Sri Lanka at UNGA Calls For Fairer Financial Systems

COLOMBO (News 1st); Ambassador Jayantha Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, highlighted the country’s progress in recovering from its debt crisis while calling for a more equitable international financial architecture to support sustainable development.

“Sri Lanka has made significant strides in overcoming the debt crisis through a robust national reform program,” Ambassador Jayasuriya stated. “However, debt servicing costs continue to threaten critical sectors such as health, education, and climate adaptation.”

He emphasized that resilience cannot rely solely on domestic efforts, and urged the global community to support reforms including:

Establishing a global debt data registry
Extending debt treatments to middle-income countries
Scaling up innovative debt instruments
Enabling debt service suspension during disasters

Ambassador Jayasuriya also called on developed nations to fulfill their commitment of allocating 0.7% of gross national income to official development assistance, a key step in bridging financing gaps for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On climate action, he stressed the urgency of sustained climate financing, especially for vulnerable countries like Sri Lanka. He advocated for access to instruments such as green bonds and debt swaps to support resilient agriculture, food security, and adaptation efforts.

“Climate financing must be recognized as distinct from development financing so that neither is compromised,” he said.

Touching on technology, Ambassador Jayasuriya warned of the risks of deepening inequality and called for a global fund on AI and emerging technologies to bridge the digital divide.

“Technology must uplift communities — driving education, health, climate action, and decent work,” he concluded.