At 10:30 a.m. on October 25^th, the Launch Meeting of Smiling Children Program in Sri Lanka by China Foundation for Rural Development was successfully held in the Prime Minister's Office of Sri Lanka. Dinesh Gunawardana, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Liu Wenkui, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Rural Development Foundation, and Zou Zhiqiang, Director of the Nepal Office of China Rural Development Foundation, participated in the meeting. After the meeting, Liu Wenkui, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Rural Development Foundation, forwarded the donation receipt to Dinesh Gunawardana, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

In the meeting, Dinesh Gunawardana, Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, gave praise to China Foundation for Rural Development’s action on deliberating food packages to children in impoverished area of Sri Lanka and said that Sri Lanka should learn from China's experience in poverty reduction to promote the sustainable development of Sri Lanka.

Qi Zhenhong, Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, said that China's experience in poverty reduction was very meaningful to Sri Lanka, and the Smiling Children Program could have a positive influence on the communication between Chinese and Sri Lankan people.

Liu Wenkui, Executive Vice Chairman of the China Rural Development Foundation, introduced China's experience in poverty reduction to Sri Lanka and expressed our willingness to work with Sri Lanka to promote the poverty reduction in Sri Lanka.

In 2022, affected by both the epidemic and economic crisis, people in Sri Lanka lived a tough life, especially the low-income group. Therefore, we united the Sri Lanka Overseas Chinese Association and the China-Sri Lanka Friendship and Development Association purchased total 1500 food packages (contain rice, beans and cooking oil) to urgently save children in hunger. Local government and beneficiaries expressed thanks for donation of food packages.

Smiling Children Program is a project initiated by China Foundation for Rural Development to help solve the hunger problem for children in impoverished area around the world. It provides meals or deliberates food to hungry children in developing countries to promote the healthy growth of beneficiary children and realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of zero hunger in developing countries as soon as possible. At the same time, it passes love and friendship of Chinese people to achieve the interaction of people in China and other countries. Smiling Children Program has been formally initiated in Ethiopia, Sudan in Africa and Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan and Afghanistan in Asia. It is the first time that Smiling Children Program comes to Sri Lanka which will benefits 10000 students in 139 schools in 7 provinces.

“It is a pleasure to my child and me to receive such valuable gift from Chinese people.”

Pasidou Dines is a 10-year-old boy from Kanadara Rathmale Vidyalaya Area, North Central Province of Sri Lanka and is in his 5^th grade. He lives with his mother and older brother. His father works at a construction site in Saudi Arabia and sends money back home for household in each quarter. And his mother is busy in housework and farm work. Pasidou Dines’s mother said that the money earned by her husband could hardly support four persons in family so their life was always tough and only basic needs could be satisfied. The economic crisis and epidemic had greatly influenced their family, making their financial situation worse. She said, “It is a pleasure to my child and me to receive such valuable gift from Chinese people. The support will be always in our minds.”

Smiling Children Program:

Smiling Children Program was first formally initiated in Ethiopia and Sudan in 2015 and has presently been implemented in Ethiopia, Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka etc., totally benefiting 150000 persons per year up to July in 2023. Since the implementation, the program has produced significant influence on eradicating hunger, upgrading education and promoting women's employment, winning high-level of acceptance and recognition from government and people. In 2019, the program was selected as "Best Global Poverty Reduction Case" by 7 organizations including the United Nations system and the World Bank. In 2020, as one of the best cases promoting zero hunger, the program was selected into Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development - Volume 3 by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. In 2022, the program was supported by International Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, becoming one of the first projects in China supported by this fund.