Kathmandu - An estimated 157,050 women and girls living in Nepal's Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts have been directly and indirectly affected by flash floods that swept through communities on 26 August, with additional women and girls impacted in Dhading district.
More than 500 people have been killed and nearly 1,000 remain unaccounted. Some 10,000 homes have been washed away, while critical infrastructure has been destroyed. With search and rescue operations still under way, the full scale of the disaster is continuing to emerge.
Survivors now face severe shortages of food and water, disrupted health and protection services, and heightened risks of violence and exploitation. These risks are particularly acute for women and girls.
"The full scale of these horrific floods is still emerging", said Patricia Fernandez-Pacheco, UN Women Representative to Nepal. "What we do know is that existing risks for women and girls skyrocket when disasters hit. More women and girls are exploited and abused. More women and girls go hungry and without medicine when resources are scarce. There is even evidence from previous disasters to suggest women are more likely to die than men."
In all disasters, women and girls are impacted disproportionately. In addition to increased risks of violence and exploitation, women take on vastly greater unpaid care responsibilities than men, are forced to travel even further to secure water, and fall quicker and more deeply into poverty.
Women also experience barriers to accessing information and assistance. Across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading Gorkha and Chitwan districts, approximately one in three women is illiterate, making it harder to access information on relief efforts, complete registration processes, and independently claim assistance.
One in three households across Bagmati Province is headed by a woman, out of which one third rely on already strained remittances.
Within the Government of Nepal's overall response, and in partnership with UN agencies, women's rights organizations and humanitarian partners, UN Women is working to ensure women and girls can access essential services and protection, and that the response addresses their needs.
UN Women is also working to ensure women can access response and recovery assistance independently and participate equally in recovery, including through direct livelihood support, reducing unpaid care responsibilities, and removing barriers related to documentation, property ownership, language, and mobility.
As part of our response, UN Women is mobilizing resources for its Community Kitchen initiative, a women-led emergency response mechanism providing immediate food assistance while creating opportunities for women's leadership, livelihoods, and longer-term recovery.
UN Women is urgently appealing for USD 2 million to ensure women and girls affected by the floods can access the assistance and protection they need, including those who are displaced, or at heightened risk of violence, trafficking, and exploitation.
"We urgently need resources to reach women and girls who are cut off, at risk and struggling to meet their most basic needs. A response that meets the needs of women and girls can help prevent further harm and ensure women and girls are able to recover with safety, dignity and agency", said Fernandez-Pacheco.
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