When the skies open over Sri Lanka and the rains begin to fall, the transformation can be swift and merciless. A gentle stream swells into a roaring torrent within hours. Roads vanish beneath sheets of muddy water. Entire communities are displaced overnight. But amid the chaos of flooding and disaster, one truth remains constant — human dignity cannot be placed on hold. For women, mothers, girls, and older persons, that dignity is often the first casualty when emergency response systems fail to account for their specific needs. A landmark initiative by UNFPA is working to change that reality, placing the most vulnerable at the very center of Sri Lanka's disaster preparedness framework.
The Hidden Crisis Within the Crisis
Natural disasters are rarely equal in how they affect different members of a community. While floods and landslides threaten everyone, women and girls face a distinct and often invisible layer of vulnerability. Emergency shelters that lack private spaces, relief packages that ignore menstrual health needs, and evacuation systems that overlook pregnant women or elderly individuals — these are not minor oversights. They are failures that carry serious, sometimes life-threatening consequences.
In Sri Lanka, a country that experiences annual flooding, landslides, and cyclonic weather events, these gaps have long been recognized but inadequately addressed. Women in displacement camps have reported feeling unsafe, unsupported, and stripped of basic privacy. Older women and persons with mobility challenges have found themselves unable to access relief distribution points designed without their limitations in mind. Pregnant and lactating mothers have gone without the specialized nutritional and medical support they urgently require.
UNFPA's Emergency Package: Dignity by Design
Recognizing these critical gaps, UNFPA — the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency — has developed and deployed a comprehensive emergency package specifically designed to address the needs of women, mothers, girls, and older persons during disaster situations in Sri Lanka. This initiative represents a fundamental shift in how emergency preparedness is conceptualized, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach toward a model that treats dignity as a non-negotiable component of disaster response.
The UNFPA emergency package includes dignity kits — carefully assembled collections of essential hygiene and personal care items tailored to the needs of women and girls. These kits contain sanitary products, soap, undergarments, and other necessities that are routinely absent from standard emergency relief distributions. For many women displaced by floods, receiving a dignity kit is not simply about hygiene — it is about maintaining a fundamental sense of self-worth and normalcy in the midst of upheaval.
Beyond physical supplies, the package addresses reproductive health services, ensuring that pregnant women and new mothers have access to skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care even during displacement. In a disaster context, the absence of such services can mean the difference between life and death for both mother and child.
Putting Preparedness Before the Storm
One of the most significant aspects of UNFPA's approach is its emphasis on preparedness rather than reactive response. Working alongside Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Centre and local authorities, UNFPA has invested in training community-level volunteers and disaster response officials to identify and respond to gender-specific needs before disaster strikes. This means that when the rains come and communities must evacuate, the systems to protect women and girls are already in place.
Training programs have equipped first responders with the knowledge and sensitivity to recognize signs of gender-based violence — a risk that tragically escalates in displacement settings — and to connect survivors with support services. Safe spaces within emergency shelters have been established and promoted, giving women and girls a protected environment where they can access information, psychosocial support, and referrals to health services.
Older Persons: The Forgotten Demographic
UNFPA's emergency framework also shines a necessary spotlight on older persons, a group frequently overlooked in disaster planning. Elderly individuals, particularly older women, often face compounded vulnerabilities during disasters — limited mobility, chronic health conditions, social isolation, and reduced access to information can all prevent them from reaching safety or receiving aid. By explicitly including older persons in its preparedness planning, UNFPA is ensuring that age is not a barrier to receiving dignified, appropriate emergency support.
A Model Worth Replicating
Sri Lanka's experience with the UNFPA emergency package offers valuable lessons for disaster-prone nations across South and Southeast Asia. The initiative demonstrates that gender-responsive disaster preparedness is not an optional enhancement — it is an essential component of any effective emergency system. When the most vulnerable members of a community are protected, the entire community becomes more resilient.
As climate change intensifies weather events and increases the frequency of disasters worldwide, the question is no longer whether we can afford to prioritize dignity in emergency response. The evidence from Sri Lanka makes clear that we cannot afford not to. When disaster strikes, dignity cannot wait — and with the right planning, it does not have to.