From Data to Action: How Findings From an Interagency Rapid Qualitative Assessment are Stimulating Action to Support Drought-Affected Communities in Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is one of several countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa region that has been grappling with multiple concurrent emergencies that have affected the health and safety of the population. In February 2024, a national state of emergency was declared in Zambia due to a severe and prolonged drought affecting over half of the country. These emergencies have adversely affected women and children who are especially vulnerable to diseases, malnutrition and violence.

In response, the Collective Service – an interagency partnership between UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – has been providing technical surge support on cholera and drought emergencies. This support has been to UNICEF Zambia and its partners from the Ministry of Health, Zambia National Public Health Institute, Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), the University of Zambia School of Public Health, Public Private Dialogue Forum and the Zambia Red Cross Society. The support has been in collaboration with global partners, including UK Public Health Rapid Support Team, SSHAP and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct people-centred, rapid qualitative assessments (RQAs) to inform community engagement strategies and hold response actors accountable to affected populations.

Since November 2023, the Collective Service has supported the coordination of the Zambia Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) cluster through strengthened community feedback mechanisms, operational social science training and support, and shared data intelligence and analysis. The Collective Service has also supported the implementation of RQAs to highlight important issues emerging in Zambia. Four RQAs, conducted in 2023 and 2024, focused on cholera; and two RQAs, conducted in 2024, focused on the impact of the drought across nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); and health and social protection. This brief summarises and shares information from the RQA, conducted from 28 May to 2 June 2024, of drought-related community perceptions and behaviours in Zambia.