Sri Lankan peacebuilder awarded 'Rotary Alumni Global Service Award'

CONTRIBUTING to the many international accolades achieved by Sri Lankans this year, Pushpi Weerakoon has been awarded the 'Rotary Alumni Global Service Award'.

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This is the very first time a Sri Lankan has received this prestigious award and have been invited to address the Rotary International Convention, to be held this year from 21 to 25 June in Calgary Canada. This award is the highest honour presented by Rotary International to an outstanding Rotary alumnus whose achievements have enriched their profession and whose services to humanity exemplifies the spirit of Rotary. The award is intended to highlight the positive impact of Rotary programs and to inspire others worldwide to pursue service and leadership as the recipient.

Upon receiving the award, Pushpi will address the convention gathering together with other distinguish speakers such as Tawakkol Karman — the first woman from the Arab world to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Isabel C. Scarinci — a behavioural scientist with a deep commitment to the elimination of cancer disparities in lowand middle-income countries, Scott Simon — host of National Public Radio who has reported from five continents on 10 wars, winning every major award in US broadcasting.

Pushpi began her peacebuilding career in Sri Lanka, training grassroots leaders in mediation, to especially resolve conflicts risen due to Tsunami as the Director/Registrar of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute, a journey which also introduced her to the peacebuilding field since she had to travel to the security zones in the height of the civil conflict.

Since then, as a front liner, she uses the legal knowledge gained at the University of Buckingham UK to assist survivors and victims of manmade and natural disasters.