Wednesday May 06, 2026
Wednesday May 06, 2026
Wednesday, 6 May 2026 01:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Regional Centre for Strategic Studies (RCSS) welcomed Prof. Deepika Udagama and former Diplomat Esala Weerakoon to its Board of Directors, at its meeting held on 30 April 2026. They succeed former Secretary to the Prime Minister M.D.D. Pieris, and former Central Bank Deputy Governor and Monetary Board member Dr. Ranee Jayamaha, who completed their terms recently.
The current members of the Board of Directors comprise University of Colombo Emeritus Professor of International Relations Prof. Amal Jayawardane, Feminist Researcher and activist Dr. Chulani Kodikara, RCSS Founding Director and Entrepreneur Dilip Kodikara, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan Faculty of Social Sciences Professor of International Relations and former Dean Prof. Nazir Hussain, and Ashoka University, India Professor of International Relations Prof. Varun Sahni.
The RCSS is an independent, non-profit, policy research centre co-founded in 1992 by Prof. Shelton Kodikara – its first Executive Director, to focus on a broad range of conventional and non-conventional sources of conflict and conditions of peace. Former Foreign Secretary Ambassador (Retd.) Ravinatha Aryasinha, presently serves as the Executive Director of the RCSS.
An academic specialised in International Human Rights, Prof. Deepika Udagama served as the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (October, 2015-August, 2020), a member of the Human Rights Commission (2003-2006) and the Law Commission of Sri Lanka (2004-2009). She was also elected as Alternate Member of Sri Lanka to the then UN Sub-Commission on the Protection of Human Rights (1998-2001). In 1991 having founded the Centre for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) at the University of Colombo, and having established the Department of Law at the University of Peradeniya in 2009, until September 2025 she was the Chair Professor of Law at the University of Peradeniya. She received her legal education at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo (LL.B. (Hons.) and LL.M. Degrees) and School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, USA (LL.M. and Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) Degrees in international human rights law).
A Diplomat Esala Weerakoon was the 14th Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) from March 2020 till September 2023. He was the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka (2016-2017), Senior Additional Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka (2018-2019 and from 2023- 2024). His 35-year diplomatic career includes serving as High Commissioner to India, Ambassador to Norway, Deputy Chief of Mission to the USA and in various capacities abroad and in the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He also served the Government of Sri Lanka as the Secretary, Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry; Additional Secretary, Housing and Additional Secretary Ministry, Economic Development Ministry. He has an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Kelaniya and MSc from the London School of Economics.
