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Sri Lanka

WFP Sri Lanka Country Brief, December 2016

Situation Report
Source
Posted
Originally published

Highlight

  • Sri Lanka is experiencing drought. Assessments revealed that 915,000 people have been affected in 23 districts among the 25 districts in Sri Lanka.

  • The Ministry of Disaster Management and WFP jointly organized Simex – a ‘Simulation Exercise’. The three-day exercise enabled one hundred emergency response experts from the Government, UN agencies and NGOs to coordinate a timely and effective response to a national emergency.

Operational Updates

  • The Simulation Exercise (Simex) workshop was identified as a primary need to improve the technical expertise of disaster response officials by the Ministry of Disaster Management in the aftermath of the emergency response to cyclone Roanu.

  • Based on a request from the Disaster Management Centre, WFP technical experts led the preliminary drought rapid assessment using the ‘72 hour assessment approach’. The report will be submitted to the Cabinet Ministers in early January 2017 by the Minister of Disaster Management.

  • Thanks to the generous funding from the Japan Association for the WFP-supported school meals programme in the Northern Province, the country office will be able to continue providing pulses and oil for schoolchildren for a few more months. Part of the contribution will be used to pilot cash transfers for the school meals programme.

  • A training for trainers workshop was held by WFP with the Ministry of National Policies and Economic Affairs. The training equipped WFP and government staff with the necessary knowledge and skills to formulate resilience building projects. This is a timely exercise as WFP and the Ministry begin a resilience building project through food assistance for asset creation activities funded by KOICA.
    Inception and training workshops will be conducted in 12 project districts starting from 9 January 2017.

  • Resilience building and livelihood projects started in two districts (Kilinochchi and Monaragala) supported by the Alwaleed funds. The project are about micro water reservoir rehabilitation, increasing the production of paddies, vegetables and organic farming in climate affected communities.

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