Swiss Aid response to COVID-19 in Sri Lanka

Swiss Ambassador to Sri Lanka Hanspeter Mock handing over a symbolic donation cheque to Sarvodaya Sri Lanka President Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne in the presence of Swiss Embassy Officials

The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique global health crisis and requires a response across national boundaries. Throughout the world, government institutions, the private sector, health care services and civil society organisations have come together and pooled their resources in the fight against COVID-19. This is also the case in Sri Lanka.

It is in this context that the Embassy of Switzerland to Sri Lanka announced its partnership with the ‘Swiss Business Circle Sri Lanka,’ a group of Swiss-Lankan businesses based in Colombo. Together, both entities are donating Rs. 4.5 million as direct aid to the Presidential Task Force on Essential Services mandated Civil Society Consortium on COVID-19 Response, a collective of national and district level humanitarian and development organisations. 

This aid will assist the needs of children’s homes, elder’s homes and others affected by COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. 

This amount includes a contribution given by the Embassy staff as a sign of our genuine solidarity with the Sri Lankan Government and people of Sri Lanka. This action is the most recent example of the initiatives taken by the Embassy of Switzerland in solidarity to assist the Sri Lankan authorities and the people of the country. 

Since the beginning of Sri Lanka’s response to COVID-19, it has worked through Government institutions and civil society organisations to provide a total of Rs. 24 million in COVID-19 response aid to those most affected by the pandemic.

These initiatives include assistance to children’s homes and elders’ homes islandwide, families of Sri Lankan migrant workers in the Kurunegala, Nuwara Eliya, Ampara and Batticaloa Districts and other vulnerable populations in sectors related to nutrition, health, shelter, and livelihood. Some of the goods provided by this aid include dry rations, medical equipment, shelter, hygiene and home-gardening seed packs.

These efforts are complementary to those deployed by a number of Swiss companies in Sri Lanka, such as Nestlé, which provided Rs. 50 million in goods, Variosystems, which donated two ICU ventilators worth Rs. 10 million and many others. 

The Embassy will continue to observe the situation globally and in Sri Lanka with the objective of providing future support and assistance.