In rural Namwala District, Molivia and her husband quickly gathered their garden tools and hastily made their way back from the maize fields, as dark rain clouds formed above them. For over a month, their village had been hit by heavy rains and floods, damaging crops, livestock and houses. She feared they would soon experience the same.

“We needed to gather some fresh maize but it was very difficult because it kept raining heavily,” said Molivia, a young mother of an 8 months old baby.

The following morning, Molivia and her husband woke up to a pool of water in their mud-built home, leaving them with no option but to seek shelter elsewhere.

“At this point, most of our belongings were soaked in water. I quickly grabbed my baby, strapped him on my back and quickly ran out of the house. I couldn’t grab any of my belongings. We had to leave the house very quickly and many of our things were all soaked in water” said Molivia.

Walking through the rains, Molivia and her small family joined many others from her village at a nearby temporary camp, set up by the Government of Zambia through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.

“When we reached the camp, I didn’t have any essential items like soap, sanitary wear or nappies for my baby. Fortunately, not long after we arrived, I and other women and girls were given a pack [dignity kit] which contained many of the basic things a woman would need to maintain our hygiene. We lost our home and belongings during the floods, but these essential items [dignity kit] helped me maintain my dignity as a woman and mother” said Molivia.

Molivia is one among 1,105 lactating mothers and pregnant women/girls who were accommodated in temporary camps across Southern Province, following heavy floods and water logging between January and March 2023.

The 2023 floods were assessed as among the worst compared to the 20-year average, with devastating impact that left a trail of destruction and loss of livelihoods for vulnerable populations, especially in the rural areas. During this period, the total population affected had risen to 373,600 in 41 out of 116 districts.

Securing dignity for women and girls

Throughout the 2023 flooding period, UNFPA supported the DMMU in leading the overall national response and coordination efforts. This included:

• Distribution of dignity kits and other relief supplies for women and girls
• Facilitating community sensitizations around key protection and sexual and reproducive health issues, including gender-based violence.
• Collection of date in the most affected Province (Southern Province), in addition to UNFPA's leadership in the inclusion of Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) indicators in the Rapid Needs Assessment tools used.
• Presence of UNFPA staff on the ground, who were part of the multi-sectoral teams supporting Government.

During the post-flooding period, UNFPA remained on the ground supporting recovery efforts by the Government of Zambia, including through identified interventions for provision of integrated sexual and reproducive health, gender-based violence and HIV (SRH/GBV/HIV) services.