Attachments
Situation in Numbers
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9.8 million people affected by drought.
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6.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
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Over 3 million children under 18 and 1.2 million children under 5 years are facing prolonged food insecurity and high risk of common childhood illness, vaccine preventable disease outbreaks and malnutrition.
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23,378 cumulative Cholera cases with 740 deaths as of reporting date.
Highlights
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84 districts out of 116 have been severely impacted by the drought.
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9,779,145 people are exposed while 6,552,027 people are adversely affected by the drought in 84 districts.
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Over 3 million children under 18 and 1.2 million children under 5 years are facing prolonged food insecurity and high risk of common childhood illness, vaccine preventable disease outbreaks and malnutrition (SMART Survey, May 2024).
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380,288 children aged 6 – 59 months out of about 400,000 estimated population of children were screened for wasting during active case finding in the seven subdistricts of Lusaka with support from UNICEF.
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132,750 in drought affected areas reached with basic water supply.
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UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education (MoE) to adapted and developed audio and video messaging for parents on keeping children in school during drought.
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23,378 cumulative Cholera cases with 740 deaths as of reporting date.
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Community surveillance for Cholera was initiated with screening of 18,047 under 5 years children and 22,400 above 5 years visited in 7,122 households.
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UNICEF provided logistical support in the importation of 4.1 million doses of the Oral Cholera Vaccine.
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Over 3.3 million people are benefitting from UNICEF supported water chlorination and quality monitoring, and infection prevention and control supplies.
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40,839 people including 18,287 children affected have received protection support (family tracing, reunification, reintegration, case management services, etc)
FUNDING OVERVIEW & PARTNERSHIPS
A total amount of US$33,582,543 is required for UNICEF’s response to the humanitarian needs, including sustaining the lifesaving services of close to 10 million people affected by drought and Cholera in Zambia. Of these a total amount US$27,095,543 is for the drought response and US$6,487,000 for Cholera response.
US$2,834,797 has been received from ECHO and CERF to support the Cholera response. In addition, UNICEF reallocated US$ 490,000 from its Regular Resources (RR) bringing the total amount available funds for the response to US$3,324,797. The country office had accessed an internal Emergency Programme Fund (EPF) loan of US$2,210,950 to enable scaling up of its interventions in view of the criticality of quick action. For the drought response, US$3,208,941 (US$1,526,698 reprogrammed funds and US$1,682,243 funds received), is available for the response leaving a funding gap of US$23,886,601. €4,528,750 (approximately US$4,854,820) is expected from the European Union to prevent severe nutrient deficiencies in Zambezi, Shang’ombo, Kalabo, Mongu, Choma and Monze Districts in Western and Southern provinces, which are among the most affected by the drought.
SITUATION OVERVIEW & HUMANITARIAN NEEDS.
Zambia continues to face a severe drought due to the on-going effects of El Nino; 84 out of 116 districts have been severely affected by drought in 9 provinces; 9,779,145 people are exposed while 6,552,027 people are adversely affected by drought in 84 districts and in need of humanitarian assistance.
As we approach the lean season, more children are being reported and admitted for moderate and severe wasting, between January and June 2024, compared to the previous two years (2022 and 2023). Over the last months, both SAM and MAM admissions have reached a peak in June 2024. Cumulatively, as of June 2024, 7,933 children below 5 years of age have been admitted for SAM treatment and a further 17,955 children have been admitted for MAM treatment in the 84 drought affected districts of Zambia.
According to the recent SMART Survey (May 2024) conducted by UNICEF and partners, over 3 million children under 18 and 1.2 million children under 5 years are facing prolonged food insecurity and high risk of common childhood illness, vaccine preventable disease outbreaks and malnutrition. Sixty-four (64) districts are projected to be at IPC 3 while 12 are at IPC4; an estimated 102,000 children are likely to suffer from severe wasting (SAM) in 2024; and 2 out of 3 children suffer from child food poverty, i.e. they do not have diverse diets.
Whilst the country has not registered new cholera cases in the past two weeks, the cholera emergency has not yet been officially declared as over as the risk of cases continues with the ongoing drought and water shortages. For example, in the past few weeks, there have been increases in diarrheal cases reported.