The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya made these remarks while participating in the occasion of ONE Tata Sri Lanka Cyclone Ditwah and Floods Response Programme to donate school kits to the schoolchildren who were affected by impacts of Cyclone Ditwah and the subsequent floods in Sri Lanka, on 12th of June in Colombo. The program was organized by the Tata Group, in partnership with ChildFund and DIMO.
As a core part of this programme, the ’Hope in a Backpack’ initiative was launched and school bags and stationary was distributed the schoolchildren by Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and the Indian High commissioner, Mr. Santos Jha.
Addressing at the occasion, the High commissioner of India, Mr. Santos Jha highlighted the long-standing partnership between India and Sri Lanka emphasizing the shared aspiration for the development of two nations.
The Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, delivering the keynote address, stated that initiative such as this represents a model for cooperation and how communities come together at times of crisis demonstrating the value of cooperation between governments, development partners, humanitarian organizations, the private sector and international partners.
The Prime Minister further stated that the people must be supported to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah, and reaffirmed that the Government is committed to ensuring a recovery process that helps communities move forward rather than leaving them vulnerable to the same hardships in the future, emphasizing that every effort will be made to ensure that children continue to receive uninterrupted education despite any crisis or challenge.
The occasion was attended by the Guest of Honour, Indian High Commissioner Mr. Santhosh Jha, Mr. Ranjith Pandithage, Chairman of DIMO, Mr. Chacko Thomas, representatives of DIMO, TATA and ChildFund, Schoolchildren and teachers.
Prime Minister’s Media Division