Sri Lankan peacebuilder awarded ‘Rotary Alumni Global Service Award’

Pushpi Weerakoon

Contributing to the many international accolades achieved by Sri Lankans this year, Pushpi Weerakoon has been awarded the ‘Rotary Alumni Global Service Award’. 

This is the very first time a Sri Lankan has received this prestigious award and have been invited to address the Rotary International Convention, to be held this year from 21 to 25 June in Calgary Canada. This award is the highest honour presented by Rotary International to an outstanding Rotary alumnus whose achievements have enriched their profession and whose services to humanity exemplifies the spirit of Rotary. The award is intended to highlight the positive impact of Rotary programs and to inspire others worldwide to pursue service and leadership as the recipient. 

Upon receiving the award, Pushpi will address the convention gathering together with other distinguish speakers such as Tawakkol Karman – the first woman from the Arab world to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Isabel C. Scarinci – a behavioural scientist with a deep commitment to the elimination of cancer disparities in low- and middle-income countries, Scott Simon – host of National Public Radio who has reported from five continents on 10 wars, winning every major award in US broadcasting.

Pushpi began her peacebuilding career in Sri Lanka, training grassroots leaders in mediation, to especially resolve conflicts risen due to Tsunami as the Director/Registrar of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute, a journey which also introduced her to the peacebuilding field since she had to travel to the security zones in the height of the civil conflict. 

Since then, as a front-liner, she uses the legal knowledge gained at the University of Buckingham UK to assist survivors and victims of manmade and natural disasters. 

She managed the ‘Learn and Lead’ program which was the first scholarship scheme in Sri Lanka to bridge the gap between and North and South schools. It required her to securely bring students from the conflict affected North, East, North Central, and border villages to study in Colombo schools by building trust among government officials, parents and students. 

As the head of the legal unit of International Development Law Organisation she provided technical support to draft emergency laws and managed social cohesion and livelihood projects. During the aftermath of the conflict, Pushpi was with the Reconciliation Unit at the Presidential Secretariat. Sri Lanka’s first Open Government Partnership National Action Plan was written and received Cabinet approval under her coordination.

She joined International Organisation for Migration (IOM) creating and heading the Social Cohesion and Reconciliation Unit for the Sri Lankan mission, providing technical assistant to set up the Office for Reparations and coordinated the first International Reparation Conference for Sri Lanka. Continuing her services with IOM, Pushpi was in Iraq, Bangladesh, Geneva, Bahamas, Central America, Haiti, Pacific Islands and Pakistan. She also served with UNDP and UNSLM in New York. 

A sought-after expert guest speaker, she’s shared her technical learnings and experiences in Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, Philippine, India, Singapore, USA, France, Mongolia, and UK.

She attended Chulalongkorn University Thailand as a Rotary Peace Fellow and experienced resolving conflicts in Cambodia, Myanmar border and among Karen and Kachin indigenous groups. Representing her Chula batchmates she addressed the Rotary Zonal seminar in Malaysia. Pushpi received the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) US State Department fellowship which introduced her to the political and professional leadership in several states. From the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, she studied at Eastern Mennonite University, receiving a Master of Conflict Transformation from the Centre for Justice and Peacebuilding. Her other degrees include a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University, as an Edith Stokey Scholar in the Mason Program, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wales. Currently she is a doctoral candidate as a UN scholar in the Peace and Conflict Studies program at the UN University for Peace, Costa Rica. 

Pushpi is a past pupil of St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo, Sri Lanka, where she was awarded the ‘Most hard-working Athlete’ award and full colours for Basketball, Netball, Athletics, Cricket and Elle. She’s an advanced PADI certified scuba diver.

For the humanitarian services provided by Pushpi, she won the ‘Rotary National Peace Award’ given to a prominent peacebuilder (none Rotarian) in Sri Lanka in 2011. She became a member of the Rotary Club of Colombo Mid-Town in 2012, after which she headed the Satellite Club for them. In 2012 Pushpi received the Rotary International ‘Service Citation’ and the ‘Most Outstanding Rotarian’ awards. She was the District Chair for Scholarships and Literacy for several years and in 2018 became the President of Rotary Club of Cinnamon Gardens and a Paul Harris Fellow. 

The Rotary Club of San Salvador Cuscatlan, in District 4240, inducted her as an honorary member due to her active participation in Rotary events during the time she was deployed in El Salvador through IOM. A board member of the Rotary Action Group for Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Migration up until this year, she still continues to be actively involved in the Rotary Peace Fellowship Alumni Association, by helping to coordinate the annual 24-hour Global Peace Conference and connecting Rotary Clubs, fellow scholars and non-Rotarian professionals worldwide to serve those in need.