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France offers Rs 190m to fund nutritious food for 9,000 families
View(s):By Kapila Bandara
About 9,000 Sri Lankan families facing a dramatic increase in food insecurity in the country are expected to benefit from nutritious food for a year in a programme funded by France with a contribution of 500,000 euros (Rs 190.3 million) to the United Nations World Food Programme.
A basket of food worth Rs 15,000 will be distributed to each family every fortnight. This will contain eggs, rice, fresh milk, red lentils and other protein-rich pulses, the WFP announced Friday.
Jean-François Pactet, Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka, meets with Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, WFP Sri Lanka Representative and Country Director, to discuss plans for improving food and nutrition security.
Along with an acceleration in food insecurity, Sri Lank’s poverty rate has jumped from 13.1% to 25.6% between 2021 and 2022.
In a study in June and July this year, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation found though their ‘Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission’ that 6.3 million Sri Lankans, or about 30% of the population, are food insecure.
Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka, Jean-François Pactet, who presented his credentials on November 11 in Colombo, said in a statement, the “French contribution to WFP in Sri Lanka will bolster the resilience of the most vulnerable populations and help fight malnutrition among children below five years old’’.
France’s contribution is in line with its International Strategy for Food Security, Nutrition and Sustainable Agriculture (2019-2024) and its recent commitments in the framework of the ‘Nutrition for Growth’ initiative to ensure healthy, nutritional and sufficient food for all and enable populations to regain their food autonomy.
Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, WFP Sri Lanka Representative and Country Director. said the funds from France “will enable us to provide critical food assistance to young children to stave off malnutrition”. He noted that parents are cutting back on what they eat to be able to feed their children. “Steep food price increases, loss of jobs and reduced incomes are pushing nutritious meals out of reach for millions of people.’’
WFP is joining hands with the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians to reach children in areas where there is high malnutrition.
Together with the Family Health Bureau and the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, children who need nutrition will be identified by medical officers and midwives at child welfare clinics, the WFP said. The partners will track child health standards by monitoring their progress over a year.
Earlier this month, the UN team in Sri Lanka and non-governmental organisations revised and extended their joint Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan, which aims to provide life-saving assistance to 3.4 million people. The extended plan needs US$70 million in additional funds to reach a total of US$149.7m.
The HNP — aligned with appeals from other UN agencies — has raised US$79m for Sri Lanka with support from the United States and USAID, Australia, Japan including JICA, the UN Central Emergency Relief Fund, as well as Canada, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, Italy, EU, Switzerland, France, and with additional support from the UK, Germany, Thailand, Sweden, Georgia, Latter Day Saint Charities and private individuals and organisations.
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