Sharing his first-hand experience as the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator for

UNDP in the last stage of Sri Lanka's Civil War between 2007 and 2011, Professor Neil Bhune
explained that the brutal 26-year-long war left behind thousands of IDPs (internally displaced
persons) and numerous losses. Unfortunately, there were several reasons why the UN's influence
on restoring peace and human rights mechanisms in Sri Lanka was limited during the civil war.
In this essay, I aim to discuss the three central reasons for this limited influence.

A significant barrier to the UN's efforts to safeguard civilians and uphold human rights
throughout the civil war was the Sri Lankan government's inability to cooperate. The
government viewed the UN's involvement as an intrusion on its sovereignty and was reluctant to
allow the UN to operate freely. The UN and other international organizations were often denied
access to IDP camps, making it difficult to monitor conditions and provide assistance. In
addition, the government did not want to be held responsible for violations of human rights and
wanted to control the narrative of the conflict.

Another reason for the UN's limited influence on restoring peace and human rights mechanisms
in Sri Lanka was the limited resources it had at its disposal. The global financial crisis, which
struck during the final stages of the conflict and had an impact on aid and funding from foreign
organisations, added to the government's already scarce resources. The UN's role in Sri Lanka
was primarily focused on providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict but
it did not have the mandate to intervene in the conflict or to hold perpetrators accountable for
human rights abuses. The UN was not adequately equipped to handle the scale and complexity of
the situation in Sri Lanka.

The existing political climate in Sri Lanka was another reason for UN’s limited influence. In the
north and east of Sri Lanka, the LTTE was a well-capitalized insurgent organisation that had
been fighting for an independent Tamil state. The complexity of the conflict made it challenging
for the UN to address its underlying causes and find a lasting solution that would restore peace
and justice in the country.

In conclusion, the UN has very little impact on restoring Sri Lanka’s peace and human rights
framework. The lecture carried out by Professor Neil Bhune was extremely educative and a great
eye-opener. He identified the fundamental causes for this limited influence to be the current
political environment in Sri Lanka, the lack of political will on the part of the international
community, and limited resources at the UN's disposal. He highlighted the complexities of the
situation in Sri Lanka and the need for greater cooperation between nations to address such crises
effectively. Overall, the lecture was a very valuable learning experience for me.