One month after Nepal floods: women run community kitchens that feed families and provide income

# What happened and who is responding

On 26 August 2026, flash floods along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli corridors destroyed homes and infrastructure across districts including Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Thousands died and many communities lost livelihoods and possessions. The United Nations estimates that at least 43,000 women and girls in the 17 worst-affected municipalities need humanitarian assistance.

UN Women partnered with local women's groups and organizations — Rural Oriented Youth Movement Nepal (ROYM), National Indigenous Women Forum (NIWF) and others — to set up community kitchens in Nuwakot and Rasuwa. The Feminist Dalit Organization (FEDO) is preparing to open additional kitchens.

# Why community kitchens were chosen

Displaced families in holding centres often lack access to cooking facilities and consistent food. Community kitchens provide ready-cooked meals to people who cannot prepare food themselves while creating short-term paid work for women who lost income. The model uses local women's groups so the response draws on community knowledge and relationships to reach affected families.

# Scale and immediate outputs

The kitchens are designed to run for one to three months after a disaster. A single kitchen serving a community of 100 people for one month can provide up to 9,000 meals. Across the kitchens set up after the flood, teams have reached 1,145 people and served more than 15,000 meals within two weeks, delivering up to four meals per person per day in some locations.

Reshma Ranjit, 30, ran a catering business for nearly a decade and had taken a loan shortly before the flood to expand. The flood swept away her equipment, savings and business. She became head chef at the UN Women-supported community kitchen in Indrayani Basic School, Bidur Municipality-1, Nuwakot, preparing meals for displaced families and earning income while helping others.

Sannani BK lost family members in the floods and became a caregiver for additional children. She describes the kitchen as a place to share grief, work alongside other women and provide essential meals to families who need them.

# Protection and gendered impacts

In disasters, women and girls typically face larger protection risks, increased unpaid care work, and faster descent into poverty. The UN Women intervention specifically targets women's economic needs and protection concerns by offering paid roles and working through women's rights organizations and local groups.

# Operational partners and next steps

UN Women's immediate response has involved local partners ROYM and NIWF, with FEDO set to add more kitchens. The plan focuses on short-term food security and income while broader humanitarian assistance addresses shelter, water, health and protection for women and girls across affected municipalities.

# What this delivers now

The community kitchens provide three practical effects at once: regular cooked meals for displaced people, short-term paid work and social support for women who lost livelihoods, and a community-based delivery channel that reaches people quickly through trusted local groups.

# What remains to be addressed

The kitchens are a short-term intervention intended to operate up to three months. Longer-term recovery will require rebuilding livelihoods, restoring household assets, addressing protection risks, and scaling assistance to the broader population of affected women and girls across the region.