On Tuesday (23 May), Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States Mahinda Samarasinghe met with Executive Director, Chris Whatley and Deputy Director of Programmes (East), Tom Meredith from The Halo Trust and discussed the progress of demining in the former theatres of conflict in Sri Lanka. The Halo Trust, in a communication to the Ambassador, stated:

“Sri Lanka’s success in promoting recovery from decades of conflict by working methodically to clear landmines and facilitate the return of displaced communities is a model for mine-impacted countries around the world. It is a testament to the resiliency of the Sri Lankan people. We would love to be able to partner with the Embassy to tell this story both to policy makers in Washington and to the American public.”

Ambassador commended Halo Trust for their efforts, working alongside Sri Lankan military deminers for the rapid progress. He inquired as to the future of the Sri Lankan work force of nearly 1,000 persons, 40% of whom are women, and urged further training to enable them to gain productive employment once the demining operations wind-down. The Halo Trust officials stated that training of the workforce was an ongoing process. They explained that Sri Lanka could be considered a recent example of an outstanding accomplishment in demining operations globally. They said that they would be briefing legislators and policy makers in the United States on the excellent progress achieved in Sri Lanka as there was great interest in the matter.