Providing essential nutrition for the displaced children in Northern Sri Lanka

A leading NGO is engaged in a supplementary feeding programme to address the unique and critical nutritional needs of children under five, and nursing mothers in the displacement camps in Vavuniya. The programme by World Vision Lanka has been designed to meet the specific high calorie requirement of the target group.

“In addition to the minimum standard requirement of 500 KCal, expected to be met from the general food provision, World Vision’s supplementary food programme provides the additional 540 Kcal required by children under five, pregnant and lactating mothers,” said World Vision Lanka’s Health and Nutrition Coordinator, Paraman Ramesh.

Nutrition is a critical issue for IDPs who have had little access to nutritious meals. Lactating mothers and children under five are particularly at risk after months of limited access to food of high nutritional value.

Every day, World Vision provides UNIMIX, a high calorie supplementary food and serves porridge to 1,750 children under five and 173 nursing mothers in five camp sites in Pooththoddam, Kovilkulam Hindu College, Sivapirakasa Ladies College, and Pampamadhu, Soodhuwethapulavu School in Vavuniya. Read more ...

Innocent Children - the real victims in Sri Lanka's 26 year war

Eight year old Aparna looked up at me as I approached; a far away look in her eyes; she said a shy "hello" and for a fleeting moment, her face lit up in a beautiful frame of curls. The next minute she was gone seeking refuge behind her mother's skirt, and peering at me from her position of 'safety'.

Aparna is just one of tens of thousands of innocent children whose lives have been profoundly affected by the 26 year long conflict in Sri Lanka which now appears to be nearing its end. Her family is among the internally displaced persons (IDPs) numbering over 190,000 who fled the conflict zone and are now accommodated in camps in northern Sri Lanka.

A visit to the IDP camps strikes a chord in ones' heart as you see how much the innocent children have suffered. It is truly saddening to meet the displaced children, they still manage a smile, but the once bright eyes are now glazed over and they are visibly drained after their countless ordeals over the last few years. Read more ...

"Help child survivors of war... Help heal my country," pleads aid agency chief

Aid agency World Vision is urging the international community to seize a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help Sri Lanka by pledging millions of dollars to meet the critical needs of at least 60,000 child survivors of war.

Suresh Bartlett, National Director of World Vision Lanka, who recently returned from visiting camps in the North, said he was deeply troubled about the impact of the war on children and was worried that the global financial crisis and swine flu were taking the world's attention away from meeting their urgent needs. Read more ...