Human Rights Impact of Economic Crisis Half of SL households eating less

• People skip meals, eat less preferred food or reduce portion sizes 
• Poverty rate rose to 24.5% almost double 2019 levels
• Food prices more than doubled between 2021 and 2024
• Malnutrition in children under five increased from 12.2% to 17%

By Huzefa Aliasger

In the event of food insecurity triggered by the economic  crisis in Sri Lanka, more than half of all households have turned to  coping strategies such as skipping meals, eating less preferred food or  limiting portion sizes, and over 27 per cent of households  consumed inadequate diets, according to the report of the Office of the  United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).   

Quoting the World Food Programme (WFP), the OHCHR said in  its report on human rights violations in Sri Lanka -2025 that 16 per  cent of households nationwide were food insecure after the impact of the  economic crisis.  These have contributed to an increase in malnutrition for  underweight children under five, from 12.2 to 17 per cent, the report  says.   

The OHCHR says “the poverty rate in Sri Lanka was at 24.5  per cent, almost double the figure in 2019. Food prices more than  doubled between 2021 and 2024. Despite macroeconomic recovery,  employment and real wages remained below pre-crisis levels, resulting in  elevated levels of poverty and food insecurity”.   

According to the report in the 2025 budget, 8.9 per cent of  the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or almost 60 per cent of  Government revenue, was allocated to servicing interest payments on  government debt. “The health and education sectors received allocations  of 1.83 and 1.88 per cent of GDP, reflecting increases from the previous  year, and steps towards the National People’s Power’s election promise  of allocations of three and six per cent respectively.”   

The report also says that Sri Lanka lacks accountability  for past and present human rights violations in Sri Lanka, particularly  in cases allegedly involving members of the security forces.   

“The unwillingness or inability of the State to prosecute  and punish alleged perpetrators is best illustrated by the continued  lack of meaningful progress in many emblematic cases,” the OHCHR said.     

The council also says that “The Government informed OHCHR  that, on April 22, 2025, it had appointed a four-member committee to  study the Presidential Commission of Inquiry report for further  investigations regarding the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. At the time of  writing, over 40 criminal and more than 280 civil cases have been filed  in connection with the attacks; most of these cases remain at  preliminary stages, and none of them resulted in a conviction,”   

The report further says that since its establishment in 2018,  the Office on Missing Persons has not clarified the fate and whereabouts  of thousands of forcefully disappeared persons and faces a lack of trust  from victim communities. “Successive Governments, particularly during  2019-2022, have undermined the institution’s independence by appointing  members lacking credibility and independence.” As of December 2024, the  Office on Missing Persons traced 18 individuals out of 15,000 cases  filed.