Sri Lankan Secretariat for Coordinating the Reconciliation Mechanisms (SCRM) and IOM, the UN Migration Agency, organised a two day international conference (22-23) on reparations for conflict victims in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is the first such conference to be held in Sri Lanka since the end of the country’s long-drawn-out conflict in 2009.
Mano Tittawella, Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms, Sri Lanka, noted that “reparations are essential in leading to a process of reconciliation and is should be done in parallel to a process on truth, justice, and non-recurrence.”
The conference follows a UN Human Rights Council Resolution on the need to promote “reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” and a government decision, following national consultations in 2016, to actively promote reconciliation, including a system of victim reparations, that will contribute to a lasting peace.
The conference brought together some 150 participants from the government and non-government sectors, development partners, UN, local and international NGOs, civil society organizations, victim groups, academics, experts and other relevant stakeholders. It aims to provide a platform for mutual dialogue and consultation based on international best practices and lessons learnt from other reconciliation processes.
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