News
Overwhelming support for Sri Lanka at the Interactive Dialogue at the Human Rights Council
Sri Lanka received overwhelming support from countries of the Global South at the Interactive Dialogue on the written update of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka, which concluded on Monday (7 March).
The Foreign Ministry said that these countries expressed support for the government’s significant efforts towards reconciliation and reiterated the importance of objective and constructive cooperation as the fundamental basis for multilateral engagement.
The Foreign Ministry has, in a media statement, said that of the 45 countries that spoke at the Interactive Dialogue, 31 spoke in support of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka received cross-regional support from a broad spectrum of states of South, South East and Central Asia and the African Group. The 31 countries that spoke in favour of Sri Lanka were Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Philippines, Nepal, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Maldives, China, Cuba, Japan, Syrian Arab Republic, Vietnam, DPRK, Venezuela, Nigeria, Pakistan, Cambodia, the Russian Federation, Lebanon, Uganda, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, South Sudan, Lao PDR, Yemen, Iran, Niger, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan.
Excerpts of the Foreign Ministry statement: “The interventions from the States of the global south commended Sri Lanka’s commitment to promoting reconciliation and human rights through national processes including through legislative reform, and the progress achieved in this regard irrespective of COVID-19 related challenges. They also underscored the importance of the Human Rights Council and the international community supporting voluntary national processes, as well as upholding the core principles of impartiality, non-selectivity and non-politicisation.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday (4 March 2022) at the commencement of the interactive dialogue, Prof. G.L. Peiris, while reiterating Sri Lanka’s commitment to continuing its voluntary international undertakings on human rights and engaging with the United Nations, including the UNHRC, referred to serious anomalies and weaknesses in the update presented by the High Commissioner.”
The Paddy Marketing Board has approximately 115,000 metric tonnes of paddy stocks purchased from farmers, which are currently stored in the Board’s warehouses, and it has been planned to retain a sufficient buffer stock from these reserves and sell the remaining quantity in order to provide the necessary storage space and financial resources for the purchase of paddy from farmers during the upcoming Yala season.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to sell the aforementioned paddy stocks
following a formal tender procedure.
The Promotion of Export Agriculture Act, No. 46 of 1992 provides the legal provisions for regulating and promoting the export agriculture sector in this country.
Taking into consideration administrative changes and sectoral developments that have taken place over time, approval was granted at the Cabinet Meetings held on 2023-09-04 and 2025-08-11 to amend the said Act, which has not been updated for over 30 years.
The proposed amendments are intended to amend the designations of the Head of the Department of Export Agriculture and other officials, and to provide a clearer definition of the term “the export agricultural crop.”
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to publish in the Government Gazette the Draft Export Agriculture Promotion (Amendment) Bill, prepared in all three languages by the Legal Draftsman to amend the Export Agriculture Promotion Act, No. 46 of 1992, and thereafter submit the same to Parliament for its concurrence
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