Pic by Nimalsiri Edirisinghe

Under the theme “Empowering for a sustainable community”, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Sri Lanka collaborated with the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) to uplift 600 urban poor households in the Colombo municipality as part of the Urban Agri and Women’s Empowerment Project.

The trilingual closing event for the programme was held recently and featured speeches by representatives of the FAO, UNFPA and UNV Sri Lanka in addition to a question and answer session with some of the project’s beneficiaries. The event was concluded by a community visitation where attendees were able to see the outcomes of the programme firsthand.

The Urban Agri and Women’s Empowerment Project, which was done as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Outreach Project, was aimed at improving the community’s food security as well as access to health and hygiene.

“This was a unique initiative where the UNFPA, UNV and FAO all came together and addressed women, agriculture, nutrition, food security, sexual and reproductive health in one project”, said Sarah Soysa, UNFPA Programme Analyst.

The programme provided agriculture kits containing fertiliser, seeds and other inputs for urban gardens, comprehensive training on urban gardening plus nutrition packs with essential rations to 600 urban poor households in the Colombo municipality. 1,000 dignity kits, 1,000 maternity kits and comprehensive counselling on food, sexual and reproductive health (including maternal health) were also provided as part of the initiative. The initiative was done using a community-driven approach and involved training peer leaders from within the community on topics like nutrition, health and hygiene, gender-based violence, and home gardening to support the 600 households.

Urban poverty: a rising concern in Colombo
With the highest urban flight in Sri Lanka, Colombo’s population is growing at a considerable pace. Resultants of this fact are the emerging pockets of slum settlements which have minimal facilities and exemplify urban poverty. The SDG Outreach Project’s recipient families were selected from populations most affected by Sri Lanka’s ongoing economic crisis within the Colombo municipality and included households with pregnant and lactating mothers, children under five years, older persons and disabled persons.

Food insecurity
The four elements of food security can be characterised as food availability, food access, food utilisation, and stability. The joint FAO-WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment conducted in June 2022 revealed that 6.3 million of Sri Lanka’s population were food insecure. A 2021 study by N. L. Gunawardhana and Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara further revealed that 72% of urban households within the Colombo municipality were food insecure.
This has only worsened with the ongoing economic crisis. 

Using the support provided as part of the SDG Outreach Project, the 600 families have been able to take a more sustainable approach to food by reducing their food and nutrition-related costs while accessing more diverse and nutritious foods. 

“By promoting healthy eating habits, we have contributed to a healthier population in these wards while reducing food and nutrition-related costs in their households. These efforts were not only beneficial for the households that received support, but also for the community as a whole”, said Dihan Hettige, FAO Assistant Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Health and hygiene
Despite the removal of the general customs duty on female sanitary products on May 31, 2022, the Sri Lankan economic crisis has led to the price of these products exceeding their already steep amount. The result is that these necessities have become a luxury for many.

To address this issue as well as gender equality and access to sexual, reproductive and maternal health, the SDG Outreach Project included the provision of 1,000 dignity kits and 1,000 maternity kits containing essential items for the health and hygiene of women and girls.

The value of volunteerism
“Sri Lanka has a long history and a rich culture of volunteerism. It is a part of the social fabric of our nation”, said Shyamalee Jayasinghe, Country Coordinator for UN Volunteers Sri Lanka.

The SDG Outreach Project was run by 15 UN Volunteers and 70 V-Force volunteers.

“In a crisis, vulnerabilities do not come to an end immediately. What really excites me about this project is that, even as we responded to immediate needs, we also taught people skills they can use to support themselves”, said Kunle Adeniyi, UNFPA Representative for Sri Lanka and Country Director for the Maldives.