Today, Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) met the National Mine Action Center (NMAC) of Sri Lanka and presented a translated version (Sinhala and Tamil) of Sri Lanka's section of Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor 2021.  

During the discussion with the NMAC, SLCBL thanked the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) for presenting the Bill on the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) to the Parliament on the 10th of November 2021. We hope the Bill will be passed and become part of the national legislation, whereby accepted norms and provisions will be implemented in the country without delay. The SLCBL also highlighted the importance of having the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) principles incorporated into national legislation in order to implement convention norms and provisions without delay. Sri Lanka ratified the CRPD in 2016 acceded to the MBT and CCM in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
As of December 2021, 13.1.km2  of  mine-affected lands are to be cleared in Sri Lanka. The NMAC informed the SLCBL today, that subsequent to the completion of the ongoing Non-Technical Survey (NTS) in March 2022, land in need clearance may increase given the current survey statistics. Further, NMAC revealed to SLCBL, that the new Mine Action Strategy will be developed in March 2022, after the completion of NTS with the support of Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Disarmament (GICHD).   
The participants on this occasion included: Mr. V. Premachandran Deputy Director NMAC; Mr.  Mahinda Bandara Wickremasinghe Assistant Director NMAC; Mr. Rohana Jayalath IMSMA (Information Management System for Mine Action) Officer at NMAC; Mr. Vidya Abhayagunawardena Coordinator SLCBL and Ms. Nimaya Dahanayake, Youth Campaigner SLCBL. The translation work of the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor was supported by the Investing in Action, a project of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalitions. 

SLCBL will continue in its efforts to reach out to the South Asian region on advocacy on the MBT and CCM.  Since 2018, the SLCBL secretariat, the Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD)  has been advocating the ratification or accession to several Disarmament Conventions by the Regional Governments. In this regard, FDD advocated the accession to the CCM by the Governments of Maldives and Bangladesh. The successful advocacy work by the FDD, led to accession of the Maldives Government to the CCM on the 27th of September 2019. The FDD is continuously advocating the accession to the CCM by the Government of Bangladesh.