Japan partners with UNDP to provide USD 3.8 million to support women’s economic wellbeing in Sri Lanka

Japan, partnering with UNDP is committed to provide LKR 1,175 million (approx. USD 3.8 million) to support improvement of women’s economic wellbeing for smallholder farmer families in Sri Lanka, UNDP Sri Lanka said. 

On 24th April, Dinesh Gunawardena, Prime Minister, Mizukoshi Hideaki, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka and Ms. Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative, UNDP Sri Lanka, launched the 2 new livelihood projects that address the economic crisis in Sri Lanka at Temple Trees.

The ongoing socio-economic crisis has had serious impacts on the agricultural sector in Sri Lanka. The rising energy costs and evolving climate change impacts have further exacerbated due to the situation. In response, the Government of Japan through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka, will provide approximately LKR 1,175 million (approx. USD 3.8 million) to support vulnerable smallholder farming families in the Dry Zone districts, namely North-Central, North-Western and Eastern Provinces, with a focus on women’s economic empowerment and adoption of green agricultural technologies.

Funded by the Japanese Supplementary Budget (JSB) and working together with the Government of Sri Lanka and relevant stakeholders, the intervention aims to achieve its objectives through two projects; the first focusing on diversifying livelihoods and introduce entrepreneurship programmes, targeting women-led MSMEs. The second aims to strengthen energy and food security, through the revival of the rural agricultural economy by providing access to innovative markets, value and supply chain improvements along with the adoption of modern, green agricultural technologies which will increase productivity and efficiency.

A total of 58,000 women and youth will directly benefit from these projects, while indirectly impacting over 132,000 vulnerable community members from the North-Central, North-Western and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka.

To mark the beginning of these projects and to recognize the Government of Japan’s support to the interventions, a launch event was held today with the participation of Prime Minister Hon. Dinesh Gunawardena, H.E. Mizukoshi Hideaki, Ambassador of Japan to Sri Lanka, Ms. Azusa Kubota, Resident Representative, UNDP Sri Lanka, Mr. Tetsuya Yamada, Chief Representative of JICA in Sri Lanka, Hon. Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation, Hon. Kanchana Wijesekera, Minister of Power and Energy, senior government officials and development partners.