lanka

Children in Sri Lanka

UN helps Sri Lanka fight child sex tourism

20 June 2006
Proclaiming a message of “zero tolerance” for child sex tourism in Sri Lanka, the United Nations is supporting a two-year action plan launched by the country’s tourist board to stop such exploitation, targeting visitors, children and adolescents, hoteliers, journalists, families and community leaders.
Louise Arbour

Sri Lanka: top UN rights chief calls on Government to investigate deadly bus attack

16 June 2006
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has called on the Sri Lankan Government to investigate yesterday’s attack on a bus, which reportedly killed 62 civilians and injured more than 40 others, including school-aged children, in a country wracked by a conflict with Tamil separatists.
Judge Weeramantry

Sri Lankan judge wins 2006 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education

24 May 2006
An 79-year-old Sri Lankan judge, who was Vice President of the United Nations International Court of Justice, has won the 2006 UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Prize for Peace Education.
Louise Arbour

Sri Lanka: UN’s top rights chief voices concern over killings of civilians

23 May 2006
Voicing deep concern about increasing killings of civilians, including children, in Sri Lanka, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today urged the parties to take immediate steps to defuse the violence, resume dialogue and strengthen measures to protect against abuses.
Thousands displaced in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: UN ‘appalled’ by ‘despicable’ attacks on aid organizations

22 May 2006
A senior United Nations officer in Sri Lanka today called on the Government and rebels fighting in the north and east of the country to ensure the safety of all humanitarian aid organizations there following yesterday’s grenade attacks on three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the earlier shooting dearth of a Norwegian aid worker.
Displaced Sri Lankans at Trincomalee district school

Sri Lankan refugee boat arrivals mount in India, UN agency reports

19 May 2006
More than 1,000 Sri Lankans have fled to southern India since the beginning of the year, the vast majority by boat, because of the upsurge of violence between Government and rebel Tamil forces in the north and east of the island, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) reported today.
Displaced by violence in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: clashes between Government, Tamil rebels threaten children – UNICEF

16 May 2006
With Sri Lankan children falling victim to the renewed clashes between the Sri Lankan Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today called on both sides to halt the violence and return to the negotiating table.

Sri Lanka: Annan calls on Government, Tamil rebels to return to peace talks after clashes

12 May 2006
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the Sri Lankan Government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to “change course and bring the country back on a path to peace” following a continuing upsurge of violence on the Indian Ocean island.
Thousands displaced in Sri Lanka

UN agencies begin aiding Sri Lankans who fled recent fighting

1 May 2006
United Nations agencies have started delivering food, safe water and other basic needs to the over 10,000 Sri Lankans displaced by recent clashes between the Government and the separatist Tamil rebels, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today.
Displaced by violence in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: UN expert urges end to political killings in Government-rebel fighting

28 April 2006
A United Nations rights expert has called on the Government of Sri Lanka and separatist Tamil rebels to take urgent measures to end political killings and strengthen human rights protections as the conflict looks set to spiral out of control.