Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, the Country Chair of Global Dignity in Sri Lanka, delivered the message from President Sirisena to one of the founders of Global Dignity, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, during its Annual Country Chair meeting on 28-29th of April 2016 at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo.

In his message President Sirisena wished success for the 10th anniversary of Global Dignity and highlighted the value of this important initiative for today's society, especially to educate school children at a young age on dignity and respect which will help the reconciliation process.

My country is trying to recover from the three decade long brutal conflict that left deep scars on our social fabric. In 2015 when I was elected President I promised my people to introduce genuine reconciliation. It is important to learn at school level to respect other ethnic and religious groups, especially at a time like this with the rise of violent non state actors disturbing the global order.

Mr. Abeyagoonasekera was also invited to speak during the panel discussion held on How we can hold on to fundamental human values in a time of polarization and conflict which was organized by Nobel Peace Center in collaboration with the Global Dignity.

It is very important to include Global dignity to our school curriculum to teach children of the importance of dignity, Role of Education for Reconciliation is a key area and teaching dignity to children will definitely help the reconciliation process, Mr. Abeyagoonasekera said in his comments.

Global Dignity is the brainchild of Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland and John Hope Bryant of the United States. The Honorary Board is made up of individuals who have advanced social causes and spread Global Dignity values in their own work, including: Professor Amartya Sen, Sir Richard Branson, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Ambassador Andrew Young and President Marti Ahtisaari. In 2012 Mr. Abeyagoonasekera was chosen as the Country Chair by the Crown Prince and the Board of Global Dignity.

Global Dignity is an independent, idealistic and politically neutral initiative. The vision of Global Dignity is to promote dignity-centered leadership, to foster global dialogue on dignity and to engage young people in discussion about the meaning and importance of dignity. The Global Dignity is conducted at schools in 60 countries around the world.