Peace through food aid
Food for thought:
by Dhaneshi Yatawara
[email protected]
Health is wealth - That’s what our ancestors strongly believed in.
Disbelieving in this golden rule may be the foremost reason for
weakening ourselves - the path towards an ailing nation.
It would be quite impossible to figure out the total expense that
would be needed to recover a nation from such a debacle. But we have
well heard the golden rule that follows the first one mentioned above -
Prevention is better than cure! So, there is a solution.
Above all we earn to provide us with food, shelter us with a house,
cover ourselves with clothes etc. We are concerned about our very basic
needs as human beings.
Talking about health, nutrition or more correctly proper nutrition
plays a major role in taking care of the health of a nation. We, Sri
Lankans have many obstacles in ‘taking care of our health’.
Specifically the problem of nourishing the needy. The prolonged
terrorists’ threat to the Northern and the Eastern parts of the country
contributes a great deal in making this an obstacle for the Government.
Yet it is a relief, may be not to us but to the people who are really
hit by this problem, to know that the Government have fully identified
the issue and contributing its fullest efforts to insecure the ‘food
insecurity’ of the country.
The Government through the Ministry of Nation Building and Estate
Infrastructure Development has been doing the utmost to improve food
security of vulnerable people in conflict affected areas and develop
social cohesion and reconciliation. They strongly believe food aid
intervention positively contributes peace and harmony among the communit,
to a greater extend.
Ministry of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development in
collaboration with the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has been
implementing food assistance programs since 2002.
PRRO
Government of Sri Lanka and WFP have signed the first Agreement of
Protracted Relief Recovery Operation (PRRO - 10067) in 2002 and the
second in 2005. This Ministry has implemented programs worth of 9,419.73
million rupees benefiting more than one million war and/or tsunami
affected people annually. In 2008, programs worth of 2,250 million
rupees will be continuously implemented, ministry sources said.
They aim at building peace through food aid intervention by:
* Improving food security and access to food by rehabilitating
community and individual assets.
* Improving the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating mothers,
children under five years of age and other vulnerable groups
* Reducing short term hunger and improve the diet of schoolchildren
and increase attendance and retention in schools
* Improving access to counselling services and skills training for
people most affected by the war/tsunami.
The largest operation in Sri Lanka started aftermath the fateful 26th
December 2004 tsunami. This was under the Emergency Operation Project
that was signed between the Government of Sri Lanka and the WFP in 2005.
Under the Protracted Relief Recovery Operation project:
* Food for Education - the school feeding program
* Mother and Child nutrition program
* Food for Asset Creation - Food for Work and Food for Training
* Assistance to IDPs - living in welfare camps and displaced due to
recent incidents
* Vulnerable Group Feeding sections are included.
According to the Ministry data this project spreads through Mannar,
Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Puttalam, Polonnaruwa,
Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Ampara, Trincomalee, Moneragala, Galle, Matara
and Hambantota at the moment.
Mum and baby
The Mother and the Child Nutrition program has been started with the
intention of promoting the nutritional status of most vulnerable groups
- pregnant and lactating mothers and children between six to 60 months.
The program runs based on the information from the Ministry of
Healthcare and Nutrition and the World Health Organization.
The program was commenced on March 09 2003 at Kilinochchi district
and later expanded to Mullaitivu, Polonnaruwa, Vavuniya, Mannar and
Jaffna districts. In the recent past it has spread into Batticaloa and
Ampara districts since the tsunami on the Boxing Day.
Beneficiaries are selected from the areas based on the food
insecurity levels as indicated in the ‘vulnerable assessment maps’ and
from the areas where the malnutrition prevalence is high.
Beneficiaries are provided with Corn Soya blend - 100 grams of corn
soya blend consists of 14 grams of protein and 7 grams of fat. In
addition it is fortified with vitamins A, C, D and B complex and vital
minerals like iron, folate and iodine giving 380 calories per 100 grams.
Medical Officers of Health (MOH) at each respective level are the key
officials monitoring the program. Keeping a monthly weight improvement
record of each beneficiary is an indicator of the progress.
There are 2,509 health volunteers in these project districts, the
ministry said. These volunteers are involved in demonstration and
distribution of the corn and soya blend among the beneficiaries at MOH
and clinic levels. Under the project these volunteers are also provided
with a food parcel for their service.
School child
Studies have revealed that many children have low attention span
because they come to school on empty stomach.
Since 2003 the WFP, in partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka
has been carrying out the Food for Education Program providing a
nutritious cooked mid-morning meal to all primary and lower secondary
schoolchildren in targeted education divisions in most vulnerable food
insecure areas.
Initially, Food For Education or FFE in short form, started in four
districts in 120 schools for 23,487 students in 2003. Then in 2004 it
was implemented in 689 schools for 143,338 students. Then in the next
year (2005), it was implemented in 743 schools for 155,448 students.
Then in 2006 it covered 1429 schools and 358,863 students in fifteen
districts.This project provides meals to schoolchildren in grade one
upto grade nine in conflict affected areas - North, East, North Central,
North Western, Uva and tsunami affected areas.
The project targets to increase children’s capacity to learn and
expand their attention span by increasing the daily dietary intake and
increase the average school attendance of targeted children.
To improve children’s health and nutritional status, a comprehensive
de-worming programme, anaemia examinations, school health visits and
nutritional education complement with the feeding program.
Food for work
One of the important components of the PRRO is the Food for Asset
Creation Programs. This is Food for Work and Food for Training.
Food for work component aims at improving access to food for conflict
affected people through the rehabilitation of community and individual
assets in the areas where internally displaced returnees are living and
vulnerable host communities.
The Food for Work will continue to focus on irrigation systems and
basic community infrastructure rehabilitation, rural roads repair and
construction and human resource development/training activities with the
active collaboration of the Government institutions and Non-Governmental
organizations.
This project provides a safety net while creating a rehabilitation
physical asset that will help strengthen household food security in the
medium to long-term and facilitate reuniting the families in the
community.
This supports the returnee population either at their original places
or relocated lands through possible community asset creation.
In the Food For Training program, food will be provided to women
headed households, unemployed youth, ex-combatants and other vulnerable
groups to participate in income generating and vocational skills
training in partnership with the Government, NGOs. Trainees will receive
a family ration as a replacement for any income lost during the time
invested in training averaging three months.
Vulnerable families
Elderly, disabled people with no support, displaced due to tsunami
and poor families are targeted under this project. Under this program
50kg of wheat flour dry ration is provided per family. For the people
internally displaced due to recent incidence are given a pack of dry
ration which includes wheat flour, dhal, sugar and oil along with two
tins of canned fish per week for each family.
These projects are continuing specially in the North and the East
provinces as these are the areas affected both by man made disaster and
a natural disaster.
The necessary focus is on the most needed and vulnerable groups. The
target is to eradicate poverty by 2015 going along the Millennium
Development goals.
As initial steps the neediest should be treated. Then, with the
undying efforts of the contributing partners, Sri Lanka will be able to
look forward to healthy future. |