As the mercury dips, the longing for a solid roof over her head has intensified for 20-year-old Rupa Subedi of Dhading.

Subedi, a quake survivor, has been living with five family members under a tent since April, when the earthquake destroyed her house. The mother of a five-week-old baby girl has nothing but a thin blanket to keep them warm.

“My pregnancy had just started when the earthquake struck and things have been difficult for me ever since and now I have no option other than raising my baby in

this cold place with the little warm clothes and food I have,” she said. Stakeholders working closely with women since the earthquake say that wrangling among politicians to get their hands on the much coveted reconstruction authority has made women and children face serious health and psychological consequences. “The magnitude of the disaster (earthquake) was the same but its effect on people was different from person to person depending on their ability to cope. That is why, we are saying women and children need special and the homogenous relief package has not been able to address the woes of the women,” said Bimala Rai Paudyal.

Paudyal further explained that the number of women casualties was more than that of the males and the lengthy process to apply for and get the identity card has left a lot of rightful women deprived of government aid.

Volunteers working with women in women-friendly space also echo the thought that new mothers have been hit the hardest. “Women from the higher Himalayan belt have started moving down to avoid cold and our women-friendly spaces have received women with health problems every day,” said Narayan Devi Shrestha, a volunteer at Arughat in Gorkha.

The health post in Arughat has halted its stopped functioning for eight months and volunteers like Shrestha have been  catering to the basic needs of women and children in the village. Stakeholders claimed that the ongoing problem will only come to an end after the reconstruction work begins. They also urged the government to ensure women’s representation to ensure that they are not left behind.

“Women were not given their due space in the relief distribution phase, which has resulted in many women being left out. Now we demand that women be incorporated in the reconstruction phase so that needs of women are properly addressed,” said Renu Rajbhandari, president of Women Rehabilitation Centre.