Australia Awards Alumni South Asia

I am a member of the Sri Lanka Administrative Service, at present working as the Assistant Secretary to the President, at the Presidential Secretariat of the Government of Sri Lanka. In my profession, I have to deal with many Development Administrative issues such as Citizen Services, Poverty Alleviation, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management etc. As my academic background is mostly related to science stream, I was of the view to enhance my knowledge and experience in Development Administration to support Sri Lanka to be the ‘Wonder of Asia’.

I was privileged to be a recipient of an Australian Development Scholarship (ADS) through a very competitive process, which is a more esteemed scholarship that could obtain by any government officer in the public service of Sri Lanka. ADS have several priority sectors identified by them for each partner country. The Main objective of the ADS is to strengthen human resource capacity in AusAID partner countries to contribute to long-term development needs and promote greater stability in the identified priority sectors in those countries. ADS build-up scholars with the skills, confidence and knowledge to modify and influence the development road map of their own countries. The Master of Environment program, which I enrolled, crosses through nine faculties at the University of Melbourne and allows me to access a wide range of Environment, Development, Governance and Management relevant subjects taught by academics with a strong profile in Development Administration, Environmental Sustainability and other aspects in Sustainable Development. Not only the modern advanced knowledge & technology on the subject available in the University, but the policy planning, good practices in research & project management, capacity development on technological advancements, conceptual and attitudinal improvement, enhancement of self confidence and improve the competency in decision making are some of the skills & knowledge I acquired during my studies in Australia. Further, I realised that the participation in a post graduate study programme in abroad (especially in a English speaking country) helped me to improve my language and communication skills as well as the expansion in interpersonal relationships and cross cultural sensitivity. I am of the view that it helped me to enhance my capacity up to international standard and improve my service delivery to the public of my country at a highest international quality. These qualities obviously improved my competence in policy planning, implementation, administration & decision making after my return to Sri Lanka. Therefore I joined as an Assistant Secretary to the President of Sri Lanka to ensure the highest quality of citizen centric service delivery at the Presidential Secretariat. As the Citizens Service Division of the Presidential Secretariat, our prime objective at this phase is to obtain ISO 9001:2008 to this division to certify the quality and standard of our service delivery. I believe my contribution would be vital in this process due to my enhanced skills and confidence to face the challenges.

I am very delighted about the opportunity given to me by both the Governments of Sri Lanka and Australia. Further, I am very pleasure to be a prestigious scholar of Australian Development Scholarship.

C.S.Harsha Vithanaarachchi (B.Sc., M.Sc., M.Env, PGD(IR)),
Sri Lanka Administrative Service Assistant Secretary to the President
Presidential Secretariat
Sri Lanka.

AusAID ADS Scholar 2009/2010