Six weeks after a mountain of glacial ice and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river in late August, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said more than 32,000 children in Nepal have been affected by the floods, with parts of towns and villages looking "like war zones."
Eighty-four children have been declared dead, and with 5,285 people still missing, Elder said that number will sadly rise. He met 16-year-old Sahara at her technical training centre; her mother was swept away and killed.
Scientists warn this kind of disaster is becoming more likely as the Himalayas warm about twice as fast as the global average: glaciers are shrinking, permafrost is thawing, and the ice and frozen ground holding slopes together are weakening.
Elder said disasters harm children in three ways: they destroy essential services — 23 schools, seven health facilities and 64 water systems were damaged or destroyed in these floods; they leave deep emotional scars, so psychosocial support matters as much as food, water and shelter; and they put a generation at risk through missed schooling and greater risks such as child marriage.
He described visiting Shushila and Jivan, whose tailor's shop and tea shop were destroyed by water more than two metres high: "That is the stress and trauma brought on by inaction elsewhere in the world. And this is what climate finance is for: letting a family like this start again." UNICEF has supported the family with cash assistance.
On the response so far, Elder said UNICEF and partners have vaccinated more than 68,000 people against cholera, restored water to 27,000 people, returned thousands of children to learning and play spaces, reunited 51 children with their families, and provided after-school psychological support and newborn kits.
He called for sustained, grant-based climate finance accessible to children's needs, noting Nepal produces only around 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet its children bear some of the heaviest consequences.