The Cabinet of Ministers has approved a three-year project to improve nutrition services for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and for children under the age of five in four districts.
The Maternal and Early Childhood Nutrition Services Project will be implemented in Nuwara Eliya, Ratnapura, Polonnaruwa and Trincomalee.
Districts chosen for vulnerability
Those districts were selected because vulnerable groups there have been affected by worsening nutritional conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s economic crisis.
The project is intended to improve access to selected community-based nutrition services for pregnant and lactating mothers and for young children.
Grant funding
Funding comes through a US$2.73 million grant from the Japan Social Development Fund, which is administered by the World Bank Group.
The proposal to implement the project over three years was submitted by the Minister of Health and Mass Media and received Cabinet approval.
Maternal and child undernutrition became a sharper policy concern in Sri Lanka after the 2022 economic crisis pushed up food prices and cut household purchasing power, with estate and dry-zone districts among those most exposed.
