UN assistant secretary-general arrives in Sri Lanka

A top UN official arrived in Sri Lanka on Saturday on a six-day visit to hold discussions with the government and other high ranking officials, the UN office in Colombo said.

During his stay, the UN Assistant Secretary-General Haoliang Xu is also expected to undertake a visit to North Central and Northern provinces of the island nation, where he will meet with government officials, representatives from Community Based Organizations and beneficiaries and gain a first-hand understanding of the development priorities in the districts and further support needs. "My second visit to your beautiful country comes at a time when there are many important changes taking place. I am here to learn more about emerging development needs and expectations, in this new environment, with the new government in office," Xu said upon his arrival in Sri Lanka. "I also see this as a significant opportunity to ascertain the future direction of UN's support, and in particular, to strengthening UNDP's role as a key development partner in Sri Lanka,"he added.

The UN assistant secretary general's visit came ahead of a visit by the UN Working Group for Enforced Disappearances and a visit by the team of the OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) at the invitation of the government.

The government has also invited the UN high commissioner for human rights to visit the island nation this year.

The Sri Lankan government has maintained close dialogues with senior UN officials while it aims to set up a domestic probe on allegations of war crimes committed during the final stages of the country's civil war which ended in May 2009. Endi