Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya says UNESCO’s initiative to protect the historic Sacred City of Anuradhapura should be appreciated, emphasizing that Anuradhapura is not only a Sri Lankan heritage but of universal value.
PM Amarasuriya made these remarks while addressing the International Expert Conference on ‘An Integrated and Sustainable Approach to Safeguarding the World Heritage Property of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka’ which was convened at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris on 01 April.
According to the PM’s office, the summit, representing the partnership between UNESCO and Sri Lanka, brought together international experts to discuss sustainable strategies for conserving Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World Heritage site with significant cultural and historical value.
PM Amarasuriya revealed that the Sri Lankan Government plans to develop three cities, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, and Kandy, as heritage cities in Sri Lanka.
She further conveyed deep condolences of Sri Lanka to the Government and people of Myanmar and Thailand, affected by the recent powerful earthquake.
The summit was attended by the Director of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs of Sri Lanka, Dr. Hiniduma Sunil Senevi, including a group of representatives of both the Sri Lanka and UNESCO delegations.
The full statement of PM Harini Amarasuriya at the UNESCO International Summit in France;
I consider it a special privilege to have this opportunity to visit UNESCO when Sri Lanka is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its partnership with the organization.
We celebrated last July with a productive visit to Sri Lanka by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, and it’s culminating today in Paris with the convening of this expert conference on Anuradhapura, one of the most revered heritage sites and cultural treasures in the world.
This conference provides us with a unique opportunity to reflect upon aspects of Sri Lanka’s long-standing collaboration with UNESCO, a partnership that has reinforced and enriched our shared vision of advancing intercultural dialogue, heritage conservation, education, sustainable development, and technological progress.
In this backdrop, where it requires ensuring the preservation of cultural heritage for future generations, UNESCO’s role as a global leader is more relevant than ever. This timely initiative, gathering the world’s experts on heritage conservation, provides a critical platform for dialogue, knowledge sharing, technical collaboration, and resource mobilization, thus reinforcing our collective responsibility to protect and sustain this invaluable cultural legacy for future generations.
In Sri Lanka, the ancient kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa stand at heritage sites located in the cultural triangle, conserved with the support of UNESCO since the 1980s, which goes back to the long-standing partnership.
We also need to be very conscious that heritage, history and archeology have been weaponized in the past by resistance groups to divide our people for narrow political games. The government rejects racism and strives to acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of cultures and traditions of Sri Lanka and bring people together. (Newswire)
