As the death toll continues to climb in Nepal following its magnitude-7.8 earthquake, women on the ground are fearlessly leading rescue efforts in the face of the devastation.
“We are counting deaths,” said Renu Adhikari. The government figure has already topped 6,000, “but it is much more than that because there are areas that have been swept away, with no houses and no rescue teams in reach.” Adhikari founded the National Alliance of Women’s Human Rights Defenders in Nepal and is also the founder of the Women’s Rehabilitation Center, a Global Fund for Women grantee partner that has been working to advance women’s rights in Nepal since 1991.
“For the last two days, it’s been pouring and because of the weather and the geographical conditions, the rescue teams are finding it even more difficult” to get to these badly hit areas, continued Adhikari. “On top of that, the government is badly coordinated, so a lot of international volunteers are there but have not been properly mobilized. There are places where the people hear cries and weeping but no one can go there and rescue [people]. That is really painful. There are areas where nothing has reached.”
