KATHMANDU When a major flash flood tore through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli River corridors on 26 August 2026, it reshaped the mountainous landscape across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading districts in a matter of seconds. Entire settlements were submerged, critical infrastructure was washed away, and more than 788 lives were lost, with thousands more reported missing. Among those navigating the harrowing aftermath was Dr Unni Krishnan, Global Humanitarian Director at Plan International. A veteran physician and humanitarian leader with over 25 years of experience in disaster response and climate-related emergencies across more than 100 countries, Dr Krishnan returned to Nepal to support on-the-ground response efforts. In an interview following his field visits to Nuwakot and Rasuwa, Dr Krishnan reflected on the stark reality of the disaster, the unique vulnerabilities of children and young girls, and why true humanitarian aid must go far beyond simple physical survival.

Seeing the Lotus: Humanity Amid Devastation Reflecting on his journey through the flood-damaged valleys, Dr Krishnan drew upon a childhood memory from his home state of Kerala, India, to contextualise the sheer scale of grief and recovery. 'My mother used to tell me that when you get up in the morning and look through the window, either you see the dirty, filthy pond or you see the blooming lotus,' he recalls. 'The choice is yours. In a crisis, you see immense suffering, but you also see the best of humanity, neighbours helping neighbours, parents taking in children orphaned by the waters.' Having previously responded to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, Dr Krishnan noted how distinct this tragedy felt. While the 2015 earthquake felt like a thousand hammers hitting a football ground all at once, this localized flash flood delivered relentless, concentrated destruction to narrow river corridors, burying homes, schoolgrounds, and local markets beneath deep, thick mud. 'Nothing prepares you for that level of swift destruction,' Dr Krishnan says. 'And nothing breaks your heart more than watching families stand by helicopter landing sites, waiting not with hope, but simply waiting to claim the body bags of their loved ones.' The 56 Children of Bidur- Restoring Voice and Normalcy At a temporary holding centre in Bidur, Nuwakot, set up by local authorities and volunteers, Dr Krishnan met 56 displaced children who had narrowly escaped the rising waters. Many had lost family members and were left with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. 'The most striking thing in any disaster or war zone is the power of a crisis to steal children's voices,' Dr Krishnan observes. 'They fall silent quickly. They carry a deep fear of the next flood, refusing to go anywhere near the riverbank because they watched the water sweep away everything in seconds.' To help children process trauma and regain a sense of routine, Plan International teamed up with local partners- including DEPROSC Nepal, KIRDAC, and CWIN to set up temporary learning spaces, mobilize immediate food items, and install clean water infrastructure. Going beyond conventional relief manuals, Plan International is also exploring creative partnerships with groups like Clowns Without Borders. 'It isn't just about entertainment,' Dr Krishnan explains. 'Through art, music, and laughter, children find a safe medium to express invisible emotional care, process fear, and rebuild psychological resilience. Healing starts when a child feels safe enough to smile again.'

The Needs That Cannot Always Be Seen The flood has created immediate, visible needs- food, water, shelter, healthcare, and sanitation. But Dr Krishnan warns that some of the most catastrophic consequences remain invisible to the naked eye. Girls and young women face heightened risks during displacement, including sexual exploitation, abuse, trafficking, and long-term negative coping mechanisms such as early and forced child marriage. 'Everybody is affected, but some people are affected differently from others or more,' Dr Krishnan emphasises, noting why relief must explicitly prioritise children and girls. According to UNICEF, over 17,000 children and an estimated 157,050 women and girls across Rasuwa and Nuwakot have been directly or indirectly impacted. Furthermore, 20 schools have been damaged and nearly 19,000 students enrolled near riverbanks face severe disruption to their education. To address these hidden gaps, Plan International's response is structured around gender-responsive protection, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), protection referrals, and the inclusion of marginalised groups, such as persons with disabilities. The organization is actively conducting Rapid Needs Assessments (RNA) and gender analyses to ensure that the evolving needs of girls shape every phase of relief. Why Girls and Women Are Prioritised While natural disasters affect entire communities, Dr Krishnan emphasizes that the impact is never uniform. Women, young girls, and children face distinct, heightened risks when displaced from their homes. Historically, adolescent girls are the first to be withdrawn from school during disasters and the last to return. Disruption to schooling increases long-term exposure to harm, while overcrowded holding centres without gender-segregated spaces expose girls to severe safety risks. Access to essential dignity kits and safe, private sanitary disposal facilities remains a pressing priority. In Uttargaya Rural Municipality, Rasuwa, a displaced adolescent girl highlighted the daily struggle for basic hygiene: 'We have been given sanitary pads, and for now we have enough. But we will need more in the coming days. We also don't know where to throw the used pads. We need a safe place to dispose of them.' Nutrition is another silent issue, in many disaster-affected households, women and girls are often the last to eat, making equitable distribution of food and nutrition assistance vital. Practical Relief, Public Health, and the Dignity of Choice In the immediate aftermath of flooding, public health concerns ramp up rapidly. While search and rescue operations continue, preventing secondary health emergencies, such as vector-borne and waterborne disease outbreaks like cholera requires urgent, systematic intervention. To respond to these escalating needs, Plan International Nepal deployed a 13-member Emergency Response Team (ERT) and embedded staff directly into local government offices to streamline information management. Across affected communities, 2,700 displaced people in Nuwakot have received critical shelter and NFI kits, while 229 families in holding centres across Bidur and Uttargaya received 15 days of food supplies. Clean water and sanitation remain paramount; teams installed 14 water tanks across four temporary holding centres, providing clean water to over 700 individuals. At the Ayurvedic Hospital in Bidur, Plan International deployed a trained psychosocial counsellor to provide immediate mental health support to survivors receiving medical treatment and care. Plan International is also directly supporting a key holding centre in Nuwakot, where seven displaced children (4 girls and 3 boys) have already arrived. The team established a Child-Friendly Space stocked with learning and playing materials, equipped a full kitchen setup, constructed dedicated toilet and bathroom units with running tap water, and set up separate bedrooms for girls and boys to ensure protection and comfort. Across the wider region, six additional Child-Friendly Spaces are ready for installation. In Rasuwa, Plan International handed over 400 body bags, 19 items for DNA testing, and disease control supplies to local Health Emergency Operations Centres to ensure safe, dignified forensic management, alongside three power generators delivered to restore electricity supply. Dr Krishnan advocates strongly for dignified modalities of assistance, particularly Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), as local markets begin to stabilize. 'Humanitarian assistance is not about dumping unwanted items from your closet into a flood zone,' Dr Krishnan stresses. 'Cash assistance gives choices and dignity. It empowers women to buy the exact sizes of clothing their families need, purchase fresh produce, or restart small enterprise stalls that support local economic recovery.'

Global Solidarity, Climate Justice, and the 'Hunger Republic' The 2026 flash floods that surged down the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli River corridors have brought into sharp focus a glaring global inequity. Nepal contributes less than 0.1 percent of total global carbon emissions, yet its vulnerable mountain communities bear the devastating brunt of extreme climate shocks. While the physical destruction across Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading has been immense, the disaster has also ignited powerful expressions of international solidarity, supported by Plan International offices across Australia, Europe, Asia, and North America. In London, a six-year-old girl set up a local stall outside her home after learning about the floods, raising £230 for the response. Meanwhile, school children across Nepal gathered their own pocket money to donate to the Prime Minister's Disaster Relief Fund. 'These children are sending us a clear message- you are never too young, nor too far away, to make a difference,' Dr Krishnan reflects. 'In our darkest moments, these acts of kindness remind us that beyond borders and politics, we are bound together by one shared humanity.' As the floodwaters recede and the long road to recovery begins, Dr Krishnan leaves us with a stark, sobering image that transcends the mud and mountains of Nepal, a reminder of the fragile global reality connecting us all. 'Tonight, about 800 million people will go to bed hungry,' Dr Krishnan reflects 'If you gathered every hungry person on Earth into a single place, they would form the third most populous country in the world, behind only India and China. You could call it a 'Hunger Republic'.' It is a phantom nation created not by choice, but by the compounding forces of conflict, soaring food prices, and climate breakdown. From four years of relentless drought in Somalia to sudden, devastating flash floods in the river valleys of Nepal, extreme climate shocks are destroying agricultural lands and pushing fragile communities to the edge. Yet, as Dr Krishnan emphasizes, this is a crisis with a solution if world leaders, donors, and humanitarian agencies choose to act with courage and clarity. 'Hunger and climate suffering are solvable problems,' he says. 'Whenever there is confusion in planning or policy, you simply have to close your eyes and picture that lonely child cut off in a remote village. Ask yourself how your decision will serve that child, and consider the real cost of inaction. Because when you get it right for children, you get it right for humanity.'