The former Ambassador of Sri Lanka, Mrs Grace Asirwatham, took up her duties as the new Deputy Director-General on 1 April 2011. She succeeds Mr John Freeman from the United Kingdom, who had served in that capacity since April 2006.
Mrs Asirwatham has had a long career in the Sri Lankan diplomatic service during which she has held several positions in Colombo, most recently as Director-General for South Asia and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. She has served overseas in Pakistan, Germany and as Ambassador to Nepal and The Netherlands.
In this last capacity, Ambassador Asirwatham was concurrently the Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the OPCW where she served, inter alia, as Vice-Chairperson of the 14th Conference of States Parties in 2009.
Ambassador Asirwatham is married with two children, and enjoys painting in her spare time.