Saroja Sirisena is a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n diplomat. She serves as the

Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom The Sri Lankan high commissioner to the United Kingdom is the Sri Lankan envoy to United Kingdom. Countries belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations typically exchange high commissioners, rather than ambassadors. Though there are a few technica ...

, which she was appointed to in 2020. She has previously held diplomatic positions at the United Nations, as well as in Austria and India.

Early life and education

Sirisena was born in

Colombo, Sri Lanka Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

. An only child, she was daughter to a family of doctors and grew up in both England and Colombo. She attended

Devi Balika Vidyalaya Devi Balika Vidyalaya is a public national girls' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Girls are admitted at grade six, based on the results of an island-wide scholarship examination. Like other national schools it is controlled by the central governme ...

, a school in Colombo, and was active in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. After high school, she moved to Australia to study

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. She graduated from the university with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science, and later attended Ecole nationale d'Administration in France for her post-graduate studies.

Career

Between 1997 and 1998, Sirisena was the executive assistant to the

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial poli ...

. In 1998, she joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, where she served as the Assistant Director of Economic Affairs for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

until 2001. From 2001 to 2005, she was the First Secretary of the Permanent Delegation to the

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

(UNESCO). After this position, she became the Deputy Director of Economic Affairs for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2005. Sirisena moved to Mumbai when she was appointed

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

of Sri Lanka in Mumbai in 2014, a position that she held until 2018. As Consul General, she oversaw diplomatic relations with

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

in India. She has additionally held positions in Sri Lanka as part of

diplomatic missions A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Sirisena became the Director General of Economic Affairs and the Director General of Public Communications at the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2018. She held these positions until 2019, when she became the Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in Vienna. In March 2020, she began her position as

. In 2023, she was awarded the Diplomat of the Year from Asia and Oceania at ''

The Diplomat A diplomat is someone who represents a government in its relations with other governments. It may also refer to: Diplomat, the Diplomat or the Diplomats may refer to: Media * ''The Diplomat'' (magazine), a Washington, D.C. online foreign affa ...

'' magazine's annual Awards Ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirisena, Saroja Sri Lankan government officials Sri Lankan women diplomats Ambassadors of Sri Lanka to Austria Permanent representatives of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office in Vienna High commissioners of Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom Year of birth missing (living people) Living people