WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 213

Standard Project Report 2016
Country Context and WFP Objectives
Country Context
Sri Lanka, with a population of 21.9 million people, achieved lower middle income country status in 2010, following
the end of a 27-year conflict in 2009. The country has seen a significant improvement in its social and economic
status over the past decade and is ranked 73 out of 188 countries in the 2016 Human Development Index.
According to the 2016 Global Food Security Report, 22 percent of Sri Lankans are undernourished and over 40
percent of the population in the Northern and Eastern Provinces are food insecure (WFP 2012). In the 2015 nutrition
survey conducted by the Medical Research Institute (MRI), approximately 30 percent of pregnant women and their
households were found to be food insecure.
Although the national poverty headcount had decreased from 13.2 percent in 2009 to 6.7 percent in 2013, regional
disparities have increased and there are widespread pockets of poverty across the Northern, Eastern, and Uva
Provinces. The poverty headcount is lower in urban areas (2.1 percent), whereas it exceeded the national average
and reached 7.6 percent in rural areas. In addition, approximately 1 in 3 people in the Northern and Uva Provinces
and half the population in the Eastern Province cannot afford the minimum cost of a nutritious diet.
Despite the availability of universal healthcare and education, and good health indicators at the national level,
maternal and child undernutrition continue to pose a major challenge for Sri Lanka. According to the 2012 National
Nutrition and Micronutrient Survey, the prevalence of wasting in children aged 6-59 months was 19.6 percent, the
third highest level in the world according to the 2016 Global Child Nutrition report, indicating a critical public nutrition
situation. The prevalence of stunting, on the other hand, was low at 13 percent according to the World Health
Organization (WHO) cut-off values for public health significance (stunting <20%: low prevalence). Regional
Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of (LK)
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Country Programme - 200866