WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by country | Page 806

Standard Project Report 2016
Another highlight in 2016 included WFP Sri Lanka forging a new partnership with the Department of Divineguma
Development, which runs the country's largest social safety net programme. For the first time in Sri Lanka, in the
aftermath of floods and landslides, relief assistance was provided by way of cash-based transfers through this
safety net system and bank networks. Given the subsequent lessons learned exercise and creation of standard
operating procedures, it is anticipated that this approach will provide a platform to develop the capacity of the
Divineguma national social safety net system to become a "shock-responsive" mechanism to assist disaster victims
in the future.
In addition to providing emergency assistance, WFP assisted the Government to establish it's own response system
for disaster preparedness. As such, WFP signed an agreement with the Ministry of Disaster Management to
strengthen the implementation of its national emergency preparedness plan (NEOP), and WFP's 72-hour
assessment methodology was adopted by the Government. Furthermore, the first phase of WFP's preparedness
simulation exercise (SIMEX) was conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Disaster Management. During 2016,
WFP also assisted the Government to establish the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) to consolidate geo-spatial data
under one server using the relevant international naming conventions and standards. The SDI contains data from
various sources at the global, regional (Asia), and national scales.
In order to provide sustainable nutritional support for vulnerable groups, WFP undertook efforts to improve
Thriposha, a locally produced fortified blended food (FBF) distributed through the country's nutritional social safety
net. The national treatment of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) programme using Thriposha has been in place
since 1973 and currently reaches on a monthly basis 1.1 million children aged 6-59 months affected by growth
faltering, MAM and/or underweight, as well as all pregnant and lactating women (PLW) regardless of their nutritional
status. In April 2016, Thriposha production was assessed in a study by a WFP food technologist to determine the
product's quality and production weaknesses. The findings were endorsed by the Ministry of Health, paving the way
towards the Government endorsing a comprehensive improvement plan for Thriposha, incluing a supply chain
assessment and behaviour change communication strategy. In addition, from January to June 2016, a Thriposha
efficacy study was carried out in collaboration with the Nutrition Coordination Division of the Ministry of Health,
which found that Thriposha could be more effective in increasing the weight of children if intra-household sharing
were minimised, and if there were no interruptions in the product pipeline.
Furthermore, in an effort to address micronutrient deficiencies among the population, WFP has been working with
the Ministry of Health to explore the potential for rice fortification in Sri Lanka. Given the complexity of under