Himali Jinadasa

Early life and family

Born in the UK when her father was covering a diplomatic assignment for the Sri Lanka High Commission in London, she attended Northolt High School and Ealing Junior Music School (Middle School) studying the flute, violin and theory of music and was auditioned for the Royal College of Music in 1983.

Returning to Sri Lanka she attended Musaeus College and went on to follow her graduate studies at the University of Colombo specializing in history, and in the field of law passed the Preliminary Examination, Attorney –at –Law Sri Lanka Law College. She also holds a Msc. History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science(LSE).

Career

Himali Jinadasa started her career as a Researcher for the Commission for the Elimination of Discrimination and Monitoring of Human Rights (CEDMHR) preceding institution to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Sri-Lanka Foundation, on an analysis on the perception of discrimination through a survey of complaints submitted to the Commission.

Soon after completing her studies at the LSE she was appointed as National Land and Property Advisor and District Land and Property Officer /Advisor, Bobonaro for the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

At the end of mission she was appointed to the Secretariat for Co-ordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP), Presidential Secretariat which was at that time headed by Jayantha Dhanapala as Director Presidential Initiative-National Advisory Council for Peace and Reconciliation (NACPR), consisting of Political, Religious and Civil Society Committees (September 2004 – February 2007), established by Her Excellency the President Chandrika Kumaratunga, she also supported the proceedings of the All Party Conference established by H.E. the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

She was concurrently a Lecturer in Comparative Peace Processes for the University of Bradford, and was also a member of the Government delegation for the final round of Peace Talks with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) held in Geneva, 2006.

She was assigned to the Ministry of Resettlement which was responsible for the co-ordinating of the services of the welfare centres established for the 290,000 internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka (IDP)s following the end of the 30 year war in May, 2009, and facilitate their return to their areas of origin in the former conflict affected areas.

In 2010 she was appointed as an Advisor to the Minister Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, MP, Ministry of Industry and Commerce (Sri Lanka), among a number of initiatives she implemented was the ‘Sri Lanka Peace Collection’ program[1] to support livelihoods for 80 war widows in conjunction with the Office of the Assistant US Trade Representative for Central and South Asia (A/USTR) Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

As Director- General, Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB) she organized the first ever multilateral biz delegation to Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Commonwealth Businesswomen's Network to support advocacy for policy formation within the Commonwealth,[3] and was also the Vice-Chairperson of the National Apprentice and Industrial Training Agency (NAITA).[4]

The Ist. Female Chairperson appointed to the National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA), she led the Country Delegation for the South Asian Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium Group (SAWES) organized by the Secretary of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) U.S. Department of State, South and Central Asia (SCA) Division and the SAARC Secretariat. (2014-)[3] and a member of the Commonwealth Business Women’s Network,Commonwealth Secretariat. She was selected by Forte Foundation & Financial Times FT Non-Executive Directors’ Club, UK for ‘Global Board Ready Women’[4] a global initiative started by the European Business School Women on Board Taskforce and was recognized for her service for women with an Appreciation Award, Professional & Career Women’s Awards, Women in Management (WIM).

Himali Jinadasa has also for the last eight years also held the position of UNESCO Country Focal Point for Sri Lanka, UNESCO Cluster Office-New Delhi, currently a Non-Resident Agency (NRA) in Sri Lanka. She was also a contributor to the Final Civil Society Report on the UN Decade of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) which was submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in 2011.

Interests

Former Co-Principal Flautist, Lanka Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rohan Joseph De Saram.

[1] Sri Lanka Peace Collection debuts to empower war widows, http://www.ft.lk/article/362172/Sri-Lanka-Peace-Collection-debuts-to-empower-war-widows, Financial Times, 18 October 2014.

[2] Biz delegation from C'wealth in Colombo, http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/03/10/business/biz-delegation-cwealth-colombo, March 10, 2016.

[3] ‘Women as engines of economic growth’ http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2012/12/09/fea01.asp, Sunday Observer, December 12, 2012.

[4] ‘Forte Foundation announces list of board-ready women; holds "Get on Board" event as part of 2020 Women on Boards national effort to increase the number of women on corporate boards’ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forte-foundation-announces-list-of-board-ready-women-holds-get-on-board-event-as-part-of-2020-women-on-boards-national-effort-to-increase-the-number-of-women-on-corporate-boards-183249752.html, PR News September 12, 2012.