SRI LANKA: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON NEW UN

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000566

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SA/INS, INR/B AND IO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINR PREL CE UN
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON NEW UN
PERMREP PRASAD KARIYAWASAM



1. (SBU) Prasad Kariyawasam, who has been appointed as Sri
Lanka's new Permanent Representative to the UN, has been a
valued Embassy contact whose professionalism, good judgment
and familiarity with the U.S. have helped advance our
bilateral economic agenda on a number of key fronts over the
past eighteen months. A career diplomat, in his current post
as Director General for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Kariyawasam has proven a knowledgeable,
helpful interlocutor on a broad range of subjects, from
UNGA-related economic issues to free trade to Sri Lanka's
Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) eligibility. His
experience as the DCM at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington
gives him excellent insight into US policy objectives and
initiatives. His appreciation of the the "bigger picture"
issues related to US-Sri Lankan relations has been especially
beneficial during our recent bilateral MCA discussions. For
example, despite his personal reservations about certain MCA
requirements, he nonetheless recognized the importance of
securing a compact to our overall relations, contributing to
the process by pushing a draft proposal through the
labyrinthine Sri Lankan bureaucracy and advocating for an
improved consultative process.


2. (SBU) A member of the Sri Lankan Foreign Service since
1981, Kariyawasam has held diplomatic posts in Geneva,
Riyadh, Washington and New Delhi. Before his current posting
as Director General for Economic Affairs, he served as the
Ambassador and PermRep to the UN in Geneva. He was elected
as a Vice-Chairperson at the 59th Session of the UN
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, as well as Vice-Chair
of the main committee at the World Conference against Racism
in Durban in 2001. In addition, he was elected Chair of the
2004 sessions of the Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty
Bodies and Inter-Committee Meetings and was President of the
Council of the International Organization for Migration from
2001-2002. Kariyawasam also led the Sri Lankan delegation to
the UN Conference on Disarmament from 2001 to 2003 and served
as a delegate to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on International
Terrorism during the same time.


3. (SBU) Born on March 21, 1954 in the southern district of
Galle, Kariyawasam is a member of the majority Sinhalese
Buddhist community in Sri Lanka. He played cricket for Royal
College, one of Sri Lanka's leading secondary schools, before
graduating from Peradeniya University in Sri Lanka with a
B.S. He is married with two children. His wife Kanthi is a
researcher at Georgetown University Medical School, and his
daughter graduated in December from the University of
Maryland with a degree in computer science.
LUNSTEAD