Over 150K women and girls impacted by Nepal-Tibet floods, as many struggle to access food, water, menstrual care — and groups assess how to help now and going forward

U.N. Women said last week that 157,050 women and girls had been impacted by the flash floods and mudslides that devastated the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts of Nepal on August 26. Around 43,000 women and girls require immediate aid, the agency estimated earlier this week. As of September 4, the death toll for the disaster, which also impacted communities in Tibet, had surpassed 1,300, while more than 4,000 people remain missing. 

The U.N. has warned that threats of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, and unmet sexual, reproductive, and maternal health needs are heightened in the aftermath of the disaster. 

Anju Bhujel, who has been staying at a temporary relief camp with her children, told Agence France-Presse that a nongovernmental organization helped supply menstrual pads but that disposal had been an issue. Yogita Tamang told the outlet that many who fled had no time to gather clothing: "What will we do with pads if we don't have underwear?" Tamang posed.

Access to privacy, toilets, and clean water has also been limited in the relief camps. 

In a recent press briefing, Christine Arab of U.N. Women shared that women and girls in the region had been spending hours each day collecting water even before the recent floods. Water collection is a critical task often borne along gendered lines in many areas of the world and especially in communities increasingly impacted by the climate crisis. 

"Now, women are telling us that access to safe water has been cut off altogether, following the destruction of water systems, roads, and bridges," said Arab, who noted that Nepali women in the hardest-hit zones said food was the biggest priority as of September 1.

The crushing floods that took lives, homes, and roadways were triggered by a glacial collapse in the Himalayas that unleashed vast amounts of rock, ice, meltwater, and debris.

Some scientists have cautioned that it is too early to say just how much of a role climate change played in the collapse. But many have highlighted the connection between planet-warming emissions, rising temperatures, and the increasing instability of glaciers in the region, all of which may trigger more disasters in the future. 

The U.N. Environment Programme announced on September 2 that the world is set to fall short of restraining global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times. Missing that key threshold, though, is no reason to give up, the agency said. As the UNEP outlined in a press release, its findings underscore the importance of cutting carbon and greenhouse gas emissions now, because "above 1.5°C, risks and impacts will intensify with every extra fraction of a degree and every year." 

Environmental advocates have emphasized the importance of a just transition away from burning the fossil fuels that drive the climate crisis, especially as vulnerable nations like Nepal experience gravely disproportionate impacts despite contributing little to global emissions. 

"We are suffering for a crime that we did not commit," climate activist Tashi Lhazom told AFP in Kathmandu. Glaciologist Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa told the same outlet that the nations driving the largest shares of emissions "should take some responsibility … there should be some accountability."  

Earlier this week, Nepal's Foreign Minister, Shisir Khanal, who had already attributed the floods to rising temperatures, appeared to request compensation for the disaster from top emitters China, the U.S., and India. By the end of the week, he seemed to have reframed the ask not as a formal request but instead as a way to "look at this disaster from the perspective of climate change and the impact it's having on Nepal," per The Times of India.

Khanal also noted that China, India, and Nepal share some regional climate risks. 

"We are all impacted by climate change in the Himalayas as well," he said, according to TOI. "Our call is for all these three countries to come together to be better prepared."

CNN reported that the second Trump administration made cuts to a landslide-monitoring program in Nepal in 2025, though the U.S. State Department told the outlet it still supports flood mitigation in the country. Meanwhile, according to NPR, "Preliminary reports indicate that Nepal's flood warning system wasn't equipped to handle these floods … despite significant government investment in flood warning systems over the last decade," during which time the systems have been difficult to maintain. 

Yet, community-based alerts — urgent calls from trusted friends and neighbors — appeared, at least in some cases, to be highly effective in saving many lives, including around 900 schoolchildren who were evacuated following phone calls to their teacher.

While some may raise doubts about the scale, resilience, and predictability of these simpler alerts, the success of community members coming together in these critical moments is clear.

"The lesson here is that we need societal linkages and community participation for any emergency communication to succeed," researcher Chandani Bhandari told Mongabay.

It is perhaps a message that climate activists and environmental advocates the world over hope members of every community can take to heart at each stage of emergency response.

Kirsten Krueger contributed to the editing of this article.