The United Nations has pledged US$4.5 million (LKR 1.38 billion) from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to strengthen Sri Lanka’s response to Cyclone Ditwah, which made landfall on 28 November.

The funds will enable the UN to rapidly scale up emergency food assistance, shelter support, and water, sanitation and hygiene services for the communities most severely affected by the floods and landslides that have impacted the country, the UN stated.

“This funding comes at a critical moment for Sri Lanka,” said Marc-André Franche, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka. “Cyclone Ditwah has upended lives across the country, and many families are still struggling to meet their basic daily needs. The UN was quick to provide support with urgent relief items and equipment.

We are working closely with the Government, civil society partners and the humanitarian community in Sri Lanka to ensure a coordinated response, guided by evidence and priority needs. This emergency funding will help us reach those most severely affected with the support they urgently need”, he said.

Communities across Sri Lanka are continuing to grapple with the widespread impacts of the cyclone,with thousands of families still displaced after extensive damage to housing and infrastructure.

Even as response efforts are underway, latest assessments indicate that the effects of the cyclone are broader and more severe than initially understood, leaving many communities in urgent need of sustained support to fully recover from Cyclone Ditwah.

The UN’s global emergency fund CERF enables rapid funding to humanitarian responders to help support life-saving, humanitarian activities in the initial stages of a sudden-onset crisis.

As the full scale of the devastation becomes clearer, the UN will expand its life-saving assistance to the hardest-hit communities through a broader Humanitarian Priorities Plan, expected to be announced this week.

The Navy headquarters yesterday announced that 2,086 personnel, including 17 officers and 2,069 senior and junior sailors, had been promoted and advanced to their next respective ranks and rates, on the occasion of the Sri Lanka Navy’s 75th anniversary, which fell yesterday (09 December).

The Navy said the promotions had been made on the recommendation of the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda, in recognition of the dedication and service of those personnel.

The Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said yesterday deaths due to Cyclone Ditwah had reached 638, and 191 disaster victims had gone missing.