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Grassroots attention required from private lenders: Humanitarian agencies collective
View(s):By Yoshitha Perera
The country’s economic collapse requires immediate grassroots attention from private lenders and people who want to lend a helping hand, as well as from humanitarian organisations, a collective of humanitarian agencies (including Sri Lanka Unites) said.
Three organisations, Sri Lanka Unites, LEADS Sri Lanka, and Foundation of Goodness, held a media briefing on Friday (9), where they discussed the actions they will implement to assist the people affected by the deteriorating economic situation.
In July, Sri Lanka Unites completed its 30-day National Peace Tour of the nation. “We toured through the districts, spoke with locals and young people who were rising as leaders, had workshops, etc. It was an eye-opening month,” said Prashan De Visser, president of Sri Lanka Unites (SLU).
Three organisations held a media briefing this week Pic by Indika Handuwala
He said that as humanitarian groups, they believe in a proactive response and developing solutions for families impacted by the economic crisis.
At the ceremony, SLU unveiled its new website, www.grassrootsunites.lk, which aims to bridge the gap between struggling families and those who want to help them.
All 25 districts are represented by the grassroots organisation coalition known as Grassroots Unites. Vishnu Vincent, Co-National Director of SLU, said: “The organisation seeks to unite our networks, skills, and expertise to better respond during crisis situations in our country.”
SLU has helped over 3,000 families with dry rations so far, and collectively over 12,000 families have benefited through a leading supermarket chain project as a whole. Keeping in line with the goal of supporting younger generations, the SLU team is also creating a database of 500 young children who are struggling to get basic nutritious meals.
The Foundation of Goodness, a humanitarian organisation founded in 1999, stated that it has special projects in place to help Sri Lankans access food, medicine, and education during the current crisis.
“Three major crisis response projects are now in progress at our organisation. Through the organisation’s ‘Feed the Hungry’ campaign, 30,000 vulnerable families have so far received ration packs,” said Sawanthri Jayawardena, Head of Communications for the Foundation of Goodness.
She added that they provided medicines worth Rs 33 million to over 53,000 patients in 16 hospitals through their ‘Medical Supplies’ programme, and 4,000 data connections for students finding it difficult to study during the crisis through their ‘School Supplies’ initiative.
As part of its ongoing crisis response efforts, LEADS, an organisation that prioritises lifesaving and targeted life-sustaining activities in vulnerable groups, including children, reported that it has started providing food to 7,026 households in 13 districts, food voucher assistance, and multipurpose cash grants to 17,250 households.
“The organisation also works to protect, prevent, and mitigate risks to children’s mental and emotional well-being and provides basic Mental Health and Psychological Support (MHPSS) training to 400 health workers and MHPSS for vulnerable children and adolescents,” according to Jude Perera, national programme manager at LEADS.
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