A proud moment for Lanka

SRI LANKA can be truly proud on the appointment of Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy as UN Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict.

This is also a singular honour bestowed upon Sri Lankan women, who have reached the pinnacle in many fields.

Coomaraswamy will succeed Karim Sham Poo who temporarily stepped into the boots of Olara Otunnu who made a trip to the North and East during his visit here in 1998 to persuade the LTTE to stop recruiting child soldiers.

She will hold the rank of Under-Secretary General, the third highest ranking job in the UN system.

The appointment couldn't have come at a more appropriate time when the Sri Lankan State is grappling with the problem of child soldiers forcibly recruited by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

They have never really given up this sordid practice despite a number of pledges to the UN.

Here is an ideal opportunity to internationalise this phenomenon that is eating into the conscience of a collective nation.

The stature and recognition won by her in numerous international fora, we have no doubt, will enable this most ardent of rights campaigners to place this matter on the top of her agenda.

This is not the first post held by Coomaraswamy in the UN system. Prior to her new appointment she was UN special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and joins a galaxy of distinguished Lankan personages such as Dr. Gamini Corea, Jayantha Dhanapala and Shirley Amarasinghe who walked the portals of the UN bringing honour and prestige to the country.

No doubt Coomaraswamy's credentials as an outstanding human rights activist and a doughty fighter for women's causes could have been an added influence in her appointment to this high and prestigious post in the UN system.

Among her mandates will be to assess progress achieved and difficulties encountered in strengthening the protection of children in situations of armed conflict.

According to UN figures about six million children have been injured in the past decade due to war and there are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers.

The LTTE is among the more notorious recruiters among the two terror outfits. With the advantage of the full backing of the UN system it will be interesting to see how this outstanding rights activist will go about dealing with the issue of child soldiers.

We editorially commented yesterday on how such reputed human rights agencies such as Amnesty International too had proved ineffective in dealing with this problem even with its vast global reach.

The time has arrived for this most burning issue to be internationalised with extra vigour so that it will have an impact on the collective conscience of the international community.

Countries such as the US which espouse democratic values to the world with inherent clauses such as protection of children and minorities should take a more firm stand on the phenomenon of child soldiers which eats into the very vitals of the free and just society beloved of the West.

Now that we have a Sri Lankan at the helm in the major world body dealing with the child it is our fervent hope that this matter would receive the foremost attention it deserves.

It is also vital for this matter to be taken up during subsequent peace talks as there is ample evidence that the LTTE has engaged in recruiting child soldiers during the ceasefire.

The LTTE must honour its pledge to disband the legions of child soldiers instead of waiting for the UN and the international community to act.