On Monday 16 June 2008, Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala, President Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, will speak on ‘The Urgency of Nuclear Abolition' from 11am.
In October 2007, Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala was elected as President of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. As the eleventh president, he follows a distinguished line of eminent scientists and thinkers tracing back to Pugwash Conferences founder, philosopher Bertrand Russell. Mr. Dhanapala is a former Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations (1998-2003), former candidate for the post of UN Secretary General and former Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the US (1995-97) and to the UN Office in Geneva (1984-87). He was widely acclaimed for his Presidency of the 1995 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review and Extension Conference, a landmark event in disarmament history. He is currently Chairman of the UN University Council, a member of the Governing Board of SIPRI, and several other advisory boards of international bodies. He has also been a member of both the Canberra Commission (1996) and the WMD Commission (2006).
This meeting will be chaired by Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow for Non-Proliferation, and will take place on the Fourth Floor at Arundel House,13-15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP Kathleen James on james@iiss.org or tel.020 7395 9109
