SL Govt. can be proud of resettlement progress – US envoy

“None of us can forget the enormous challenges that Sri Lanka faced at the end of the war and how far the country has come since then in meeting these overwhelming physical needs. The Sri Lankan government has every right to be proud of its progress in resettlement,” U.S. Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis has said yesterday.

Attending a ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat to hand over emergency food aid to support the return of people displaced by the conflict in the North with Minister of Economic Development and Special Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa, the US Ambassador said the US government is proud to have contributed to this massive effort, states a report in the Government web site info.gov.lk

During the ceremony US Ambassador announced a donation from the USAID of USD 5.5 million of food aid to support the returning IDPs.

Consisting of 6,740 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat flour, pulses and vegetable oil, USAID’s donation will support the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to fulfill the essential food needs of 300,000 people, the US Embassy in Colombo said.

Coordinating with the Government of Sri Lanka, WFP distributes food aid from USAID and other donors to people who have already returned to their homes or are living in camps and host families. Resettled people receive a six-month ration upon their return to their places of origin. In addition to this donation, WFP received another tranche of $2.4 million (Rs. 266.4 million) last September to purchase 3,768 MT of rice from the local market.

“This donation will allow WFP to continue providing much-needed food and nutritional support to the returnee population and increase their food security, WFP Country Representative Adnan Khan said.

WFP’s new one-year initiative for Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation intends to provide food and nutritional support to 371,000 people in the North.

"Our target is to raise $40 million for this new initiative and we sincerely hope that other donor countries will extend their support to fulfill the needs of affected people,” WFP Country Representative said.