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This report is produced by the Office of the Resident Coordinator in collaboration with humanitarian partners and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. It covers the period from 16 December to 19 December 2025. The next situation report is scheduled on 23 December 2025
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Between 27 and 29 November, Cyclone Ditwah caused widespread flooding and landslides across Sri Lanka, affecting communities in all districts. The storm claimed lives, displaced many people from their homes and caused extensive damage to houses, roads, schools, and health facilities, with the most severe impacts recorded in the Central, Western, and North-Western Provinces. As of 19 December, the government reported 643 casualties, 183 people still missing, more than 66,000 people are residing still in the safety centre.
Damage to houses remain a key driver of humanitarian needs. As of 17th December, 101,055 houses partially and 6,288 fully are damaged. Many families returning to their communities are living in partially damaged homes or in makeshift conditions, increasing exposure to weather, health risks, and protection concerns. Protection concerns have increased among displaced communities, particularly for women and girls, as overcrowded shelters, disrupted services, and prolonged displacement heighten risks of gender-based violence, exploitation and psychosocial distress.
Approximately 1,185 schools and 2,720 preschools affected by flooding, severe winds, and landslides urgently require essential teaching and learning equipment, furniture, and minor repairs to enable safe reopening. Schools that are severely damaged or destroyed may remain non-functional in the near term, necessitating temporary learning spaces to ensure continuity of learning. In addition, around 500 schools used as safety centers will require thorough cleaning and minor repairs once displaced families return to their homes.
Livelihoods have been severely disrupted, especially among households reliant on subsistence farming, fisheries, daily wage labour, and small businesses. More than 106,000 hectares of paddy have been damaged during the Maha season, which typically supplies over 70% of annual rice production. A narrow 0–3month window now exists to support replanting and recover 25–30% of lost production, missing this window risks cascading impacts into 2026. Losses of crops, livestock, fishing gear, and other small productive assets have disproportionately affected poorer households with limited coping capacity and little access to compensation. Because the floods coincided with Maha cultivation, delayed or missed planting could carry food and income losses into the next season, with likely knock-on effects on local food availability and prices, particularly for small-scale farmers and low-income households.
Damage to water supply and sanitation systems in several affected areas is limiting access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation and increasing public health risks, particularly in displacement settings. Livelihoods have been significantly affected, particularly among households dependent on subsistence farming, fisheries, daily wage labour and small businesses.
A Joint Rapid Needs Assessment was conducted following Cyclone Ditwah, led by the Government with support from humanitarian partners, informed initial response planning. A broader inter-agency assessment is currently underway to refine understanding of evolving needs and priorities, with findings expected to inform future response planning and reporting.
According to national authorities, landslide risk remains elevated in several districts during the ongoing northeast monsoon, particularly in hilly and previously affected areas, with implications for safety, access and the feasibility of return.
GENERAL COORDINATION
The overall coordination for Cyclone Ditwah response is led by the Government through national and sub-national, with support from the United Nations, humanitarian partners, international organizations, national Civil Society Organizations and the Private Sector. The Disaster Management Centre continues to lead operational coordination, working closely with line ministries, district and divisional authorities to support response planning and implementation across affected areas. Local authorities play a central role in coordinating assistance at district and divisional level, often while being directly affected by the disaster themselves.
The United Nations, under the leadership of the Resident Coordinator, supports Government-led coordination through the activation of the Humanitarian Country Team, which brings together heads of humanitarian UN agencies and international and national civil society organisations to provide strategic direction and ensure coherence of humanitarian support. Operational coordination is facilitated through the Inter-Sector Coordination Group, convened by the Resident Coordinator’s Office, which provides a platform for technical coordination among designated sector leads and partners. Sector coordination mechanisms are being progressively activated and strengthened, with regular sector meetings convened to support information-sharing, joint analysis and alignment of activities. Technical working groups have been established for selected cross-cutting priorities, including Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA), and Accountability to Affected Populations and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (AAP/PSEA). A light logistics coordination arrangement has also been put in place to facilitate basic information-sharing and coordination among Government and humanitarian partners. Joint needs assessments and information management efforts are coordinated through the ISCG supporting the Government-led assessment process under the leadership of the DMC. Common reporting tools, including a 5W system and an online dashboard are rolled out to support response coordination, information-sharing and tracking of response activities. As of reporting date, more than 39 national and international partners are contributing information on response activities, reflecting the scale and breadth of engagement in the humanitarian operation.
The working group on accountability to affected people is initiating a rapid mapping of partner activities, developing common templates to collect and share complaints and feedback, and introducing a set of organization-level indicators to monitor partners’ commitments under the Humanitarian Priorities Plan. Partners were also briefed on government plans to strengthen complaints and feedback management systems, supporting improved coordination and alignment across the response. Efforts to integrate disability-inclusive communication approaches across information dissemination and community engagement activities were promoted among partners implementing the Humanitarian Priorities Plan.in addition, areas related to accountability to affected people were integrated into the phase 2 of the Joint Rapid Needs Assessment, capturing community information needs, trusted sources of information, preferred communication channels, preferred mechanisms for providing complaints and feedback on assistance and the conduct of relief workers, as well as perceptions of community participation in decision-making.