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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has reiterated its commitment to supporting the Zambian government in strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) across the country.
UNFPA Deputy Country Representative, Anna-Maria Holmstrom, said the organisation remained dedicated to working closely with government institutions to procure and distribute essential SRHR commodities, ensuring they reach communities that need them most.
Speaking in an interview with Zambia Monitor in Lusaka, Holmstrom revealed that for this year’s Nc’wala Ceremony in Eastern Province, UNFPA delivered about five million condoms as part of broader preventive health measures.
“We work with the government to procure most of the commodities for sexual and reproductive health and rights in the country,” she said.
Holmstrom explained that last year UNFPA and the government jointly funded the procurement of SRHR commodities, with the agency contributing about 80 percent of the supplies.
She added that due to changes in international funding streams, including a stop-wave order in the European Union, UNFPA stepped in to strengthen national distribution systems.
“As a stock-gap measure, we supported the Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency with distribution. Our distributions accounted for about 75 percent of all SRHR commodity deliveries and around 10 percent of all medicines last year,” she said.
Holmstrom noted that UNFPA was pleased to see the government now taking on a stronger role in domestic distribution and investing in data systems to monitor stock levels and availability.
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She reiterated the importance of condoms in safeguarding young people’s health, stressing their role in preventing HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and unplanned adolescent pregnancies.
“Only with condoms can we ensure triple protection,” she emphasized.
Holmstrom clarified that the condoms distributed in Chipata were intended for the entire Eastern Province, not just for the Nc’wala Ceremony.
“We wanted to ensure that with visitors coming into the province, adequate distributions had already taken place,” she said.
She added that the initiative formed part of a wider effort to promote healthier lifestyle choices and increase access to SRHR information and services among young people.
Holmstrom reaffirmed UNFPA’s ongoing commitment to supporting the government in improving access to sexual and reproductive health services, saying the latest efforts marked another step towards achieving national health goals.
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