Co-chairs meet in NY

By Dharisha Bastians
Amidst intensified battles in the north and growing concern for the thousands of civilians trapped in the embattled Wanni region, Sri Lanka’s Donor Co-Chairs will hold an emergency meeting in New York next week to discuss the present situation in the island, The Nation learns.

The meeting was hastily summoned via tele-conference between the representatives of the Co-Chair nations, it is learnt.
Second Secretary of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo Rannveig Skofteland told The Nation that the ‘informal’ Co-chairs meeting is to be held during the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 23.

“This is an informal meeting of the Donor Co-chairs,” Skofteland said, adding that an agenda for discussions had not been set yet.
“The agenda is still being discussed and drafted. But it is likely to relate to the current situation in Sri Lanka,” the Norwegian Second Secretary said.

However it is speculated that the discussions are expected to revolve around the entrapment of civilians in the Wanni, due to the ongoing hostilities and the exit of UN humanitarian organisations from the theatre of battle.

Norway’s Special Peace Envoy to Sri Lanka, Hansen Baur is expected to attend the New York meeting, whilst Japanese Peace Envoy Yashushi Akashi and US Assistant Secretary of State for South & Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher are also likely to participate.

A spokesperson for the European Union in Colombo was unable to confirm the attendance of a EU representative at next week’s meeting in the Big Apple.

The Sri Lanka Donor Co-Chairs, founded in June 2003, consists of four members: EU, Japan, Norway, and US. The group meets periodically to coordinate efforts to fulfill its responsibility under the Tokyo Declaration of 2003 to monitor reconstruction assistance to Sri Lanka and the peace process.
 

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