Humanitarian agencies are intensifying rescue and relief efforts in Nepal following catastrophic flash floods, with mounting concerns for women, girls, and access to healthcare, according to United Nations (UN). As of late Tuesday, the death toll stood at just over 1,000, while 4,247 people remain missing, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office OCHA, briefing reporters in Geneva on 1 September 2026. The disaster has exposed deep inequalities and disrupted essential services across the worst-hit regions.
The catastrophic flooding was triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas on the border with China. Authorities there report that 16 people were confirmed killed and 546 are missing. Nearly a week has passed since the flooding began, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is only now able to access hard-hit areas such as Rasuwa district. People are returning to look for their homes and what is left of them.
“Search and rescue is still ongoing, and the monsoon hasn’t stopped,” said Matt Baden, IFRC Operations Manager for the Nepal crisis response, speaking from Kathmandu. He warned that blocked waterways remain at risk of further flooding and that the threat of landslides is “real and immediate.” According to UN Women, some 43,000 women and girls in Nepal now require immediate humanitarian assistance. Christine Arab, the agency’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, said partners on the ground stress that women survivors are running out of food, safe water is increasingly inaccessible, and protection risks are growing.
Arab told journalists that many people who normally would receive humanitarian support—such as pregnant women, nursing mothers, and persons with disabilities—have been “washed away” because they could not get to higher ground. “And this is what happens when a disaster meets inequality: the people already left behind are often the first to be swept away,” she said, speaking from Bangkok. Prior to the floods, women and girls in Rasuwa district were already spending hours a day traveling long distances to collect water. She added that disasters also bring increased risks of gender-based violence, exploitation, and trafficking.
Maintaining access to health services remains a priority, said Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO). Six health facilities have suffered damage or destruction, while two others cannot be reached. Lindmeier stressed that “while immediate efforts remain focused on life-saving interventions…preventing secondary public health impacts is equally important.” WHO is supporting surveillance in both affected and downstream areas to monitor the potential increase of dengue, scrub typhus, and other communicable diseases. The agency has also supported the identification of priority medicines, diagnostic kits, and essential health commodities.