The German Federal Foreign Office granted funds to the Forum on Disarmament and Development (FDD) for the translation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the Sinhala and Tamil languages.
German Ambassador Jörn Rohde graced the occasion of the launch of the translated texts along with the Former Foreign Secretary and Former Governor of the Northern Province H. M. G. S. Palihakkara. Ambassador Rohde spoke of his personal reflections during his posting in Japan on visiting Hiroshima and the poignant reminder of the devastation that the city faced.
He also mentioned that Germany was committed to disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as being part of the German Foreign Policy.
The Ambassador hoped that the treaty texts being available in the vernacular languages will help raise awareness among the academia, the media, civil society and the general public for a wider discussion and understanding of the implications of a nuclearised world, the need for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and also the need for a ban on nuclear testing.
The translation of these treaty texts was spearheaded by Vidya Abhayagunawardena, who is the coordinator of FDD and a longstanding partner working with the Embassy on disarmament matters. One of the foremost scholars of Sri Lanka, Dr. Kumari Jayawardena contributed for the translation of a third book on the Nuclear Ban Treaty.
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