September 3, 2026, Nuwakot – Saathi jointly with Nepal Youth Foundation (NYF), has established a multipurpose women’s shelter in Nuwakot to meet the needs of women and children at risk of violence. The 12-bed residential facility serves the most vulnerable women and girls, offering psychosocial first aid (PFA) and referral services to address the overall needs of flood-affected women and girls. The shelter also serves as a hub for disseminating information on preventing sexual and gender-based violence during the emergency, and it advocates for the safety, security, and empowerment of affected women and girls through to reconstruction and rehabilitation. Saathi also plans to provide capacity-building and economic empowerment opportunities.
In addition, Saathi has set up women- and children-friendly safe spaces near two holding centers, which serve as screening points, provide PFA, and offer safe spaces for breastfeeding, changing, and other women-specific needs. A 20-bed emergency shelter has already been prepared in Kathmandu for women and girls needing longer-term support, and Saathi has reserved 20 seats in its long-term children’s home, ensuring continued education and rehabilitation for children who lost their parents in this tragedy.
The emergency response also includes nutrition and food distribution, with a focus on lactating mothers and children under five. Within just a few hours of the Nuwakot shelter opening, Saathi received referrals for three orphaned children and three lactating mothers who had lost their families in the flood — a clear sign of how urgently this shelter service was needed in the affected areas.
The decision to establish the multipurpose women’s shelter followed a rapid needs assessment led by Bandana Rana, Saathi’s Advisor and a current member of the CEDAW Committee, which identified the most urgent protection and service gaps facing flood-affected women and girls. Building on these findings, authorities are recommending that the shelter model and the women- and child-friendly spaces be extended to Rasuwa, given the greater need there. Saathi plans to expand into these areas as it steps up fundraising efforts.
