Cabinet nod for human rights action plan

The Cabinet of Minister approved the National Action Plan for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

This action plan has been tabled to the Cabinet by Plantation Industries Minister and President’s Special Envoy on Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe.

The development of the national action plan was a voluntary pledge made during Sri Lanka’s Universal Period Review in May 2008.

The government began implementing the five year action plan in 2011. Reports on the progress will be made public and the UN Human Rights Council will also be apprised of the progress periodically. A Cabinet sub- committee will be appointed to monitor the implementation of the action plan.

Commencing in 2008, the action plan was developed through a participatory process involving both government and civil society input. The three main objectives of the action plan are the achievement of genuine and substantive improvement in the protection and promotion of human rights; promotion of greater awareness of human rights, both among the public and in specific sectors; and the promotion of coordination of human rights activity among diverse stakeholders.

The action plan has been adopted with amendments made by the Cabinet of Ministers.