Tamara Manimekhalai Kunanayakam is a
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n diplomat. She was the former
Permanent Representative
A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation.
Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...
of Sri Lanka to the
United Nations Office at Geneva
The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...
and Sri Lankan Ambassador to
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
.
[
]
Early life
Kunanayakam was born in and grew up in Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
, Sri Lanka. Her father was an Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...
Sri Lankan Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...
from Chundikuli in Jaffna who was a member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party, often abbreviated as LSSP (literally: Lanka Socialist Party, Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி), is a major Trotskyist politica ...
and the Government Clerical Services Union.[ Her mother was a ]Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
Indian Tamil from Badulla
Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District.
Geography
Badulla is ...
.[ Kunanayakam's maternal grandfather Gnanapandithan was a businessman in Badulla who had sympathies for the ]Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
and the Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...
.[
Kunanayakam was educated at Ladies College, Colombo and briefly at Vembadi Girls' High School in Jaffna.][ She became proficient in ]Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, na ...
, Sinhala and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
. In 1972, aged 19, she left Sri Lanka and travelled overland to Europe. She had intended to go to Netherlands but ended up in Switzerland. She worked in Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...
before going to Germany and enrolling at the University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
.[ She graduated with a ]Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...
in Economics and International Relations. She then returned to Geneva and enrolled at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She graduated in 1982 with a Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in International Relations.[ Her widowed mother and brothers moved to Geneva in 1983.]
Kunanayakam is fluent in Tamil, Sinhala, English, French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and Spanish.[
]
Career
After her graduation in 1982, Kunanayakam joined the United Nations Development Program
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
(UNDP) in Geneva, where she worked until 1983.[ Between 1983 and 1984 she served as a consultant and policy adviser to the ]Lutheran World Federation
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...
.[ In late July 1983 she sent a fax to the Lutheran World Federation delegates attending the ]World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...
conference in Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
, appraising them of the recent anti-Tamil riots that had occurred in Sri Lanka:
Just received news that Valvettiturai town has been razed and all inhabitants killed. Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...
has killed 1,000 in Trincomalee
Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...
. Two refugee camps in Colombo have been attacked. Food supplies of Jaffna are being blocked by the Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
. Our sources of information are UNDP Colombo, NORAD
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...
Colombo and Tamil Information Centre London.
The fax was leaked to the media, some of whom mentioned Kunanayakam's name.[ Kunanayakam was accused of being an "]Eelam
Eelam ( ta, ஈழம், ''īḻam'', , also spelled Eezham, Ilam or Izham in English) is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island now known as Sri Lanka.
The exact etymology and the original meaning of the word are not clearly know ...
propagandist".[ She also supplied information on the riots to World Vision International who presented some of them to ]Junius Richard Jayewardene
Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
, President of Sri Lanka
The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...
.[ Jayewardene branded Kunanayakam a "terrorist agent" who had supplied false information.][
Kunanayakam was a researcher for the ]International Peace Research Institute, Oslo
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO; no, Institutt for fredsforskning) is a private research institution in peace and conflict studies, based in Oslo, Norway, with around 100 employees. It was founded in 1959 by a group of Norwegian researcher ...
(1984–85) and Antenna International, Geneva (1985–86).[ She was also a consultant to the UNDP in sub-Saharan Africa in 1985.][ She returned to the Lutheran World Federation in 1986 and worked there until 1988.][ In March 1987 Kunanayakam represented the World Student Christian Movement at the 43rd session of the UN Commission on Human Rights and spoke about the torture, disappearances, illegal detentions and other abuses prevalent in Sri Lanka at that time.]
Kunanayakam was a human rights officer for the United Nations Centre for Human Rights from 1989 to 1990.[ In 1991 she became a ]research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...
at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...
. She was then a research officer at the International Labour Organization
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
(1991–93 and head of the department for development of policy at Bread for All, Bern
german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese
, neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen
, website ...
(1993–94).[ She was first officer at the ]Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
from 1994 to 2005, heading a unit on disappearances.[
Kunanayakam was appointed as Minister Counsellor to the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brazil in 2007. She was Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Cuba from 2009 to 2011. In 2011, she was appointed the ]Permanent Representative
A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation.
Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...
of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva
The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...
and Sri Lankan Ambassador to Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
. Kunanayakam was elected Chairperson/Rapporteur of the United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development in August 2011 and as Vice Chair representing the Asia Group of countries at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...
(UNCTAD) at its 58th Session.
Other activities
Kunanayakam is the founder of the Foundation on Multilateralism in Geneva and a founding member of the Observatory of Globalization in Paris, the South Group in Geneva and the Asia-Pacific Task Force, Geneva.[ She is author of several publications on international relations, including on the international monetary system, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, the United Nations reform process, and humanitarian interventions in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
]
References
External links
The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunanayakam, Tamara
Alumni of Ladies' College, Colombo
Alumni of Vembadi Girls' High School
Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Cuba
Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to the Holy See
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni
Heidelberg University alumni
Living people
Sri Lankan diplomats
Tamil people
Sri Lankan Tamil women
Sri Lankan Tamil writers
Sri Lankan women diplomats
Expatriates in Germany
Expatriates in Switzerland
Sri Lankan women ambassadors
Year of birth missing (living people)