Comparing Haiti and Nepal Earthquakes [Infographic]

This infographic has been created by Rajan Karmacharya of One Stop Portal. Please share and attribute credits accordingly.

Is PM Disaster Relief Fund Transparent?

By Puru Shah

There has been a great deal of discussion about whether or not Nepal's Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund (PMDRF) is transparent and effective in delivering relief. See my previous post, "What is Wrong With Donations For Nepal's Earthquake Relief?" for a background to this discussion. Given the choices to donate through local NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and the PMDRF, this dilemma is a legitimate one. In this post, I will evaluate transparency of the PMDRF.

First of all, the PMDRF is one of the few entities that has been publishing data about funds received and disbursed in near real-time on its website. Besides a few local NGOs like Bibeksheel Nepali and Ktmshapers, most of the funds received and spent by NGOs, INGOs and UN agencies have not been published on the web.

Although it is possible to calculate funds received by INGOs and UN agencies through Financial Tracking Service, these recipients have not published this data voluntarily. More importantly, there is no way to track funds spent for relief projects in Nepal by INGOs like Red Cross, Oxfam and Care Nepal because they publish financial data in its annual report.

The next post will cover the transparency issue and its challenges for INGOs who have received donations for earthquake relief in Nepal. The chart below shows a quick summary of funds flowing in and out of the Nepal's PM Disaster Relief Fund.
Graph 1 - A brief summary of funds flowing in and out of the Nepal's PM Disaster Relief Fund. Graph by Puru Shah. Data Source: PMDRF Website as of May 22, 2015.

Healthcare Challenges after the Earthquake

Nila Manandhar, MD

Photo Source: EPA

A month has passed since the massive April 25th earthquake in Nepal, and the Nepalese people still continue to experience several aftershocks. Despite the daunting adversities that lie ahead, many are eager to start rebuilding their homes and country.  As the Nepalese people move forward, they need to be aware of another type of natural disaster - one involving their health. Nepal has lost thousands of lives to the earthquake, but more lives could be lost with a health epidemic.  Many earthquake victims who have lost their homes have camped outside in crowded conditions which, coupled with the lack of clean water and sanitation, could be catalysts for the spread of a variety of diseases. This could be compounded by the upcoming monsoon season, which will bring with it a rich environment for disease carrying hosts. Past earthquake in various parts of the world have taught lessons that need not be repeated.

Post-Earthquake, Monsoon Season Now Nepal's Biggest Threat

Post by Gina Gabelia

Imminent monsoon -scientists detect the beginnings of the annual monsoon brewing in the Bay of Bengal and anticipate landfall within the month- could become Nepal's third major disaster to hit within two months (1).  Coverage of the Nepal earthquakes has diminished from international media; funding goals are falling short (as of May 21 21% of requested funds – US $89.1 million of US $423 million – had been received (2)) and Nepal's recovery is far from assured.  762,390 houses have been damaged and their residents are in temporary shelters (2). 286,000 households need immediate food and livelihood (agricultural seeds) support (2).  547,000 women and children need supplemental micronutrients to stave off malnutrition (2).  1,146 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed; medical care is an ongoing need to handle earthquake related injuries in addition to daily health care (2).  Without additional funds and mass resource mobilization to prepare for the monsoon season, houses, schools, hospitals, roads cannot be rebuilt; food aid cannot be procured and delivered; medical care cannot be provided; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene systems (WASH) cannot be rebuilt; psychosocial needs of the traumatized population cannot be met; normal life cannot resume.

Nepal's diverse topography, with elevations ranging from 200 feet to 29,029 feet above sea level, and thousands of miles of Himalayan sourced rivers make the nation susceptible to flash floods and landslides during monsoon season under normal circumstances (1).  Quake devstastated Nepal, where the shifting plates displaced mountainsides and filled rivers with sediment and debris, can anticipate severe flash floods and landslides (1). 

Roads linking remote mountain villages, which lost 85 to 90 percent of houses, to the rest of Nepal have been decimated by the earthquakes and some UN agencies have employed expert mountain climbers to deliver aid (3).  The monsoon will further isolate these villages, which are unaccessible during normal monsoon seasons (3).  Villagers live in makeshift shelters made of tents, tarp, corrugated metal sheets and logs, and in some cases, old vehicles (3).  These shelters are not sufficiently sturdy to withstand monsoon rain, winds, landslides, and floods (3). 

Remote mountain villages rely on subsistence farming; many are food insecure and incidences of malnutrition were among the highest in the world pre-earthquakes (4).  The earthquakes  destroyed links to other communities and sources of international food aid and nutritional supplements, which are especially vital in the lean months before crop harvests (4).  The earthquakes disrupted the main planting season which occurs several weeks before the monsoon; early crops already planted can be harveted, but will not be properly stored against the elements (5).  The future food and agricultural security of Nepal is at risk as farmers do not have seeds to plant.  In a bitter twist of fate, the monsoon, which nourishes the sub-continent's food production, could starve Nepal's remote mountain villages. 

Thousands of people in temporary shelters in the Kathmandu Valley and elsewhere are experiencing early tastes of the rain and winds, which render tents and tarps useless to protect people or materials from the elements (6).  Water borne disease burdens, particularly cholera, could become deadly epidemics when the monsoon rattles decimated WASH Systems (3).  Trauma and shock are manifesting in significant swathes across the population; monsoon destruction will only exacerbate the severity of this trauma (3). 

The physical and psychological threats from living exposed to the elements through the monsoon season cannot be emphasized enough; this will become Nepal's third disaster without immediate intervention.  The window of opportunity to deliver food, shelter, and medical aid to remote areas is shrinking as the monsoon approaches (2).  People living in temporary shelters and camps may have to wait until the monsoon season passes to begin to rebuild their lives.  Nepal needs an additional US $333.9 million to spread public health messages, provide adequate shelter, provide sufficient food supplies to communities inaccessible during the monsoon, provide medical care, provide education/Child Friendly Spaces, provide public works logistics, and reinforce the nation's delicate infrastructure to ensure public services can perform during the coming months. Coverage of Nepal's woes have faded from the media, but the emergency needs have not been met, and will only get more pressing with the monsoon.  The consequences of inaction will be mass human and infrastructural devastation that will cost billions of dollars and years of recovery.

1)      Climate Central Report" Monsoon sets up 'race against the clock' in Nepal"

2)      UN OCHA Nepal Earthquake Situation Report No. 18 as of May 21, 2015

3)      UN News: "UN underscores need to act now before monsoon rains risk further disaster"

4)      World Food Programme: Nepal Overview

5)      WSJ: Nepal short of food and shelter as rainy season approaches

6)      Reuters: Homeless Nepalis sleep in open as monsoon rains approach

How the Earthquake Has Devastated Education in Nepal

Post by Gina Gabelia 

One of the many casualties of the earthquakes are schools and classrooms.  It is critical to construct temporary schools and/or Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) concurrently with relief efforts; children's physical and emotional well-being and recovery rely on their regular access to safe spaces to be free from harm, receive proper meals and clean water, medical attention, and freedom to be a child (3).  28,570 classrooms were damaged and 12,440 classrooms were destroyed in 31 districts (1).  Schools that escaped damage or destruction have been commissioned as homeless shelters, or community and aid distribution centers; it is not clear if these spaces will revert to their original purpose when school resumes on May 31 (2).  Due to the damaged and destroyed classroom spaces approximately 870,000 children will not be able to resume school (1).  Education experts expect temporary schools can be up and running as soon as sufficient temporary or alternative spaces, supplies, and teachers are available, but it could take up to two years to reconstruct all the damaged schools (4). 

Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) staffed by teachers, caring adults, and community leaders have been established in 109 communities, serving 109,000 children (1).  All affected communities and temporary settlements need CFS to give children supervised structure to safely play, learn, engage in age appropriate activities, and begin to process their traumatic experiences (3).  CFS double as messaging centers to deliver critical information about safe health practices, including messaging about hygiene, trafficking, nutrition, and recovery efforts.  Children are at increased risk of trafficking and exploitation as traffickers prey on disrupted communities and desperate individuals in emergency situations (3).  CFS, and schools keep children away from traffickers and other dangers during the day.  An added benefit is that adults are free to attend to the business of recovery and reconstruction with (minimal) worry, expediting the road to recovery (3).

As Nepal moves through the stages of disaster recovery, it is critical not to lose hard won gains or stall progress by failing to recognize that addressing children's educational and emotional needs and well-being now defines the nation's future.  Before the earthquakes, 95 percent of primary school aged children attended school, up from 64 percent in 1990 (2).  Recent events set back two decades of steady progress.  Child advocates warn of the challenges of recovering academic progress and behavioral development caused by interrupted education; children may never catch up to level appropriate academic performance and subsequently decide not to try as it becomes too hard (2).  This is compounded by the extent of devastation and amount of labor required to restore homes and communities, which could take priority over school reconstruction and attendance (2).  However, education is tantamount to sustainable development.  This reconstruction period is a unique opportunity to integrate quality education into the fabric of daily life by rebuilding educational spaces alongside houses, and providing school resources alongside food, medical, and WASH relief supplies.

Children must have consistent access to a safe space to learn, grow, and develop as humans capable of fulfilling the responsibility to build a better future for themselves and their country.  Children must have a safe space to learn to read the histories of their ancestors, understand the mysteries of the world around them, and gain the physical tools necessary to dream and build a stable, sustainable future in which they are not reliant on foreign aid and emergency teams for their very survival.  Children must have a space to be children, to play, to learn, to escape from the terror and destruction that overtook their daily lives.  Nepal's future depends on it. 

1)      UN OCHA Nepal Earthquake Situation Report No. 17 as of May 21, 2015

2)      "Nepal School System Left Shattered in Aftermath of Quake"

3)      "Why are Child Friendly Spaces Important for Nepal Recovery?"

4)      "Restarting School Crucial to Nepal Recovery, Aid Groups Say"

Preventing & Treating Cholera After the Earthquakes in Nepal

Post by Gina Gabelia 

A cholera outbreak, which spreads rampantly through infected water sources, is a real threat post two major earthquakes, which significantly damaged Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) systems and displaced tens of thousands of people, forcing them to live in congested, poorly constructed areas with limited access to potable water and sanitation.  These dismal risk factors are compounded by the imminent monsoon season.  Soap, bottled water, water purification tablets, and oral rehydration tablets alongside cholera messaging need to be widely distributed to all communities to prevent outbreaks. 

OVERVIEW:

Cholera is an acute enteric infection caused by the ingestion of the bacterium vibrio cholerae, which is present in fecally contaminated water or food (4).  Cholera spreads when vibrio cholerae from infected persons' feces spreads to potable water or food (6).  Cholera is linked to poor access to clean water and proper sanitation and its incidence is pronounced when basic WASH systems have been damaged or destroyed (4). 

Nepal Specific Considerations:

Cholera is endemic to Nepal; the first case was recorded in 1823 (1).  The majority of reported cases occur during the monsoon when flash floods and landslides can destroy WASH systems (1).  Rural and urban areas are susceptible to cholera.  The most recent outbreaks occurred in Rautahat in 2014; the deadliest outbreaks occurred in 2009 in Jajarkot, which affected 30,000 people (1).

Before the earthquakes, roughly 37% of the population had access to latrines, making open defecation common practice; if latrines are unavailable, please refer to the guidance below for cholera prevention practices.  Nepali people eat with their hands and in this environment, it is more important than ever to wash hands thoroughly with soap before and after eating, preparing food, using latrines, etc.  If soap is not available, scrub hands with sand or ash and safe water.  The search for survivors is ongoing, and decomposing bodies contaminate water sources.  Therefore it is crucial to ensure water sources have not been compromised – if you are not sure, it is better to be safe than sorry, and purify water before consumption.  Remote, isolated communities need to be especially vigilant in protecting water sources; if those have been compromised, take measures to prevent disease contraction by following guidelines listed below, and purify water before consumption.   

Inequity and Monsoons in Nepal

Guest Post by Elina Pradhan, member of Students for Nepal coalition (Edited by Saugat Kandel)

Monsoon in Nepal is a season of hope. It is a season of new beginnings. It is a season when farmers, after having freshly planted their seeds, await and dream of a bountiful harvest. This year, that dream might not come true. In about six weeks, Nepalis will be braving the intense monsoon rains. Many even before the quakes faced the danger of landslides and floods during this season every year. This year, almost 3 million of us might face the heavy rains without a roof over their head, without food, clean water or medical attention. This year, many farmers in the affected districts might miss the planting season, which will give rise to longer-term food security issues.

No roofs over our heads

The shelter cluster, responsible for providing roof over the heads of the affected Nepalis needs $ 77 million. Only 21% of this total need has been met by the international community. The displaced populations also need coordinated camps. The camp coordination and camp management cluster needs $ 10 million, of which ZERO PERCENT has been met.

Source: UN OCHA

I worry that the government and the UN, despite their best efforts have not been able to prioritize the worst-off among us. 100% of the people in Dolakha’s houses have been destroyed, 96% of those in Sindhupalchok and 98% of those in Nuwakot.