Government of Sri Lanka, with the accredited support of the UNDP Sri Lanka, has secured funds from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to implement a seven – year project in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka on climate resilient integrated water management. The project title as Climate Resilient Integrated Water Management Project (CRIWMP), supports the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone; particularly women, who are facing increasing risks of rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and extreme events attributed to climate change. The project will address technical, financial and institutional barriers related to achieving integrated water management to improve agriculture – based livelihood of smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone. The Project will invest GCF resources, in conjunction with government co – financing, in improving the community irrigation water infrastructure and associated agricultural practices, scaling – up decentralized drinking water systems, and strengthening Early Warnings (EWs) and forecasting for flood – responses and water management. The primary measurable benefits include resilient water and agricultural management for 770,500 direct beneficiaries and 1,179,800 indirect beneficiaries who will gain from improved water management, resilient agriculture practices, and provision of climate and weather information. The key objective of this Project is to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers in the Dry Zone to climate variability and extreme events through an integrated approach to water management. This will be achieved through three outputs that build upon previous experience and best practices:

• Output 1: Upgrading and enhancing the resilience of the village irrigation system and scaling up climate–resilient farming practices in three river basins of the Dry Zone.
• Output 2: Enhancing climate – resilient, decentralized water supply and management solutions to provide access to safe drinking water to vulnerable communities and

     • Output 3: Strengthening weather/climate and hydrological observing, forecasting and water management systems to enhance the adaptive capacity of              smallholder farmers to droughts and floods.