11 January 2021

Photo: R. Matias

HUMANITARIAN NEEDS AND PRIORITIES �FOOD SECURITY CRISIS

SRI LANKA

CONTEXT

• Severe crisis due to converging causes: 69.8 per cent inflation with high prices for food, cooking gas and fuel. Food inflation at 94.9 percent in September 2022.

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• Multifaceted impact of the crisis: food security, nutrition, availability of essential medicines and health services,  maintenance of livelihoods,  protection (including GBV and CP), and education.

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• A 40 per cent reduction of agricultural outputs in 2021-2022 Maha (Sept-March) and 2022 Yala (June-Sept) seasons, and a bleak outlook for the upcoming Maha harvest.

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• 79% of people resorting to food-based coping strategies as they are not able to afford food.

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• 6.3 million people nationally are moderately food insecure (FAO/WFP CFSAM). Malnutrition levels on the rise.

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• 66,000 people are severely food insecure.

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• Estimated 151 essential medicines, 3,500 essential surgical consumables and 531 regular laboratory items out of stock nationally in October. Price of drugs increased by 30 per cent.�
• Rise in GBV, child protection incidents, child negligence, school meals and essential interventions interrupted. 

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW

• Children with acute malnutrition are in need of supplementary feeding.

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• Agricultural inputs to support small-holder farmers in cultivation and to support livelihoods threatened by the effects of increased production costs.

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• Students in small-sized, resource poor schools are in need of support for continuous learning.

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• Children and at-risk girls and women continue to be in need of protection services. Data and reports indicate an increase in gender-based violence (GBV), and child protection incidents such as sexual assault, physical abuse and child negligence.

• Need for essential medical equipment and medicines for persons seeking emergency medical care including emergency obstetric care.

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW

Most affected:

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Estate Sector – most affected by food insecurity (more than half of households are food insecure).

Urban poor – in Colombo, Gampaha, Matara, Vanuniya and Mannar.

Rural poor – in several districts in Central Province, Uva Province, Sabaragamuwa Province and Northern Province.

Particularly vulnerable groups:

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Informal work force.

Smallholder paddy farmers and artisanal fishers.

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Women-headed households.

Pregnant women/caregivers.

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Children under 10 years.

Vulnerable school-aged children (educationally and/or socio-economically disadvantaged).

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

HNP: Update on activities

Ongoing work

PEOPLE REACHED

OVER

1M

OF CASH ASSISTANCE DISTRIBUTED

MORE THAN

$1M

Including nutrition items to over 4.5K at-risk pregnant women

FARMERS PROVIDED AGRICULTURAL INPUTS

160K

PEOPLE PROVIDED WITH IN-KIND FOOD ASSISTANCE AND CASH/VOUCHERS

390K

MORE THAN

MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN PROVIDED WITH BASIC EDUCATION SUPPORT

OVER

329K

PEOPLE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED HEALTHCARE

308K

Progress To Date

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

REVISED HNP: MAIN PARAMETERS

DURATION:

June–December 

2022

• Food Security: Provision of in-kind food assistance as well as CVA
• Agriculture & Livelihoods: Basic agricultural support and emergency livelihoods.
• Nutrition & WASH: Nutritional support to schoolchildren, CU5 and PLW, as well as provision of safe drinking water.
• Health: Provision and distribution of vital and essential medicines and supplies.
• Protection & Education: Support to general protection, protection from Gender-based Violence (GBV) and child protection (CP); supporting mental health and psychosocial services and education needs that expose the most vulnerable, especially children, to further risks. 

PRIORITY SECTORS AND NEEDS:

KEY FIGURES:

PEOPLE IN NEED PEOPLE TARGETED FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS (US$)

7.0 M

3.4 M

$149.7 M

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

Update on the HNP

Funding status

$75.5 M

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS USD $

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

S01

Save lives through the provision of food assistance and essential medicines, targeted nutrition services, safe drinking water and emergency livelihoods support for the most vulnerable

S02

Provide immediate agricultural support that allows the resumption of basic productive activities for the maintenance of livelihoods and food and nutrition security

S03

Provide protection from violence, especially that based on gender, age disability, and other vulnerabilities, and prevent and mitigate other protection risks through timely assistance, including mental health and psycho-social support and education

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

Humanitarian Impact �and Needs

FOOD SECURITY

6.3M 

People in Need

28 percent of the population are estimated to be food insecure (CFSAM)

$76.5M

Overview

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• The situation continues to deteriorate, as the crisis has had a profound impact on food security.
• Nearly one third of the population, or 6.3 million people, were estimated to be moderately food insecure in June (CFSAM).
• Two in five households are spending more than 75 percent of their income on food.
• The situation can deteriorate further as households exhaust their coping strategies.

Key Humanitarian Needs

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Provision of targeted food and cash/voucher assistance to the most vulnerable and food-insecure households.

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2.4M

People Targeted

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

AGRICULTURE & LIVELIHOODS

3.7M

People in Need

$23.3M

Overview

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• The impact of the crisis on agricultural production is immense.
• Decreasing food production and increased cost of fuel and agricultural inputs are impacting livelihoods of agriculture-dependent communities including small scale farmers, livestock keepers and fishers.
• Estimations that the agricultural production during the Maha 2022/2023 will again be insufficient.

Key Humanitarian Needs

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• Provision of cash assistance and agricultural inputs, support to livelihoods and trainings on best agricultural practices to small scale farmers, livestock keepers and fishers.
• Establishment of communal and household level gardens.

1.6M

People Targeted

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

NUTRITION & WASH 

Nutrition

2.8M People in Need

WASH

2.3M People in Need

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$31.2M

Overview

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• The nutrition situation in Sri Lanka was already alarming prior to the current crisis.
• Risk of increased malnutrition rates is exacerbated by the high cost of nutritious foods and disruption in government programmes.
• The Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate is at 15 percent, and likely to further increase unless immediate action is taken.

Key Humanitarian Needs

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• Prevention and treatment of SAM/MAM
• Urgent steps need to be taken to prevent further deterioration in the nutritional situation of vulnerable people, including schoolchildren, CU5 and PLW.
• Accessibility of safe drinking-water.

Nutrition

2.1M People Targeted

WASH

0.93M People Targeted

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

PROTECTION & EDUCATION

Protection

1.2M People in Need

Education

2.1M People in Need

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$9.1 M

Overview

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• Increased protection concerns, including child protection and GBV.
• Cases of child negligence, abuse, institutionalization and sexual abuse and exploitation continue to rise, with government resources to counteract in decline.
• Outward labor migration also putting many families at risk.

Key Humanitarian Needs

• More than 365,000 children, including children with disabilities, require case management support.
• Around 350,000 children, adolescent and caregivers require MHPSS services.
• Nearly 900,000 people are in need of GBV preventative and response programs.
• 1.1 million students and teachers in resource poor schools require assistance to ensure uninterrupted learning.
• Nearly 1 million students in secondary schools require MHPSS support.

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Protection

0.3M People Targeted

Education

1.4M People Targeted

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

HEALTH (INCLUDING SRH)

3.1M

People in Need

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$9.7M

Overview

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• The key impact of the economic crisis on the health sector has been on the procurement of medicines and medical supplies. Without adequate foreign exchange reserves, Sri Lanka has not been able to import essential commodities to keep the health system functional.
• As of early October, 120 essential medicines were out of stock at the national level. In addition, over 2,000 essential surgical consumables and laboratory consumables are out of stock.

Key Humanitarian Needs

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• Urgent need to replenish essential medicines and medical supplies that are out of stock to prevent death and protect lives. The inability to do so can have a long-lasting impact on the health outcomes of the population.

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0.86M

People Targeted

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

Response

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FOOD SECURITY

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• In-kind assistance will be provided to prioritized districts and communities with low market functionality, and with less access to cash transfer agents, also to guard against further inflation and price hikes in the coming few months
• Cash and voucher assistance will be provided to food-insecure households through financial service providers
• This way, the Food Security Sector aims to halt the alarming deterioration of food security in the country, by meeting the immediate food and nutrition needs of food insecure and most vulnerable households.
• 2.5 months of targeted food and cash/voucher assistance to the most vulnerable and food-insecure households.

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AGRICULTURE & LIVELIHOODS

• Protect Agriculture and diversify livelihoods
• In-kind inputs for fertilizer & seed material
• Provision of conditional and unconditional cash transfers to vulnerable farmers, livestock keepers and fishers
• Provision of livestock management services and inputs, including animal feed and animal health services
• Diversification of livelihoods through support of non-agricultural activities
• Establishment of communal and household level gardens

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

NUTRITION AND WASH

• Treatment of 48,000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) through the provision of therapeutic food (BP-100)
• Provision of multiple micro-nutrient supplements to 431,000 children in the age group 6 to 23 months
• Provision of pre-school meals to 123,000 children in the age group 2-5 years
• Provision of school meals to 1.2m children in the age group 6-10 years
• Provision of 448,000 pregnant and lactating women with cash support and nutritional packages
• Improve water treatment systems to ensure safe drinking water for 407,000 people

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

PROTECTION AND EDUCATION

• Safe and accessible channels to report sexual exploitation and abuse 
• Lifesaving and survivor-centered protection services for GBV through shelters and psychosocial first aid
• Targeted MHPSS for vulnerable children and adolescents and MHPSS messaging to manage stress and prevent violence
• Support most deprived children in small, resource-poor schools in rural and urban areas nation-wide, to ensure their uninterrupted access to education and learning through cash and in-kind modalities
• Support students and teachers in resource poor schools island-wide with teaching-learning materials and items (cash and in-kind) to assist learning and prevention of school drop-outs
• Educational programs to keep children in school and conduct awareness raising among parents

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

HEALTH

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• The health sector aims to prevent deaths and protect lives through the provision of essential medicines and medical supplies that are out of stock
• Provision of essential and life-saving sexual and reproductive health medications, commodities and supplies for more than 453,000 women of reproductive age and adolescents
• Enhance logistics management system to keep stock of required drugs and commodities to ensure uninterrupted access to essential drugs and commodities
• Integrate MHPSS services into the SRH service package for women and girls, adolescents and other vulnerable populations.

HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA

CROSS-CUTTING ASPECTS OF THE RESPONSE

Priority to interventions based on agreed vulnerability criteria. Categories identified as most vulnerable include children, pregnant and lactating women (PLW), persons with disabilities (PWD), women-headed households, migrants, different ethnic and religious minority groups, informal income earners and people vulnerable due to food insecurity.

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Role of cash-based interventions with main focus on providing short-term lifesaving assistance to the most vulnerable. Cash working group as harmonizer and coordinator.

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Accountability to Affected People (AAP) and Principle of Do No Harm.

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PSEA: 

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HUMANITARIAN COUNTRY TEAM SRI LANKA