More than 500 children are living in temporary shelter homes across flood-hit districts, their parents either missing or declared dead following the August 26 floods that devastated parts of north and central Nepal. The scale of separation and displacement has left many youngsters in legal and practical limbo, with urgent needs for shelter, food and psychosocial care.
Nine-year-old Ram Thakur is one of them. He says he ran uphill with his mother as brown water surged, and she shouted, "Climb up faster, don't look behind." He was separated from both parents in the chaos and was rescued a day later by an army helicopter. He now lives in a government primary school converted into a shelter in Nuwakot district with 26 other children. He still waits for his parents and reacts when helicopters hover, hoping they will arrive.
A post-flood assessment by the National Child Rights Council and Save the Children found more than 1,000 children in temporary shelters this month, including more than 100 unaccompanied children and 439 who do not have parents but are living with other relatives, Ayush Joshi, programme director for Save the Children in Nepal, said. In total, more than 32,000 children were displaced by the floods, and officials and aid agencies are tracing families and arranging reunifications, Leon Muwoni, who heads child protection at UNICEF Nepal, said. So far, 18 children have been reunited with their parents.
Shelters report acute psychological distress among children. At a facility in Dhading, four-year-old Shibani Tama, whose parents are confirmed dead, barely speaks and resists basic care, caregivers say. In Nuwakot, shelter staff have partitioned eight rooms, six prepared by local nonprofits with waterproof mats, bedding and toys, while one room stores rations and another serves as a kitchen. Most staff on duty are Nepal police personnel and nonprofit workers, and a counsellor is attached to the site.
Nepalese law requires a person to be missing for 12 years before they can be declared dead, but an exemption exists for disasters if relatives apply to a district court for a judicial declaration of death. That procedure means many children cannot be formally registered as orphans immediately, complicating decisions about guardianship, financial support and long-term placements.
Caregivers and aid workers say the immediate priorities are tracing and reunification, expanding safe shelter capacity, and delivering psychosocial support to children in extreme shock. With more than 1,400 people confirmed killed and at least 5,000 missing, the relief operation faces a prolonged recovery phase as families, courts and agencies work through the legal and practical hurdles of caring for thousands of separated children.
