News & Statements
Message on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
The United Nations in Sri Lanka stands in solidarity with the families of victims of enforced disappearance from all communities across Sri Lanka. The families and friends of the victims experience the slow mental anguish of not knowing the fate of their loved ones.
Message on the International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
Today, we remember and honour all victims of terrorism in Sri Lanka and across the world. The victims of the decades-long conflict and the Easter Sunday attacks last year are held dearly in our hearts. The United Nations in Sri Lanka stands together with the grieving families who have lost loved ones.
On World Humanitarian Day, as we honour humanitarian workers as well as front-line ones from Sri Lanka and across the world, their dedication in battling the pandemic ensures that, for many, daily life continues as safely as possible.
UNOPS – the central resource for procurement and infrastructure in the UN system -has been a partner of the Ministry of Health since 2005 with a significant portfolio of projects delivered in Healthcare Infrastructure and Procurement for over US$ 40mn through construction and renovation of 65 hospitals and health centres across the island.
Tourism is one of the worst impacted socio-economic sectors from the COVID-19 crisis. Workers and businesses linked to tourism, are currently facing crippling income and employment losses, while foreign exchange earnings from tourism have also fallen drastically. To tackle this issue, the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, SLTDA and UNDP co-convened a meeting with development partners on building a more resilient tourism sector in Sri Lanka
The U.S. Government’s development agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has supplied critical medical supplies worth USD $102,310 (LKR Rupees 19,054,214) to the Family Health Bureau (FHB) of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services (MOH), to provide specialist care for high-risk COVID-19 patients requiring maternal and neonatal care.
COVID-19 isolation and treatment units established at key hospitals with UNICEF support
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) supported the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services (MOH) in refurbishing COVID-19 isolation units at three specialist Hospitals in the country, as part of its on-going efforts in responding to the pandemic.
Through the webinar series, ‘COVID-19 Asian Recovery Stories’ the United Nations in Sri Lanka is convening a group of regional academics to share their evidence-based research with Sri Lankan policy makers, influencers in Government, the development community, private sector, civil society and the media, to formulate policy interventions that can be applied to Sri Lanka.