Climate Change Task Force

Chandrika Kumaratunga

Former Pres. - Sri Lanka

Serving as the 5th President of Sri Lanka, she hails from a family that has a long history in the socio-political arena of the country. Her father, S.W.R.D Bandaranaike served as Prime Minister. He was assassinated in 1959, when Chandrika was fourteen leading to her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike becaming the world's first female prime minister in 1960. She has served as Director Land Reforms Commission and as Chairperson of the Janawasa Commission for the alleviation of poverty. She worked in journalism for Le Monde and then as Managing Editor of the Dinakara Sinhala, a Sri Lankan Daily. She has also served as Expert Consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

She is currently member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

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