WORKING WITH WOMEN ACCELERATES PROGRESS TOWARDS FOOD SECURITY

Women participating in rebuilding a water tank as part of a WFP supported resilience building project

This year’s UN theme for International Women’s Day (IWD), celebrated on March 8, is think equal, build smart, innovate for change. It resonates with WFP’s gender-transformative approach: working to give everyone lives of dignity, choice and opportunities.   

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to recognise the significance of putting women and girls front and centre to tackle hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Reducing inequalities and barriers that exclude women is critical to reaching the global goal of a Zero Hunger world by 2030. 

Poor access and availability of food, especially affordable nutritious food, directly links to malnutrition – a major issue in Sri Lanka where rates of wasting or ‘thinness’ are some of the highest in the world, and are unchanged over the last decade, with women and girls greatly impacted

Food insecurity and malnutrition in Sri  Lanka remain a major challen

ge. In most countries including ours, women produce between 60 and 80 per cent of food and are responsible for half of national food production. Yet, recognition of women’s critical contribution to household food security is very low. 

Poor access and availability of food, especially affordable nutritious food, directly links to malnutrition – a major issue in Sri Lanka where rates of wasting or ‘thinness’ are some of the highest in the world, and are unchanged over the last decade, with women and girls greatly impacted. In addition to undernutrition, the World Health Organisation (WHO) STEP survey conducted in 2015 found more women to suffer from overweight and obesity than their male counterparts (34 per cent in female and 24 per cent in male). 

Malnutrition also is linked to Sri Lanka’s high incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease and diabetes which cause more than three quarters of all deaths. Nearly one in five people die prematurely from NCDs. 

“Efforts to empower women and to be solution providers are an integral part of WFP’s USD 46 million investment in Sri Lanka over five years (2018-2022), recognising the often-unacknowledged but life-changing contributions of women and girls in Sri Lanka,” said Brenda Barton, WFP representative in Sri Lanka. 

Working in partnership with the government and others, WFP is working to transform families and communities to improve productivity and income of smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities, especially women; helping to ensure children receive a needed nutritious meal at school; tackling the underlying causes of high and stagnant malnutrition rates; and assisting the government to prepare and respond in times of climate shocks which can have a detrimental effect on access to food and nutrition amongst communities. 

Karthiga, a young woman, undergoing skills training and seed funding. She is now an entrepreneur

Specifically, WFP is building off a three-year project funded by the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) toenhance resilience and support livelihoods through commercialised home gardening, marketable skills training for vulnerable women and youth and bolstering against climate shocks through improved irrigation and water availability. These projects will strengthen communities in some of the most vulnerable parts of the country to better withstand the impact of Sri Lanka’s frequent climate shocks. 

WFP and ILO’s project EMPOWER is building peace through social and economic empowerment of women in Northern  Sri Lanka. Funded by the UN Peace Building Fund, the project is increasing access to economic empowerment, social integration, resilience and peace-building for conflict affected women in Mullaitivu

WFP and UNFPA have also recently embarked on a new joint project to improve women’s nutrition and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by providing critical information and services on sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and food security over the next year, funded by the government of Denmark. 

In addition, WFP and ILO’s project EMPOWER is building peace through social and economic empowerment of women in Northern  Sri Lanka. Funded by the UN Peace Building Fund, the project is increasing access to economic empowerment, social integration, resilience and peace-building for conflict affected women in Mullaitivu, one of the most conflict-affected Northern Districts of Sri  Lanka. 

“As WFP celebrates 50 years of partnership working with the Sri Lankan Government in 2019, International Women’s Day reminds us of the immense and valuable contribution women can and need to make towards a well-nourished and healthy nation,” said Barton. 

The United Nations World Food Programme is saving lives in emergencies and changing lives for millions through sustainable development. WFP works in more than 80 countries, feeding people caught in conflict and disasters and underpinning the foundation for a better future.