Address women’s unique needs amid crisis

In temporary settlements after the Bhotekoshi flash flood, women with urgent needs are being housed alongside displaced people without the privacy, nutrition or medical support they require. Thousands of people now share shelters, including men, women, children, older people and the injured. Pregnant women, new mothers and breastfeeding mothers face additional pressures.

At a holding centre in Bidur, Nuwakot, women make up more than 500 of the 1,000 residents. Crowded conditions leave little private space for bathing, drying clothes or breastfeeding. Women also face poor sanitation, cigarette smoke and the smell of alcohol. Their breast milk supply has declined, while the formula provided has caused discomfort for some babies. Food rations do not meet their nutritional needs or satisfy their hunger, and sanitary pads do not last through the menstrual cycle.

Trishuli hospital faces a separate crisis. Unreliable electricity and limited capacity are undermining its maternity ward, which is treating women with fever, reduced fetal movement and urinary tract infections during pregnancy. Some cases are being referred to other districts, but damaged roads and landslides make those transfers more difficult. The absence of an advanced neonatal unit adds to the strain.

The article points to Article 38 of Nepal’s Constitution, which guarantees women’s rights, including safe motherhood and reproductive health. It argues that those rights cannot become optional during a disaster. An initial United Nations Population Fund estimate found that about 4,430 pregnant women live across 15 municipalities in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. Around 492 could give birth within the next month, and about 74 may need emergency interventions.

The immediate priorities are keeping maternity services running, restoring access routes, providing adequate nutrition and creating safe, private spaces for women and children. The article also calls for sufficient sanitary products and mental-health support, particularly for women traumatised by losing family members, homes or land. Officials, it says, must treat women’s safety and dignity as urgent parts of the disaster response.