Washington, June 10 : The United Nations on Friday warned that Sri Lanka which is facing an unprecedented economic crisis could become a victim of a full blown humanitarian emergency, Khaleej Times reported.
The UN and its partner organisations are appealing for $47 million aid to address the immediate needs of the 1.7 million of the most vulnerable people and those most affected by the crisis.
People have been facing daily blackouts for months, have to stand in long queues for petrol, there is a shortage of medicines and foot and record inflation has made the daily life of the people miserable in the South Asian island nation of 22 million people.
The Sri Lankan government has already defaulted on the repayment of its $51 billion foreign debt, and a critical shortage of foreign currency has left traders unable to import adequate supplies of food, fuel and other essential goods.
Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948 has already taken a heavy toll, with agriculture and livelihoods having being severely affected.
Many people are now “going without adequate food”, with the “families’ access to health services, protection and children’s education is now at stake.”
UNICEF’s representative in Sri Lanka Christian Skoog also warned that the situation was dire, with 17 percent of children under five in the country already malnourished and stunted before the crisis.
He said the UN children’s agency especially sought to help 56,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
With agency inputs
