Sri Lanka: A new report has stated that Sri Lanka’s economic downturn has resulted in a full-blown hunger crisis, with half of the families in the island nation forced to reduce the amount they feed their children.

The Save the Children report warned that the Sri Lankan government and the international community must act now to prevent the country’s children from “becoming a lost generation.”

Since the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its debt in 2021, soaring inflation and food, medicine, and fuel shortages, as well as a lack of stable employment, have left families in crisis.

According to the World Bank, the country has the seventh highest nominal food inflation rate in the world, with year-on-year inflation in the country exceeding 50 percent.

“Since the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its debt nearly a year ago, soaring inflation and food, medicine, and fuel shortages as well as a lack of stable employment have left families unable to cope,” the report remarked.

According to the charity, while half of Sri Lankan households are cutting their children’s food intake, 27 percent of the more than 2,300 households it surveyed reported adults skipping meals to feed their children.

The report found that nine out of 10 households cannot guarantee nutritious food for their children.

The Save the Children report came a day after thousands of workers went on strike in defiance of a government directive declaring several services as essential to stop protests over the IMF bailout plan.

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