Australia announced that it will provide 50 million US dollars to support Sri Lanka to meet urgent food and health care needs.
Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel. Australia will contribute an immediate 22 million dollars to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs. Australia will also provide 23 million dollars in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.
On other hand, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said that nearly five million people are food insecure and in need of assistance in Sri Lanka. It said, Nutritious foods, such as vegetables, fruits and protein-rich products are now out of reach for many low-income families.
According to media reports, WFP’s recent surveys indicated 86 per cent of families are resorting to at least one coping mechanism, including eating less, eating less nutritious food and even skipping meals altogether.