H. M. G. S. Palihakkara

Who is H. M. G. S. Palihakkara?

H. M. G. S. Palihakkara is a prominent Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant, who served as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. He had served as Sri Lankan Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador to Thailand, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the acting Director General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process.

Palihakkara graduated from the University of Ceylon with a BEd. He joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1979, undergoing the Foreign Service Training Programme in Australia; later studying International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University and receiving the UN Disarmament Fellowship.

Palihakkara had represented Sri Lanka at the UN Commission on Human Rights, UN Conference on Trade and Development and the Conference on Disarmament. In the UN he had served as a member of the Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Armed Control and Security Matters; UN Inter-Government Expert Group on Comprehensive Study on Nuclear Weapons and International Security; and the Panel of Ambassadors advising UN Human Rights High Commissioner.