The country is facing a double burden of malnutrition with stagnant rates of undernutrition. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sri…

The country is facing a double burden of malnutrition with stagnant rates of undernutrition.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Sri Lanka have embarked on a new joint project to improve women’s nutrition and promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in Sri Lanka by providing critical information and services on sexual and reproductive health, nutrition and food security over the next year.

Despite Sri Lanka’s significant achievements in terms of overall health indicators, nutrition indicators continue to lag far behind. The country is facing a double burden of malnutrition with stagnant rates of undernutrition combined with growing numbers of overweight people and a rise in obesity rates.

The joint project is thanks to a contribution to WFP by the Government of Denmark (USD 458,000; LKR 81.9 million). The initiative will be executed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine.