UN clarifies on drought update

Saturday, 30 September 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka yesterday said it would like to make a clarification on the text of the recent UN Sri Lanka drought updates issued publicly.

The updates, whilst noting the serious impact the drought is having on the health and wellbeing of affected communities, stated ‘with several suicides being directly attributed to the effects of the drought’.

“Whilst we understand that there have been two incidents of suicide in drought-affected communities, which are intensely distressing for the families concerned, we note that they cannot directly be attributed to the effects of the drought,” the statement said.

The text has since been revised and the United Nations Sri Lanka apologises for any misrepresentation of the situation.