The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has handed emergency health and protection supplies valued at US$250,641 to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health to strengthen disaster preparedness.
The handover took place at the Family Health Bureau in Colombo.
The initiative is supported by the governments of Australia and New Zealand.
Supplies handed over
The package includes:
- 8 emergency tents;
- 999 midwifery go-bags;
- 1,283 maternity kits;
- 246 elderly kits; and
- 1,659 dignity kits.
Three of the tents are equipped with solar-powered lighting.
The supplies are intended to support maternal health, hygiene, protection and other essential services during emergencies.
Pre-positioning
The supplies are intended to be pre-positioned in disaster-vulnerable districts so that health and emergency-response personnel can access them rapidly if normal transport or supply routes are disrupted.
Preparedness context
This is a preparedness handover, not evidence of a new national disaster, completed household distribution, delivery of every item to every vulnerable district or direct cash assistance.