Today, Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) participated in another meeting organized by the Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Ltd—on linking the railway line to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) with the officials of the Railway Department, Board of Investment (BoI) and other relevant government agencies. The meeting discussed various opportunities on linking the railway line to the BIA. After the meeting, FDD visited the existing railway line near the BIA with the officials of Sri Lanka Railway. The next meeting on the matter will be held later this month.












Today, the Sri Lanka Railway Department conducted a meeting on linking the Railway to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake at the Railway Department Headquarters in Colombo. The discussion  mainly focused on starting the new connection from the BIA to the Fort Railway Station with available resources. 

The FDD pointed out that starting the project will benefit many sectors in various ways and help improve the country's overall human security. In the short term, due to the current fuel shortages in the country, transport service charges to the airport has increased significantly—which may be reduced if the train service is made available for travelling. 

The next round of discussions on the matter will take place at the Railway line located at the BIA this month. The FDD has been engaging with the Government and advocating on the matter for several years, and ongoing discussions are very positive from both parties; the Railway Department and Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) (Pvt) Ltd on linking the railway line to the BIA. 

Today’s discussion was attended by W. A. D. S. Gunasinghe,  General Manager Railway; Gamini Seneviratne, Deputy General Manager Railway; Maj. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, Chairman, Airport and Aviation Services (participated over the phone); Renuka Weerasinghe, Airport and Aviation Services; Vidya Abhayagunawardena Coordinator, FDD and other senior officials of the Railway Department.



The youth campaigners of the Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) had the opportunity to participate in the Mine Action Fellows Forum organized by the Mines Action Canada alongside the 10th Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, at the UN Office in Geneva, Switzerland from 29th August to 2nd September.





As Mine Action Fellows, they were able to learn about the work of their peers at the Forum, and speak to delegations from around the world, focusing particularly on the importance of the #universalization of the Convention.

The fellows took a strong stance against the use of cluster munitions by anyone, anywhere and urged governments to join the Convention and fulfill the obligations of the Convention. The fellows delivered their statement on the 2nd September during the 10th Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
The Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) met with its youth wing today, and greeted three youth campaigners (Nimaya Dahanayake, Sinthuya Thurairaya and Adithya Ramanitharan) leaving for Switzerland to attend the Mine Action Fellows Forum during the 10th Meeting of the State Parties (10 MSP) of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) from the 29th of August to the 2nd of September 2022. The 10MSP of the CCM will be held at the United Nations Office in Geneva.
The previously held Mine Action Fellows Forum saw the participation of Nillasi Liyanage during the 16th MSP of the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) which was held in Austria (2017) and 4th Review Conference of the MBT which was held in Norway (2019). Sinthuya Thurairaya and Sindhu Ratnarajan attended the 4th Review Conference of the MBT which was held in Norway in 2019. The Mine Action Fellows Forum is organized by the Mines Action Canada (MAC).
Front row from the left: Nimaya Dahanayake, Sinthuya Thurairaya and Adithya Ramanitharan. Back row from the left: Nillasi Liyanage, Vidya Abhayagunawardena (Coordinator SLCBL) and Sindhu Ratnarajan.

 

The Sri Lanka National Mine Action Strategy Stakeholder Workshop (for drafting 2023-2027 strategy) organized by the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC) in collaboration with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), successfully concluded on the 30th of June 2022, at the Galle Face Hotel.

The three day, interactive workshop saw different stakeholders including demining operators (Sri Lanka Army Humanitarian Demining Unit, The HALO Trust, MAG, DASH and SHARP), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Health and the Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines; come together, to discuss Sri Lanka's final National Mine Action Strategy.

During the workshop, Sri Lanka's mine action story was praised as a success story, with clearance completion expected in the year 2027. During the workshop, it was brought to the attention of the participants, the importance of collaboration and dialogue between key stakeholders of the mine action community as a means of overcoming that lie ahead of Sri Lanka's journey to becoming a mine-free nation. The approved National Mine Action Strategy 2023-2027 will be launched end of this year by the Government of Sri Lanka with the support of GICHD. 









In light of the rise in incidents of gun violence across Sri Lanka, the FDD encourages Sri Lanka to become a party to the Arms Trade Treaty, and re-engage with the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons (PoA). Further, it is crucial that we amend outdated local legislation and re-establish the National Commission Against the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms (NCAPISA) for coordinating the approaches related to small-arms related problems in Sri Lanka.


https://www.dailymirror.lk/recomended-news/Sri-Lankas-Al-Capone-Syndrome-threatens-human-security/277-239125?fbclid=IwAR19iLmOEDTYPEe4t2BWOEwk9m7NsgmTyEwwjcWTduFrbw3pcHD2MeXNgjA




Vidya Abhayagunawardena, Coordinator for the Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) delivered two guest lectures on 'War Prevention Role of Science and Technology' and the 'Impact of Culture and Ethics on Science, Technology and National Security' at the National Defence College (Sri Lanka) on the 19th and 20th of April, 2022.

During the two lectures, he highlighted the importance of Sri Lanka’s accession to the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), as well as the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Protocol V of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). He also spoke of FDD’s regional approach on disarmament matters.








 

The Sri Lankan Parliament recently passed an Act implementing the prohibition of anti-personnel mines. The Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines Act No. 3 of 2022, seeks to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production, transfer of anti-personnel mines. The text of the Act in English, Sinhala and Tamil languages is attached below. 

English: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12L3NDudCv4iELDuNP2Vq5YrYWJqU3uch/view?usp=sharing

Sinhala:https://drive.google.com/file/d/13mgfT98GgToCUqkZ-KbzZmnx-jZzu_Pr/view?usp=sharing

Tamil: https://drive.google.com/file/d/112CJNc8qzjNKQrKjvE-r6V-I8vFWlw83/view?usp=sharing

 





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.

Launch of Documentary on Women in Mine Action in Sri Lanka 'Stepping without Fear' (Sinhala, Tamil and English versions) and Discussion.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvdeioqzMsEtybcH4COXKu7L_kPngwdHuZ

On 8th February, 2021 at 6pm Colombo, 7.30am Ottawa, 1.30pm Geneva, 3. 30pm Baghdad, 8.30pm Manila, 11.30pm Melbourne.



The Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) launched three publications on Sri Lanka and nuclear treaties; i) The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Sri Lanka, ii) Why SL Should Ratify the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and iii) Why Sri Lanka Should Accede to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NBT) in Sinhala, Tamil and English languages at the Sri Lanka Foundation on the 21st January with the participation of German Ambassador to Sri Lanka H.E. Jorn Rohde; former Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador H.M.G.S. Palihakkara; Dr. Kumari Jayawrdena; Programme Specialist Women's International League for Peace and Freedom Nadee Gunaratne and other distinguished gathering. The NPT and CTBT publications were supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and NBT supported by Dr. Kumari Jayawardena. 












The Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) requests the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to make the City of Colombo accessible for the disabled community, elderly community, baby strollers and others; work towards a zero stray dog population within the city of Colombo and setting up a dog village for stray dogs (a draft proposal presented); amend municipal laws relating to dogs and other animals including dog registration fee and penalties; work towards a plastic and polyethylene free city status and the use of renewable energy to power the CMC and the city in the year 2020. 

The FDD anticipates that such move will help the City of Colombo become the first accessible city with a ‘greener-city status’, not only in Sri Lanka, but also within the South Asian region. The steps taken by the state to achieve this target, could be replicated in other cities in the country and the region. Overall, this will help Sri Lanka achieve several SDGs and support climate change initiatives. Further, the FDD encourages the CMC to participate in the 16th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Person known as TRANSED, which will be held in the USA in 2021. The FDD hopes that Sri Lanka will be able to share its success story with the international community during the conference, having achieved the above.

The letter and draft proposal has been handed over to the offices of the Mayor and Commissioner of the CMC, the President and Minister for Local Government and Provincial Councils.

Enter the link below to download the report.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-WEUta9eiyd-GqetP3-eBji3TNECdM1H/view?usp=sharing



The Sri Lanka Campaign to Stop Killer Robot's secretariat Forum on Disarmament and Development participated in the first Regional Meeting on Lethal and Autonomous Weapons (LAWS) which was held in Islamabad, Pakistan from 9th and 10th of December 2019.
The aim of the meeting was to learn more about the serious ethical, moral, technical, legal, proliferation and security concerns raised by the ongoing development of fully autonomous weapons, also known as LAWS or killer robots.
After the two days meeting it has released a civil society deceleration. The meeting was organized by the Sustainable Peace and Development Organization of Pakistan.