Page 88 - 80 YEARS OF VOLUNTEER IMPACT WITH FAO

Education Seeds of wisdom: Advocating, educating, empowering

INSPIRATION IN ACTION TO SUPPORT

LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES IN SRI LANKA

Hiruni, Sithmi, Yumna and Tharudini are four young women who spent months Hiruni, Sithmi, Yumna and Tharudini worked directly with communities. Together,
knocking on doors and talking with families in low-income neighbourhoods of they organized sessions on sexual and reproductive health and distributed farming
Colombo. As UN Community Volunteers, they helped community members grow kits, food packs, and maternity and menstrual kits.
food at home, learn about their health and the challenges they face.
Through their close interactions with community members, they built trust and
They were part of a joint project led by FAO, UNFPA, UNDP and UNV, focused on created safe spaces for conversation. These UN Volunteers were inspiration in action
supporting women and young people through home gardening and health education. on the ground.
From October 2022 to February 2023, the project reached 12 communities across Sri
Lanka, supporting nearly 2,000 families.

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UN Community Volunteers Peer Educators organize the distribution of (From left to right) Sithmi Attanayake, UN Community Volunteer; Tharudini
agriculture support kits in Sri Lanka. [UNV, 2023] Ekneligoda, V-Force Volunteer; Yumna Zawahir, UN Community Volunteer;
and Hiruni Weerasinghe, UN Community Volunteer in Sri Lanka. [UNV, 2023]