Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanne was elected to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) yesterday.

She was one of the 9 elected to the Committee from a field of 20 at the election held on Tuesday 21st December, 2010, the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka at the UN said.

Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations said that “In Dr. Wijemanne Sri Lanka had a credible candidate with enormous experience and expertise who has now been endorsed by the international community. It is not only Dr. Wijemanne who has been so endorsed, but also Sri Lanka, which has made an outstanding commitment to improving the lot of its children over the years. Sri Lanka’s basic indicators, which place her ahead of a majority of the countries in the world, are testimony to the investment that successive governments of Sri Lanka have made on the welfare of children. I hope that Dr. Wijemanne’s experience and expertise will contribute to making the world a better place for all our children.”

Dr. Wijemanne is a physician with a medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA and a Fellow of the Sri Lanka College of Physicians. During her career, she has also contributed her skills and experience to the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat, the National Child Protection Authority and to the Department of Probation and Child Care among others. Dr. Wijemanne has worked with UNICEF and other UN agencies for a number of years.