An estimated 43,000 women and girls in Nepal urgently need humanitarian assistance following the flash floods that swept through parts of the country on August 26, according to UN Women.

The UN agency said the disaster has disproportionately affected women and girls, particularly those who were already vulnerable because of poverty, disability, pregnancy, limited access to information and a lack of resources.

“Pregnant women, lactating women, people with disabilities, the people we would normally support – are gone, washed away, because they could not run to higher ground,” one women-led organisation working in affected communities told UN Women.

“This is what happens when a disaster meets inequality: the people already left behind are often the first to be swept away,” UN Women said in a statement on Tuesday.

An estimated 157,050 women and girls living in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts have been directly and indirectly affected by the floods, according to the agency.

Women survivors in the worst-affected communities have identified food as their most urgent need. Access to safe water has also been severely disrupted after water systems, roads and bridges were destroyed.

In Rasuwa, women already spent hours each day travelling long distances to collect water for their families. The destruction of water infrastructure has now made access to safe water even more difficult, UN Women said.

The agency warned that the crisis could worsen existing inequalities in access to food.

Before the floods, women in Nepal were more likely than men to eat less and eat last within their households, with potentially serious consequences for their health, particularly for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The disaster has also heightened risks of gender-based violence, exploitation and trafficking. Damage to infrastructure and communications has made it more difficult for survivors to seek help and access protection services.

Approximately one in three women across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha and Chitwan districts is illiterate, according to UN Women. The agency said this could make it harder for women to access information about relief operations, complete registration procedures and independently claim assistance.

The lack of safe and separate sanitation facilities is another concern. Where there are no separate latrines, adequate lighting or sufficient privacy, women and girls face increased risks while using toilets, bathing, sleeping or moving around after dark.

Women heading households may face additional difficulties. With male out-migration common in the affected areas, one in three households in Bagmati Province is headed by a woman. About one-third of those households rely on remittances that are already under strain.

Women managing households alone often have fewer resources, income opportunities and support networks to draw on during a crisis, making it essential that they can access relief and recovery assistance independently, UN Women said.

The disaster has also sharply increased women’s unpaid care burden.

Women in Nepal perform an estimated 85 percent of the country’s daily unpaid care work. With people injured and homes, schools, water systems and other essential services damaged or destroyed, women are expected to take on an even greater share of caring responsibilities.

UN Women said the increased workload could leave women with less time to earn income, rebuild their livelihoods and participate in decisions concerning humanitarian assistance and recovery.

The agency is working with women-led organisations already active in affected communities, despite many of those organisations themselves suffering loss and trauma from the floods.

UN Women said the experience of floods in 2021 and 2025 showed that the overwhelming majority of women had not been significantly involved in applying for or receiving assistance.

“Women-led organisations are therefore critical partners for the humanitarian response,” the agency said, stressing that greater outreach to women would make humanitarian assistance more effective for individuals, families and communities.

As part of the government’s overall response and recovery efforts, UN Women said it was working with UN agencies, women’s rights organisations and other humanitarian partners to ensure women and girls can access essential services and protection.

The agency said it was also seeking recognition and support for women’s increased unpaid care work and equal participation of women and women-led organisations in humanitarian and recovery decision-making.

UN Women has appealed for $2 million in emergency funding to ensure women and girls affected by the floods can access assistance and protection, including those who have been displaced or face heightened risks of violence, trafficking and exploitation.

“The humanitarian response must recognise the experiences of women and girls. It must reach them and it must include them as key drivers in Nepal’s recovery,” UN Women said.