Immediate Release - April 4, 2015
The Light Millennium TV Proudly Presents…
http://www.lightmillennium.org
AMBASSADOR PROFILES:
SRI LANKA’S ROLE MODEL PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS – 2000 - 2015
Featuring: H.E. Dr. PALITHA T. B. KOHONA,
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations
(September 2000 to March 2015)
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Program: SRI LANKA'S ROLE MODEL PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENTS: The Millennium Development Goals (2000 - 2015) Part 1/2 - VIDEO
SCHEDULE: On Queens Public TV - Ch#1997(Time Warner - RCN#84, Verizon#36)
On Sunday, April 5, 2015 at 11:30a.m. &
On Monday, April 20, 2015, Ch#56/1996(Time Warner, RCN #83, Verizon #35) at 9PM.
Recorded at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN on February 11, 2015
Completed in March 2015 - Duration: 28min+
Producer, Director, Editor, Graphics by: BIRCAN ÜNVER |
An exclusive video interview conducted by:
BIRCAN UNVER, Executive Producer-Director, The Light Millennium TV
Part 1/2: http://www.lightmillennium.org/lmtv/2015/amb-palitha-kohona-sri-lanka-on-mdgs-p1.mp4
Part 2/2: http://www.lightmillennium.org/lmtv/2015/amb-palitha-kohona-sri-lanka-on-mdgs-p2.mp4
The Light Millennium Television (LMTV) is proud to present you an exclusive interview with H.E. Dr. Palitha T. B. Kohona, Permanent Representative, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United Nations (September 2009 – March 2015) on the United Nations’ 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015.
In 2000, by the United Nations’ General Assembly, the following Eight Goals were set out to be attained by 2015:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure Environmental Sustainability
- Develop a Global Partnerships for Development
Source: UN Development Program
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While Member States of the United Nations, UN entities, inter-governmental organizations along with the non-governmental organizations have been in negotiations and finalization process for the Post-2015 Sustainable Human Development Goals to be approved during the upcoming 70th Session of the UN General Assembly (September 2015); there are 10 countries, which identified by the UN Development Programs that those are made a sustainable progress towards to achieving the MDGs. In this general context, Sri Lanka is one of the 10 top countries from developing countries, which has made a sustainable progress and accomplished several goals within the targeted deadlines.
“Despite the tsunami,
despite the conflict,
from being a developing country;
three years ago,
we’ve moved into middle income states.”
The first part of this program focuses on the progress and achievement of Sri Lanka on the MDGs along with its major obstacles, hurdles and challenges such as its 26 year long-internal conflict along with the biggest tsunami in human history that hit the most of Sri Lanka during the first 9 years of the MDGs Action Plan.
In the Part 1 of 2, the following Six Goals are covered within the context of Sri Lanka’s progress and achievements on the MDGs.
Part 2/2
SRI LANKA'S CHALLENGES: Global Partnerships and Climate Change
FOR PART 2/2 VIDEO, CLICK ON THE BELOW IMAGE OR
HERE
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SRI LANKA'S CHALLENGES: Global Partnerships and Climate Change
Part 2/2 VIDEO
Featuring: H. E. Dr. PALITHA T.B. KOHONA, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the UN (09/2009 - 03/2015)
Video interview conducted by BIRCAN ÜNVER
SCHEDULE: On Queens Public TV - Ch#56 (Time Warner - RCN#83, Verizon#35)
On Monday, April 13, 2015 at 10:30a.m. &
On Thursday, April 30, 2015, Ch#1997(Ch#1997(Time Warner - RCN#84, Verizon#36) at 4PM.
Recorded at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN on February 11, 2015 - Completed in March 2015
Duration: 28min+
Producer, Director, Editor, Graphics by: BIRCAN ÜNVER
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In part 2 of 2; both international and non-governmental organizations as well as UN Entities' role and contributions are brought up under spotlight along with Sri Lanka’s Universal Health System from birth to death as well as challenges on the Climate Change. |
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http://www.lightmillennium.org/lmtv/2015/amb-palitha-kohona-sri-lanka-on-mdgs-p2.mp4
H.D. Dr. Kohona is in part two, "SRI LANKA'S CHALLENGES: Global Partnerships and Climate Change", makes important statements and challenging comments via reminding commitments of the developing countries' on the MDG#8 Global Partnerships and as Climate Change as a reality for Sri Lanka as well as a global concern...
About the Ambassador Profiles: The Light Millennium Television (LMTV) launched (at QPTV, 2011) the Ambassador Profiles as a sub-series in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations. It has aimed to present the progress and accomplishments on the MDGs on the country base from the utmost level representations at the UN to the general public and local communities as well as on the global level via its online availability. In this abstract context, the first Ambassador Profile of this mini-series featured of H.E. Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, former Permanent Representative of Turkey to the UN; and as the second is, H.E. Ambassador Carlos E. Garcia Gonzalez, former permanent Represenative of El Salvador to the UN. As the latest and third episode of this mini-series, we are honored to present you these two parts of on-camera interview with H.E. Ambassador Dr. Kohona, once again, with a particular focus on the progress and accomplishments of Sri Lanka on the MDGs.
BIOGRAPHY of Dr. Palitha T.B.Kohona, Ambassador &
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, New York
(September 2009 to March 2015)
Ambassador Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona served as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka until his appointment as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in 2009. Prior to this he served as the Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) established by the Government of Sri Lanka since 2006.
Early Life
Dr. Palitha Kohona who hails from Matale, Sri Lanka, received his secondary education in Sri Lanka at St. Thomas College, Mt. Lavinia. He proceeded to obtain a LL.B (Hons) at the University of Sri Lanka and, having been awarded an A.N.U. Scholarship, a LL.M from the Australian National University. He obtained a Doctorate from Cambridge University, UK, for the thesis – ‘The Regulation of International Economic Relations through Law’, subsequently published by Kluwer, Netherlands. He is also an Attorney-at-Law, Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Dr. Kohona has published extensively and delivered lectures on areas such as, terrorism, international organized crime, the environment, international treaty law, etc.
International Career
Dr. Kohona was a member of the Sri Lanka delegation to the UN General Assembly in 2006- 2011. He has led official level delegations to a wide range of countries on bilateral matters, political, trade, environment, aviation and fisheries issues. He is currently the Co-Chair of the UN Ad-Hoc Working Group on Marine Resources beyond National Jurisdiction, the Chairman of the UN Ad-Hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean and a Vice President of the 23rd Meeting of the States Parties to the Law of the Sea Convention. He is the Chair of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Territories Occupied since 1967. He is also a Patron of the Sustainability Inc. and a Patron of the U Thant Institute. He was invited to be an Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. During his tenure as the Secretary-General of the Government Peace Secretariat (2006), he participated in several rounds of peace negotiations with the LTTE in Geneva and led the government delegation to talks in Oslo.
From 1995-2006 He served as the Chief of the Treaty Section, Department of Legal Affairs of the UN. As Chief of the Treaty Section he was a recipient of the UN21 Pin. He managed the computerization and on-line access to the UN Treaty Database consisting of over 50,000 bilateral treaties and over 530 multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General. He also initiated the annual UN Treaty Event which is now held during the General Assembly and edited the Treaty Handbook.
Prior to joining the UN, he was with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia where he held the position of Head of the Trade and Investment Section. He was a member of the Uruguay Round negotiating team of Australia with specific responsibility for the institutional mechanisms and the dispute settlement unit.
In 1989 he was posted to the Australian Permanent Mission in Geneva with specific responsibility for environmental issues including the Rio Process. In Geneva he chaired the negotiating group that developed the compliance mechanism under the Montreal Protocol to the Convention on the Ozone Layer and was a member of the Working Group on the liability mechanism under the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes. In 1988 he led the Australian delegation to the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board.
He returned to Sri Lanka on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to assume office as the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) in 2006.
He is fluent in Sinhala, English and French.
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VIDEO Part 1/2 28min+ - VIDEO Part 2/2 28min.
Posted by Bircan Unver on April 4, 2015 - Design of the template page is updated on April 11, 2015.