| Jayantha Dhanapala | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Kandy University of Peradeniya |
| Occupation | Diplomat |
| Religion | Buddhist |
Professor Jayantha Dhanapala is a member of the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists[1] and a governing board member of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.[1] Dr. Dhanapala was Sri Lanka's official candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations, before withdrawing from the race on 29 September 2006. From 2007 - President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.
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Dhanapala was born in Sri Lanka on 30 December 1938. His family hails from the town of Badulla. Dhanapala was educated at prestigious Trinity College in Kandy. He gained a reputation as an all rounder as a schoolboy and was awarded the Ryde Gold Medal in 1956. At the age of 17 Jayantha Dhanapala won a contest with an essay titled "The World We Want" and travelled to the US where he met Senator John F. Kennedy and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
He entered the Sri Lankan diplomatic service and served in London, Beijing, Washington, D.C., New Delhi and Geneva. Dhanapala was appointed Ambassador in Geneva (1984–87)—he was also accredited to the UN and was appointed Sri Lanka's Ambassador to the United States of America based in Washington D.C. from 1995-97.
Dhanapala was widely acclaimed for his Presidency of the 1995 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference, a landmark event in disarmament history, because of his crafting of a package of decisions balancing the twin objectives of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and the concerns of the nuclear weapon states and the non-nuclear weapon states which was adopted without a vote.The New York Times observed that Jayantha Dhanapala 'was a diplomat mostly unknown outside the arms-control world until he was elected to preside over this conference.'
Dhanapala was hand picked by UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan to take on the challenging job of Under Secretary General to re-establish the Department of Disarmament after the UN reforms of 1997 (1998–2003). During his tenure he piloted the UN role in arresting the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, anti-personnel landmines, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction while reinforcing existing norms and norm-building in other areas such as missiles. He also broke new ground both in-house in taking managerial initiatives in gender mainstreaming and in work-life issues, as well as in the disarmament field by innovating the exchange of weapons for a development programme in Albania and other areas, and also in the cross-sectoral linking of disarmament with development, the environment and peace education programmes.
Dhanapala was appointed Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP)in Sri Lanka from 2004 - 2005. He was also Senior Special Advisor to both Presidents Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapakse during the period 2005-2007.
Dhanapala was the weakest candidate for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations elections 2006 as he represented SriLanka which was involved in a civil war. The opposition parties in Sri Lanka joined hands with the government on the day that his candidacy was announced.
' The UN needs the leadership of a person who has the vision, experience and diplomatic skills to re-engineer the Organization, so that it will be able to meet the challenges ahead, and the person to me- is undoubtedly Jayantha Dhanapala.' (Mangala Samaraweera, Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka)
' Jayantha Dhanapala of Sri Lanka is a very strong candidate. He is highly respected as a diplomat by the international community. Dhanapala was an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. He has strong managerial skills and has gravitas. Dhanapala is known as a 'people person' who is at ease with himself and at ease with others. Dhanapala is a leader and is known as a man of integrity and character. This candidate is a first class diplomat who made a reputation as a solid UN Manager. The organisation needs someone of Dhanapala's calibre to take the UN forward.' (Ivan Corea)
Jayantha Dhanapala with R. Rydell, Geneva: United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, 2005
Jayantha Dhanapala (ed.), Geneva: UNIDIR, 1993, published for UNIDIR by Dartmouth (Aldershot)