Sri Lanka, an island country in the northern Indian Ocean, is susceptible to multiple natural hazards, including cyclones, drought, floods, landslides, and tsunamis. Sri Lanka also continues to recover from a decades-long civil war, which left hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes.

Building on decades of partnership, USAID supports disaster risk reduction initiatives in Sri Lanka to improve the effectiveness of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community organizers to mitigate disaster risks, strengthen disaster preparedness, and respond to humanitarian emergencies. Additionally, USAID engages directly with communities to improve access to safe drinking water and provide psychosocial services.

Mission Activities

SAFE, DISASTER RESILIENT DRINKING WATER TO FLOOD AND DROUGHT PRONE AREAS: Through this activity, USAID supports local organizations to provide clean drinking water and improve community resilience to changing climate conditions. This practical disaster resilient system for harvesting rainwater supports communities that regularly experience floods and droughts to recover quickly.
Implementing Partner: Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum; Total Estimated Cost: $2.2 million; Performance Period: October 2016 – March 2025

FOOD SECURITY: USAID’s food security activity provides immediate fertilizer support to rice farmers in Sri Lanka to strengthen their production capacity, enhancing food security and nutrition needs. The activity will provide fertilizer to one million farmers to strengthen crop cultivation and unconditional direct cash transfers to 53,000 smallholder vulnerable farming households to supplement household food and nutritional needs. 
Implementing Partner: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Total Estimated Cost: $46 million; Performance Period: September 2022 - September 2023

CASH ASSISTANCE TO HOUSEHOLDS WITH LACTATING WOMEN PROGRAM: USAID addresses the urgent needs of vulnerable lactating mothers who have been affected by the economic crisis through the provision of nutrition-related cash transfers for up to 110,000 households with lactating women, and/or children from 4 to 24 months. The cash-transfers will increase women’s purchasing power to achieve improved food security, sufficient diets, and access to information on positive nutrition practices and choices.
Implementing Partner: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); Total Estimated Cost: $7 million; Performance Period: September 2022 - June 2023

SCHOOL FEEDING: USAID is addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of vulnerable children during the current economic crisis by providing access to nutritious meals through a school feeding program. The activity will procure and distribute approximately 7700 MT of fortified rice, lentils, maize and soy, providing meals and snacks to over 1,100,000 preschool and school-aged children from three to ten years old. 
Implementing Partner: World Food Programme (WFP); Total Estimated Cost: $7 million; Performance Period: September 2022 - September 2023

Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Activities

USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) provided more than $3.6 million in Fiscal Years (FYs) 2020 and 2021 to support early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) initiatives in Sri Lanka to improve the capacity of community organizers, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to prepare for and respond to humanitarian emergencies in the country. See here for more information.