP couldn’t protect Jayakody though he was widely believed to be close to President Dissanayake.

As the Manager of the Procurement and Import Division of the Ceylon Fertilizer Company, Jayakody is alleged to have committed the offence of corruption, according to CIABOC.

Jayakody has been accused of causing a loss of Rs. 8,859,708 to the State by influencing and exploiting the procurement process.

Following the serving of indictments on 27 March, the judge ordered Jayakody’s release on two personal bail bonds of Rs. 1 million each. The court directed that the defendant’s fingerprints be obtained and a formal report be submitted. The case has been scheduled for a pre-trial conference on 6 May.

Prof. Peiris stressed that the CIABOC action against Jayakody is central to the NCM primarily moved over the irregularities ridden coal procurement process launched in 2025 that caused severe disruption to the power generation. Responding to The Island query after the media briefing, Prof Peiris expressed surprise that the JVP/NPP accommodated a person under investigation by the CIABOC. Having taken an utterly irresponsible decision, the JVP/NPP were now playing down the developing issue, prof. Peiris said.

The entire government parliamentary group faced the prospect of having its image tarnished by defending Jayakody, the former lawmaker said.

Prof. Peiris said that they intended to build a campaign around the issues involving the energy minister to expose the government. With yet another electricity tariff hike in the offing due to the growing demand for thermal generation as a result of coal-fired Lakvijaya power plant’s failure to meet the requirement[RA1] , the energy minister and ministry’s performances have to be examined, Prof. Peiris said.The timely release of the Auditor General’s report on controversial coal procurement should compel the government to decide on the energy minister’s fate or be prepared to face the fallout.

By Shamindra Ferdinando