Nepal humanitarian crisis (2015-2017)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Nepal humanitarian crisis (2015-2017) developed owing to a lack of action following the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and its aftershocks. It was compounded by political factors as a result of the
2015 Nepal blockade : The 2015 Nepal blockade, which began on 23 September 2015 and lasted about six months, was an economic and humanitarian crisis which severely affected Nepal and its economy. Nepal has accused India of imposing an undeclared blockade trigger ...
. Victims of the earthquakes were still living in flimsy, temporary shelters more than a year after the initial devastation. The governmental National Reconstruction Authority had not devised relocation plans for these people as recently as July 2016. In Sindhupalchok District, the region that had suffered the worst devastation, the humanitarian situation was a little better towards the end of 2016 than it had been in 2015. Development indicators dropped with the passage of time. Nepal had ranked among the countries that had seen remarkable development gains pre-quake; post-quake reversal of gains led to around 43% of the urban population lacking access to even a decent toilet. It has been reported that one of the primary reasons for girls dropping out or irregularly attending school was the lack of toilets.


Announcement

In early November 2015, the US embassy sounded the warning of a humanitarian crisis evolving in Nepal. The issue of post-quake vulnerability somehow dissipated during the increasingly vocal information war between Kathmandu and New Delhi, which witnessed public denouncements at various
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
offices. Soon
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
followed with a warning echoing statements previously made by the US embassy.


Ethnic Angle

The most ignored communities were Nepali Indians, living in the most inaccessible regions of Nepal, clinging to high mountain passes. They have yet to see any quake aid from Kathmandu, while the relief effort focuses on the immediate needs of people in the vicinity of cities. The areas of Nepal hardest-hit by the earthquake, such as Gorkha District, Sindhupalchowk District and Dolakha District, where 90% of houses were destroyed, are likely to suffer most as Kathmandu historically has shown very little interest in them, and transport must be by
mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
in treacherous mountainous terrain as no roads exist. In particular, Tamang and Chepang children were already suffering from severe malnutrition before the fuel crisis, and they were worst off. Having waited until winter is in full swing, the government in Kathmandu, finally gearing for action in December, realized that it could not efficiently deliver supplies to remote locations without helicopters. By Christmas 2015, snow had already fallen in many parts of the country. In total, an estimated 600,000 homes were destroyed in the earthquake (with no donated money reaching any survivors as of 9 November). These and similar predominately Mongoloid groups that inhabit high mountain homelands are known to international tourists and trekkers through trekking circuits, where the experiences of them sharing their homes and hospitality are an integral part of the trekking experience. However, these very same people are the most vulnerable within Nepal due to their remoteness, post-quake effects, weak political representation, low
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
, and the altitude and climate. Goma BK of the Gagal Bhadaure Village Development Committee(VDC)-9, Ramechhap, said that she was unable to get find one kilogram of rice or one tarpaulin even after walking four hours daily for six days. Rajendra Nepali of Bhimeshwor Municipality-6, Dolakha, said that
Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s were excluded during the relief effort because their settlements are located in remote areas and lack access to information.


Humanitarian access

Humanitarian access Humanitarian access is a specific legal term, referred to the ability by neutral humanitarian actors (such as the United Nations, the ICRC, and foreign or local NGOs), to enter an area during a conflict, to provide humanitarian aid as well as monit ...
to survivors has been lacking, other than the UNHAS air drops, as the government had seized ad-hoc post-quake efforts and resources within the month after the initial quake. This situation did not improve even with the new government of KP Oli in October. Only after widespread criticism and warnings of impending doom did the government break the ''logjam'' and appoint the reconstruction authority head on 25 December, who now has the task of racing against time to begin reconstruction.


Crisis Intensification


Winter Onset

Despite the first politically unified government since before the Nepalese Civil War, no action has been taken in the month since Cabinet endorsed an action plan for releasing grant assistance meant for houses destroyed by the 25 April earthquake. On 26 November, some 600 children in Gorkha District were diagnosed with malnutrition. In a normal winter the prior year, without quakes or fuel shortages, an estimated 5,000 children died from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
exacerbated by
indoor pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
from firewood used to keep warm. These numbers were expected to rise sharply in the winter of 2015. While long-promised legal traction in preparation for assistance has materialized, the first 2,000 families to receive money they can put to immediate use, collected it on 20 December from the Nepal Red Cross for emergency clothing and food. Many complained it is not enough to buy clothes for the entire family let alone any food. As the problems compound, some 3,300 people have been diagnosed with
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
in the west as of 25 December, a region not affected by the quake. In a twist of irony, on 28 December, an ignored and very irritated group of quake survivors sent the Nepali government warm clothes as a symbolic protest. The UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) of
copter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribut ...
s, coordinated by the World Food Programme, has made 4,784 sorties in the eight months to remote areas. This has stopped for lack of funds, with the last delivery made on 31 December just as the worst of winter cold sets in, and confirmation of disease and death from lack of food in villages makes headlines in earnest. The first 3 billion rupees was released by the Kathmandu government for warm clothing on 3 January 2016, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Despite an about turn regarding quake relief by the central government of Nepal around Christmas and early January 2016, and one Army led relief to push into remote Gorkha during a blizzard, only one out of four villages received aid as helicopters had trouble landing. The Oli government began selling donated food meant for victims to raise money, instead of delivering the goods to survivors. This move was criticized by the independent Nepal Human Rights Commission. Additionally, the official launch of the reconstruction campaign resembled a religious ceremony rather than a relief mission. Additionally, even in the Madhesh plains town of Pokariya, which has a well-connected infrastructure compared to the Himalayas, some 26 people have died in two months, with major news outlets failing to report this. Some 400 health facilities were damaged or destroyed in the quake-hit mountain region. As of mid-February 2016, only one had been restored to operation, by an NGO not the government.


Ongoing Issues

Despite the first government relief actions and commitments, serious hurdles in execution] exist. The quake has not only destroyed homes but livelihoods. According to a news report, every needy family across the quake-hit Gorkha District seeking out a living with traditional occupations finds itself in the same kind of predicament—the quake has destroyed their means of livelihood. Once self-sufficient communities have become entirely dependent on aid for survival, extreme
depression (mood) Depression is a mental state of low mood and aversion to activity, which affects more than 280 million people of all ages (about 3.5% of the global population). Classified medically as a mental and behavioral disorder, the experience of ...
is setting in. People are just not living well after the disastrous post-quake post-blockade winter. Stress-induced insomnia has become commonplace and chronic and that is wreaking social havoc.
Water scarcity Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water Water resources, resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water ...
has hit 2.8 million people and over 5,200 drinking water projects. As of March 2016, some 325 water sources in 14 districts have gone dry.


Reconstruction obstruction

In a brief notice in early March 2016, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) directed all relief agencies to stop reconstructing private homes destroyed or damaged in the earthquake for the 2.5 million survivors, without its approval. Although the intentions finally appeared humanitarian this time as to bring the ad hoc relief agencies into oversight, the timing (a year late and after the brutal winter) had rendered a swift and brutal reaction from relief agencies. Infighting between political parties had already led to the extended and bitterly cruel delay in NRA setup, along with the willful misleading of survivors regarding money to rebuild, and timeliness that only worsened the humanitarian situation, with no government clarification on this. Although the NRA issued a ban, it is clear that NGOs are not waiting, nor is the agency seriously seeking to stop them, as an NRA spokesperson stated: "We don’t mean to stop INGOs and NGOs from reconstruction projects, just to bring them under our jurisdiction." The agency's response has been that they are understaffed and ministries are not cooperating nor attending their meetings.


International reactions

– On 5 November 2015, the US expressed deep concern over the critical shortages of essential supplies in Nepal resulting from a volatile situation along the Nepal-India border. – On 26 November 2015,
United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
resident senior economist Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis stated: "What could have been transient poverty is turning out to be structural poverty due to delay in reconstruction works."
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
– On 30 November, UNICEF stated – "More than 3 million children under the age of 5 in Nepal are at risk of death or disease during the harsh winter months due to a severe shortage of fuel, food, medicines and vaccines." World Food Programme – On 11 December, UN WFP stated – "Major disruptions in food and fuel imports across its southern border with India have severely affected Nepal’s supplies and caused a worrying increase in food prices."


See also

*
Madhes Movement Madhesh Movement ( Nepali: मधेस अान्दोलन) was a political movement launched by various political parties, especially those based in Madhes, for equal rights, dignity and identity of Madhesis Tharus, Muslims and Janjati g ...
* Anti-Indian sentiment * Human rights in Nepal


External links


Homeless in winter, Earthquake survivors are desperate, but the government is not (Nepali Times)


* ttps://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/12/31/461593648/nepals-gurung-community-says-goodbye-to-a-trying-year Nepal's Gurung Community Says Goodbye To A Trying Year (NPR)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nepal humanitarian crisis
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
2015 disasters in Nepal 2016 disasters in Nepal 2017 disasters in Nepal Humanitarian crises