A sign of true reconciliation

SRI Lanka and the United Nations (UN) have long had an uneasy relationship but the post-war environment has finally provided a happy achievement in the eyes of both parties. It was announced on Tuesday that Sri Lanka has been removed from the ‘list of shame’ in UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s annual report on children and armed conflict during 2011.

UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Sri Lanka’s own Radhika Coomaraswamy, speaking on the omission stated that the removal came after Sri Lanka’s successful completion of Security Council-mandated action plans to end the recruitment and use of children.

During the war both the LTTE and the TMVP were in the UN ‘list of shame’. However, with the end of the war and the military defeat of the LTTE as well as the TMVP working with UNICEF to release all child recruits, both the LTTE and TMVP were no more on the list.

The Secretary-General issued his annual report on children and armed conflict to the Security Council which gives an overview of the situation of girls and boys in conflict zones and measures taken for their protection. The report includes a list of parties who recruit and use children, kill and maim, commit sexual violence or attack schools and hospitals; the so-called ‘list of shame’.

Encouraging is the delisting of parties to conflict in Nepal and Sri Lanka after their successful completion of Security Council-mandated action plans to end the recruitment and use of children. In 2011, five more parties in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad and South Sudan entered into similar agreements with the United Nations. In 2011, releases of children associated with armed forces and armed groups have taken place in Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Myanmar, South Sudan and Sudan.

It cannot be doubted that the Government’s successful rehabilitation programme played a huge role in taking Sri Lanka off this list as well as assisting children to return to a normal life after enduring much horror and hardship. It has also done no small service to brushing up Sri Lanka’s reputation and returning it to a degree to respect.

This is an excellent example of the progress that can be made when all stakeholders led by the Government formulate a clear and comprehensive policy that is implemented without unnecessary delays. Hundreds of children and thousands of adults have benefited from the rehabilitation programme, which in a very real sense saved the future generation of Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, there are other issues related to the conflict that still need to be addressed. These include the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations as well as the action plan for their implementation, which has received much attention but little transparency over the last few months.

While larger issues such as the LLRC or the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) cannot move forward with the same pace as child rehabilitation there is a growing urgency that cannot be denied. The President’s recent visit to the UK also showed that all eyes are still focused on Sri Lanka and blaming one party or the other will not solve the problem.

Since building peace is not sorely the responsibility of the Government it can only be hoped that the latest progress documented by the UN is only the first step to greater achievements by Sri Lanka in its long road to true reconciliation.