Quakes hit women, kids, elderly hard

KATHMANDU, July 11

Women, children, senior citizens and differently-abled people suffered the most due to the devastating earthquakes of April and May, the United Nations said today.In a press release today on the occasion of the World Population Day, Giulia Vallese, Nepal Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), stated that a total of eight million people in 14 districts were affected by the quake.

According to the UNFPA, a large number of women, especially pregnant and lactating mothers, have been facing health-related risks in the quake-hit districts due to damage in the health institutions and disruption of the health services. A recently released Post Disaster Needs Assessment has mentioned that women have faced different problems including gender-based violence, sexual harassment, HIV/AIDS infection, trafficking in human, child marriage and unwanted pregnancy during such emergency hour. The World Population Day this year was marked on Saturday with the theme ‘Vulnerable Populations in Emergencies’.