Top United Nations Official in Sri Lanka Calls for Inclusive Consultations to Resolve Economic Crisis

The top United Nations official in Sri Lanka Hanaa Singer-Hamdy has called on all stakeholders in the country to engage in broad and inclusive consultations to resolve the current economic crisis and the grievances of the people, according to a senior official representing the UN chief.

Deputy Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Farhan Haq, said at the daily news briefing on Thursday that UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, “acknowledged the constitutional transfer of power to a new President”.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Thursday, was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s eighth President. Singer-Hamdy noted that a peaceful and stable Sri Lanka will require dialogue, full respect for democracy, human rights and the rule of law, including respect for the freedom of assembly and expression, the Deputy Spokesperson said.

Guterres said the UN team in Sri Lanka, led by Singer-Hamdy, was responding to the needs of millions of people impacted by the ongoing economic crisis. The situation in the country continues to deteriorate, with over 70 percent of households either losing their source of income or having their income reduced. In June, food inflation stood at 80 per cent, Guterres said.

The Humanitarian Needs and Priorities Plan’ (HNP) launched in June, has reached 57,400 people or 3.4 percent of the targeted 1.7 million people. However, fuel shortages in Sri Lanka are a major operational constraint for the humanitarian response, said the UN official. Noting that an estimated 960,000 people are in need of protection services.

Haq said that in order to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) distributed 1,500 dignity and maternity kits to bridge the gap in commodities that are currently out of stock, and to ensure continued protection of survivors of gender-based violence.