2011 Nobel peace prize was given jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, Tawakkol Karman, a democratic activist and Lemah Gbowee , peace activist for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and women's rights by peace-building work.
Mr. Rajitha Senaratne, Hon. Minister for fisheries, Mr. Karu Jayasuriya and Mr. John Amaratunga,(MPs of the UNP), Foreign Ambassadors, Business Community representatives, University lecturers, Delegates of International organizations, University students and Journalists about 60 in all, participated this program.
At this meeting Madam Leymah spoke on "The value of changes brought by women in the peace and coexistence process." She explained clearly on the experiences faced by women in the post war period and the contribution made by them in building coexistence.
She said that the contribution made by women in the peace and coexistence process cannot be under estimated at any time and they work with a firm stance to preserve peace. As a unique feature of their activities, she emphasized that they not only to protect the rights of the women but also to protect and preserve the rights of those persons who opposed them.
She highly appreciated the role played by women in Sri Lanka in building peace and coexistence and remarked that Sri Lankans should stop celebrating war victories and move beyond the past to promote reconciliation. She emphasized that the end result of violence is more violence.
She said that Human Rights, Justice and Democracy are the three main pillars of coexistence and these are clearly analyzed in the LLRC report of Sri Lanka.
She finally remarked that Sri Lanka should go beyond the discussion table and take practical steps to implement the LLRC report to make coexistence in Sri Lanka a reality.
