External pressures threaten SL’s right to development - Ambassador
Kunanayakam
Taking the floor under the general debate of Item 3 (Promotion and
protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and
cultural rights, including the right to development), Sri Lankan
Ambassador to the UN Tamara Kunanayakam affirmed that if the ‘Council
was to remain credible, it must give equal attention to economic, social
and cultural rights as to civil and political rights; to the collective
dimension as to the individual dimension; to the international as to the
national.’
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Tamara
Kunanayakam |
She regretted that more than 25 years after the adoption of the
Declaration on the Right to Development and the consensus achieved,
obstacles were still being placed in the way of its implementation,
depriving developing countries of their right to determine the type of
society in which this inalienable right can be realized.’ Reiterating
that development, human rights and peace are interdependent and
interrelated, Ambassador Kunanayakam said that Sri Lanka considered the
multidimensional approach to development in which the people were the
central subject, as the only sustainable path to reconciliation.
She said that being multicultural, multi-ethnic, multilingual and
multi-religious, Sri Lanka relied on a participatory, community-based,
decentralized development strategy to shape a society best suited for
the realization of the full potential of its members.
Recalling the unprecedented GDP growth rate of more than 8% last
year, Ambassador Kunanayakam reminded of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s
emphasis that economic growth must be accompanied by equity and that all
people must benefit from the peace dividend, even in the remotest part
of the country.
Since human rights, peace and development were interdependent and
interrelated, she warned that external pressures, threats and
conditionalities would affect progress made and threaten the
reconciliation process and the fragile peace, without which, the right
to development could not be realized.
“There can be no development without effective international
cooperation and solidarity, as a complement to national efforts,” she
declared, referring to the UN Charter requirement, that economic and
social issues could only be addressed through international cooperation.
Full text of statement :
Human Rights Council
19th Session
Agenda Item 3
Report of the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the U.N Open-ended
Intergovernmental working group on the Right to Development Statement by
Sri Lanka
“Madam President,
my delegation wishes to associate itself with the statement made by
Egypt, on behalf of the Non Aligned Movement. Sri Lanka wishes to
reiterate that development, human rights and peace are interdependent
and interrelated; that all human rights and fundamental freedoms are
indivisible and interdependent; that, if this Council is to remain
credible, it must give equal attention to economic, social and cultural
rights as to civil and political rights; to the collective dimension as
to the individual dimension; to the international as to the national.
“More than 25 years after the adoption of the Declaration and despite
the consensus achieved, obstacles continue to be placed in the way of
its implementation, depriving developing countries of their right to
determine the type of society in which this inalienable right can be
realized. Less than 3 years after the end of an almost 3-decade old
conflict against terrorism and separatism, Sri Lanka considers that the
multidimensional approach to development, is the only sustainable path
to reconciliation, which is its primary objective.
“Our President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has continuously emphasized that
economic growth must be accompanied by equity, that all people must
benefit from the peace dividend, even in the remotest parts of the
country.
Multicultural, multiethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-religious, Sri
Lanka relies on a participatory, community-based, decentralized
development strategy to shape a society that is best suited for the
realization of the full potential of its members.
Last year alone, Sri Lanka recorded an unprecedented GDP growth rate
of more than 8%, reflecting an imperative transformation of our rural
economy on which the majority of people depend for their livelihood.
Despite progress, Sri Lanka is subject to external pressures, threats
and conditionalities that continue to, threaten its reconciliation
process and the fragile peace, without which the right to development
cannot be realised.
“Madam President,
There can be no development without effective international
cooperation and solidarity, as a complement to national efforts.
Article 9.1 of the Declaration provides that, and I quote : “All the
aspects of the right to development set forth in the present Declaration
are indivisible and interdependent and each of them should be considered
in the context of the whole.”
“In keeping with this requirement, my delegation calls upon the
Working Group, in defining criteria and operational sub-criteria, to
ensure that the multidimensional aspect of the right to development is
respected and a balance struck between the individual and the
collective, the national and the international, forming the basis for a
legally binding instrument.
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