Gender Perspective in Rescue and Disaster Response

On the morning of September 26, the catastrophic flooding of the Bhote Koshi River inflicted major human and material losses in districts such as Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading. The flood destroyed homes, roads, bridges, commercial structures, and livelihoods, displacing numerous families and leaving many without relatives. Many remain out of contact. Numerous households lost loved ones, property, and sources of income, amplifying displacement, insecurity, grief, psychological stress, and uncertainty about the future among affected communities.

Following the floods, rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts are underway by placing affected and displaced individuals in holding centers and temporary shelters. When viewed from a gender and protection perspective, the impact of the Bhote Koshi flood appears even more critical.

UN Women reports that about 157,550 women and girls in Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been either directly or indirectly affected. Approximately 43,000 of them urgently require humanitarian assistance. According to UNICEF’s preliminary humanitarian situation report dated August 31, 2026, nearly 65,000 people in Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, and Tanahun have been impacted.

These statistics reveal that the post-disaster situation involves more than physical damage alone. It necessitates urgent attention to child protection, family tracing and reunification, protection from violence, exploitation, trafficking, and psychosocial support. The health and nutrition sectors also face significant risks. UNICEF highlights that around 10,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women in the affected areas require nutritional support, specifically iron and folic acid supplements.

Four health facilities in Rasuwa have been completely destroyed, disrupting health services, which in turn affects maternal, neonatal, and child healthcare. UNFPA has prioritized maternity supplies, menstrual hygiene products, sexual and reproductive health services, and measures to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

This clearly illustrates that relief involves more than providing food, water, and temporary shelter. Protection, health, nutrition, privacy, psychosocial support, family reunification, and access to sexual and reproductive health services for women, adolescent girls, pregnant, and postpartum women and children are fundamental elements of disaster response.

An important question arises: How has the disaster impacted the lives of women and adolescent girls? To what extent have their physical integrity, health, safety, privacy, and dignity been prioritized in rescue and relief plans?

Disasters affect everyone, but risks are not uniform. While floods, landslides, or earthquakes may be natural events, risks are deeply connected to pre-existing social, economic, and gender inequalities. Women often have limited access to economic resources, may lack land or property rights, and may face exclusion from decision-making processes about going to safe places.

They often bear greater responsibilities in caring for children, elderly, or sick family members. Inequities in access to information, transportation, health, and relief services can further increase their vulnerability.

Therefore, it is crucial to approach disaster response from a gender-sensitive perspective. Rescue efforts are not simply about moving people from flood zones to safe locations. Questions such as: Where are the pregnant women? What is the condition of postpartum mothers? Where are the adolescent girls? How are women with disabilities being relocated safely? What about individuals requiring regular medication? What immediate needs arise when family members are missing? Answers to these must be integral parts of rescue operations.

Holding centers and temporary shelters are providing food, water, clothing, blankets, and accommodation — all essential. However, beyond whether relief has arrived, it is equally critical to ask: Who needs what kind of assistance? We must never forget that menstruation does not stop due to floods; pregnancy continues unaffected; postpartum and breastfeeding needs persist. Women’s health requirements cannot be sidelined because of a disaster.

Women and girls arriving at holding centers need adequate sanitary pads, undergarments, clean water, soap, safe toilets, and privacy for personal hygiene. These are not luxuries but essential for health, dignity, and human rights.

Providing a single pack of sanitary pads does not fulfill menstrual hygiene management. Adequate supplies of pads, undergarments, clean water, soap, safe latrines, waste management, and privacy are all necessary.

Pregnant women require regular health check-ups, medication, delivery services, and emergency healthcare. Blocked roads, lack of transportation, or inaccessible health facilities close to delivery can be life-threatening. Prioritizing pregnant women in rescue is not charity but a matter of respecting their rights. Safe motherhood is their fundamental right.

The condition of postpartum mothers and newborns is highly sensitive. Breastfeeding requires safe, private spaces, and mothers need adequate nutrition and rest. Newborns need careful attention to cleanliness, temperature, and nutrition. One postpartum mother shared, “We have food and shelter, but living all together is noisy. My three-month-old daughter cannot sleep and has to sleep on the cold floor. I cannot sleep either. This affects my milk supply. Some have brought packet milk, but without proper feeding tools, the baby cannot digest it well. We need safer, more secure accommodations.”

This testimony highlights the gap between relief provided and actual needs. Food is vital, but postpartum mothers also require resting space, sufficient nutrition, safe breastfeeding areas, and health and nutrition support for newborns. Shelter is not just a tent or roof; it includes safety, privacy, hygiene, health, nutrition, and dignity.

Security at holding centers is a serious concern. Female police presence is necessary at every center. When hundreds of people reside together, how is women’s privacy maintained? Are they safe going to toilets at night? Is there a private space to change clothes or manage menstruation? Where do survivors report violence? Where do pregnant women access emergency care? Are postpartum mothers provided secure breastfeeding spaces? Without answers, it is difficult to consider relief centers as safe shelters.

Relief distribution practices must also be reexamined through a gender lens. Distributing aid primarily to the male head of household can obscure the real needs and voices of women. Special attention should be given to single women, female-headed households, adolescent girls, pregnant and postpartum women, women with disabilities, and socially marginalized groups.

Asking women merely “What do you need?” is insufficient. Their responses must be incorporated into decisions on relief and response. Sexual and reproductive health must be part of emergency services: antenatal care, delivery, postnatal services, contraception, menstrual hygiene management, treatment after sexual violence, psychosocial support, and necessary referrals cannot be deferred. Women’s bodies and rights remain intact during disasters.

Furthermore, displacement, lack of privacy, insecure shelters, financial hardship, and weak protection mechanisms increase the risk of gender-based violence. Hence, safe complaint and grievance mechanisms, confidential referral systems, psychosocial support, health services, and legal and structural protection must be integrated into relief and shelter programs. Prevention should start from recognizing risks, not just reacting after incidents occur.

Disaster effects do not end with rescue and relief. Women risk being left behind during rehabilitation. Houses may be rebuilt, roads reconstructed, markets reopened, and schools operational, but do women who lost their homes receive rebuilding assistance?

Do women who lost livelihoods gain opportunities for economic recovery? Are women helped to regain citizenship, land certificates, or educational documents lost in the disaster? Rehabilitation is not just rebuilding houses; it is restoring women’s lives, income, assets, health, security, and decision-making power.

Every relief package should include menstrual hygiene management, safe water, sanitation, and hygiene needs. Health teams must be prepared to provide sexual and reproductive health and psychosocial services. Child protection, family tracing and reunification, and safe spaces must be arranged for children.

Meaningful participation of women in local disaster management mechanisms must be ensured. Women are not only relief recipients; they are rights-bearing citizens entitled to participate in disaster identification, planning, rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction decisions.

Women are not just victims of disasters. They are leaders, decision-makers, and active partners in disaster response within families and communities. Therefore, the language of disaster management must shift. Instead of asking “What relief should women receive?” the focus must move to “Which rights of women must be guaranteed during disasters?”

The Bhote Koshi flood washed away homes, properties, roads, and livelihoods. Yet, it also offers an opportunity to change our old mindset. Success in response should not be measured solely by the volume of relief delivered or the number of people served, but by how safe, respected, informed, and connected to essential services affected women, girls, children, pregnant and postpartum women, and other vulnerable groups are.

This flood took away homes, properties, roads, and loved ones—but we must not allow women’s rights to be swept away. Women’s rights are not an additional agenda in disasters; they are the core of disaster response.