Dr. Ariyaratne is the President of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka’s largest non-governmental grassroots development organization that serves communities across ethnic and religious divides in Sri Lanka through an integrated approach to development, peace, and reconciliation. A trained physician with postgraduate qualifications from John Hopkins University and other notable institutions, Dr. Ariyaratne has over the decades worked closely with the government, colleges, and universities to develop innovative community health programs.
He has also played a central role in direct conflict resolution and reconciliation during Sri Lanka’s past and continuing bitter ethnic conflicts and threats of religious extremism. As a humanitarian and community medicine specialist, Dr. Ariyaratne has been involved in coordinating massive emergency responses, including one of the largest tsunami recovery programs in the country in 2004. He has also designed a trauma healing and reconciliation program to address the psycho-social effects faced by children affected by war.