This revised Emergency Appeal is being revised from CHF 1,070,504 to CHF 186,642 in cash, kind, or services to support the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) to assist 20,000 drought affected families (some 125,000 people). The operating timeframe is being revised from 18 months to slightly over five months, and will be completed by 9 April 2013. A Final Report will be available by 9 July 2013.

SELVANAGAR, Sri Lanka (AlertNet) – When she came back to her house almost two-and-a-half years after fleeing it amid intense fighting, Rajina Mary looked desperately for one thing – the well in her garden.

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21/01/2013 – Kurunegala, Sri Lanka: The Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) supported by the International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has taken steps to assist 20,000 families in 7 districts that faced a severe drought situation during 2012 in rural Sri Lanka. The major intervention is to provide 10,000 rupee livelihood grant to 1,400 families. In the initial step, 200 families in Kurunegala District received this cash grant at a ceremony held at the SLRCS Kurunegala branch premises.

Extreme weather events forced Sri Lankans to come face to face with the disastrous impact of changing climate patterns.

The United Nations World Food Program(WFP) has agreed to provide Sri Lanka food items worth Rs.million 4,524 (US dollars 34.7 million)during the next two years.

WFP Resident Director Mads Lofvall handed over the related document Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa at the Ministry office yesterday. The financial assistance from January 1, 2013 to December 2014 is expected to cover maternal and child nutrition, food for those whose work involves risk, lunch for school children, benefitting a total of 325,000 per year.

An earthquake with magnitude 5.6 has hit South Khorasan province in Iran, killing at least eight people and injuring 12. As of 6 December, no further information available

China’s wheat imports hit seven-year high

Despite its position as the world’s largest wheat producer, China’s imports of wheat hit a seven-year high for the first nine months of 2012, reaching 3.21 million tonnes, according to official statistics, reported the Daily Times newspaper.

The Global Overview is a weekly update that provides a snapshot of current humanitarian priorities and recent events. The Global Overview collates information from a wide range of sources, including Reliefweb and media sources, and displays this information in a manner that allows for quick comparison of different humanitarian crises.

By Amantha Perera

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, Nov 10 2012 (IPS) - War is seldom good for anything, especially protracted conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka, which dragged on for over three decades and claimed between 80,000 to 100,000 lives.

But in a strange twist, this island nation’s civil war seems to have been a blessing in disguise for the precarious water resources in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, the region that bore the brunt of the fighting.