The forty-ninth session of the Governing Council of IFAD (GC49) is being held in Rome, Italy, from 11-12 February 2026. Sri Lanka is represented at GC49 by the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury, S.S. Mudalige, and the Counsellor at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Rome, Diana Perera.
On the sidelines of GC49, the delegation held a bilateral meeting with Vice-President of IFAD, Gérardine Mukeshimana. Both parties discussed the status update of the two ongoing projects in Sri Lanka funded by IFAD, and Sri Lanka requested co-financing from IFAD for another development project; “Mahaweli Water Security Development Project” to which the Vice-President of IFAD responded positively.
The delegation also participated in a meeting with the IFAD President and Member States of the Asia and the Pacific (APR) region, entitled "APR Roundtable: Investing in Rural People for Food Security, Economic Growth and Stability."
During the GC, it was heartening to note that Director of Lak Nature International, Sri Lanka, Lakmini Weerakkoddy, was among the panelists at the discussion titled "Young Entrepreneurs at the Heart of Transformation: From Vision to Impact.