Nearly half of all children in Sri Lanka require some form of humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF’s appeal for support.
Even before the current crisis, Sri Lanka had the world’s seventh highest child malnutrition rates and was second in South Asia for child wasting under the age of 5.
Two in five babies were not being fed the minimum acceptable diet.
“We are in a race against time,” said Christian Skoog, UNICEF Representative to Sri Lanka. “Without urgent assistance, the most vulnerable children will pay the highest price, and gains made over many years are at risk of being reversed – in some cases, permanently.”
