Sri Lanka looks towards foster parenting to tackle malnutrition among children

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By Editor_1
A boy waits to receive food at a community kitchen -ENCL/File
By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO – Sri Lanka is in the process of implementing a foster parent concept to feed the extremely malnourished, as over 20,000 children are reported to be starving due to economic hardships, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

An estimated 6.3 million people in Sri Lanka are facing moderate to acute food insecurity and their situation is likely to worsen if adequate life-saving assistance and livelihood support is not provided, a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned last month.

A UNICEF report last month revealed that over 5.7 million people, including 2.3 million children, required humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka, making it among the top ten countries with the highest number of malnourished children, with the  numbers expected to rise further in the coming months.

Rambukwella said the authorities were in the process of securing funds from donors to address extreme malnutrition among the preschoolers who are yet to start school.

“There are (rich) parents who want to do that. It costs about 5000 rupees per month per child. One has already taken 20 children and another one has taken 100 children,” Rambukwella revealed last week.

Acknowledging that malnutrition had increased by 2%, he however said it was not alarming, but agreed “we need to be watchful”.

He said there could be 5 to10 extremely malnourished children in each grama sevaka division, and warned that things would not improve overnight and the food supply chain was not going to improve.

Under the fostering scheme a parent or a sponsor can take care of at least one child and make sure the children have adequate food to help they recover from acute malnutrition.

The minister said the proposed foster parent model is targeting up to 30,000 extremely malnourished children and the funds raised for the program will be spent to improve their nutrition level and keep them healthy until the food supply improves.

Sri Lanka is facing a food shortage as a result of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to ban imports of agrochemicals overnight without giving any alternatives for farmers to secure healthy and large harvests.

Rambukwella said the effects of malnutrition will emerge “when we are not there”, with children remaining week when they reach the age of 10 or 12. “It will be a huge challenge for us. So this situation has to be arrested,” he said.

The minister expressed confidence about the harvest in the next cultivation season being bountiful with the fertilizer usage, noting, “Basically we have a gap of about three months to manage”. He referring to the time period the foster parent scheme may be required.

Under the scheme, the minister said children will be helped by periodic checks, while ensuring additional food quota for the malnourished kids according to their requirements.

“Once we see the success of the trial, we will start with Nuwara Eliya and Monaragala which are the most affected areas,” he said.

-economynext.com

 

Editor_1
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