Sri Lanka’s recovery from Cyclone Ditwah is entering a slower phase, with more than 149,000 people still displaced and a $11.9 million funding shortfall in the Humanitarian Priority Plan, according to the latest update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
As of 3 April, OCHA said 68 partner organisations had reached over 291,000 people across all 25 districts, with women making up the majority of beneficiaries and 5,200 persons with disabilities also assisted. Displacement has fallen from a peak of 233,000 but remains dispersed, with many affected families still staying with host households or in temporary accommodation.
Only $23.4 million of the $35.3 million required under the plan has been pledged or secured, leaving health, agriculture, early recovery and nutrition underfunded. The number of safety centres has shrunk to 29, housing around 800 families in Badulla, Nuwara Eliya and Kegalle, with authorities now shifting towards tent-based arrangements as pressure mounts to define a clear exit from temporary shelter.
OCHA said resettlement remains constrained by hazard verification and land clearance delays, with the National Building Research Institute stretched thin by the volume of assessments needed for safe return. The agency warned that Middle East conflict-driven fuel and commodity cost increases are expected to feed into domestic inflation and household welfare, while heat and dry conditions are reducing hydroelectric output and raising the risk of power and water disruption in affected areas.
Cabinet has approved replanting grants of up to Rs. 500,000 per hectare for tea, Rs. 400,000 for rubber and Rs. 750,000 for coconut, alongside support for field crops and vegetables. The Defence Ministry’s Disaster Management Division has also consolidated previous compensation programmes into three new circulars, with minor amendments widening access for disadvantaged populations.
Separately, the Rebuilding Sri Lanka Presidential Task Force chaired by Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya met on Tuesday and directed officials to speed up compensation payments and systematic home repair and construction. The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment report was formally handed to the Prime Minister at the meeting, which was attended by Transport Minister Bimal Rathnayake, Labour and Deputy Finance Minister Anil Jayantha Fernando, Housing Minister Susil Ranasinghe and Defence Deputy Minister Aruna Jayasekara, among others.
Cyclone Ditwah, which hit in November 2025, caused 646 deaths and affected 2.2 million people across all 25 districts. The disaster remains a critical macro overlay on the government’s April relief package and its ongoing IMF Extended Fund Facility reviews.
