Thriving Earth Exchange Advisory Board
General Secretary
Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement
Vinya Ariyaratne is the General Secretary of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka’s largest non-governmental grass roots development organization. Following a unique model based on Buddhism, Sarvodaya Movement serves over 15,000 village communities across ethnic and religious divides through an integrated approach to development, peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Dr. Ariyaratne is a physician by training and specialized in Public Health. He obtained his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) Degree from the De La Salle University in the Philippines in 1989 and his Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree from the Johns Hopkins University U.S.A. in 1990. He also holds the Degrees of Master of Science M.Sc. (1996) and Doctor of Medicine (MD) in Community Medicine (2003) from the Post-Graduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, U.K. (1992) and a Chevening Fellow at the Nuffield Institute of the Faculty of Medicine and Health of the University of Leeds, U.K. where he obtained with Distinction the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Management, Planning and Policy (2006). As the Executive Director of Sarvodaya, Dr. Ariyaratne was responsible for the implementation of the island-wide integrated community health, development and peace building programs of Sarvodaya through a network of over 50 district centers and training institutions with a full time staff of over 800. He has been extensively involved in health and development programs related to the war affected communities in Sri Lanka.