A Graphical Analysis of UN Flash Appeal For Nepal

By Puru Shah

On May 15, 2015, the UN General Assembly held a special session during which they passed a resolution on ‘Strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in response to the devastating effects of the earthquake’. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that The Nepal Earthquake Flash Appeal launched by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently only 14 per cent funded. He requested foreign donors to provide more aid so that emergency relief and shelter can be provided to affected victims before the monsoon season starts (UN News).

The UN Flash Appeal is one of the more important relief funding requests for Nepal that is not very well understood. This post will include a guide for dummies that will briefly describe what the UN Flash appeal is, who makes this appeal, who coordinates relief action, the amount requested, the amount received and how the funds will be utilized.

It also includes graphs and charts to explain total funding received and requested per UN cluster and its recipients within respective clusters.

Flash Appeal For Nepal

On April 29, 2015 a flash appeal was made for US$415 million to respond to the humanitarian needs of 8 million Nepalis affected by the earthquake, over the next three months. This has since been revised to US$423 million. As of May 17, only 15.7% of flash appeal funds have been received. This includes $15 million from Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The bar graph below shows total funding received and requested per cluster (12 in total).

Mindful Giving: Realistic Implications of Well-Intentioned Contributions to Nepal

Post by Gina Gabelia

Natural disasters elicit good will and compassion the world, but in such environments, interventions need to be applied strategically and appropriately.  Many kind-hearted people ask where and how they can best help, offering to donate money, goods, or even to travel to the affected place to serve.  My response to these generous offers is:  “Here is a list of reputable INGOs and multilaterals, with funds dedicated to Nepal earthquake relief efforts, on the ground with the expertise, staff, and resources to handle natural disasters in Nepal through all stages from relief to assessments to recovery (Please see below).  If you feel “it's a waste to give money to charities as the money goes to bureaucracy,” here is a list of local, grassroots (i.e. pretty much unpaid) organizations doing amazing, accountable relief and recovery work.  (Please see below).  

Alternatively, one of the most important steps you can make toward sustainable recovery is to donate directly to the Government of Nepal via the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.  This empowers the government to apply relief efforts more quickly and efficiently.   The Nepali people trust the government to spend the annual budget of US $5,839,130,000 or 600 billion Nepalese rupees, of which two-thirds was collected from tax and revenues, on public services to improve the health, education, safety, security, economy, and political stability of the nation.  Many criticize the Nepali government’s relief efforts, but it is important to acknowledge that government employees in the form of police, military, public hospital employees and public service employees have been at the forefront of recovery efforts and played a critical role in some of the most remote, hard hit areas The PM’s Disaster Relief Fund is specifically designed to deliver relief during emergencies such as this, and desperately needs additional funds to continue to lead international teams and contributions committed to earthquake relief efforts.  It is also critical to consider the implications of various external entities with different priorities overtaking relief efforts, as happened in Haiti, which further complicated an already tenuous recovery effort that is still delicate more than four years later.

Please donate a sum you feel reflects your commitment to relief and recovery efforts, to an organization of your choice.  Please also consider donating smaller sums multiple times as the need for aid/donor money will not be resolved within two weeks, or even two months.  

The Largest Donors & Recipients of Relief Funds in Nepal

By Puru Shah

In my previous post titled, "What is Wrong With Donations For Nepal's Earthquake Relief?",  I highlighted that a majority of the funds for the earthquake relief in Nepal are being channeled through INGOs, and bypassing the country's systems. To reiterate, I am not advocating for national and international donors to channel all funds through the PM Disaster Relief Fund.

Our team at One Stop Portal has developed a guideline that recommends splitting donations - 40% to NGOs, 30% to INGOs and 30% to the PM Relief Fund. Please visit our donate page to read in detail about why we believe a more balanced approach in delivering funds has a greater chance of success for recovery.

What is Unique About This Article?

A list of the largest overall donors or donors by category can be obtained easily from various sources such as the OpenNepal website. However, this article takes a closer look at where funds from each donor categories are going to. This data is valuable, and understanding it helps us make key informed decisions. But to my knowledge, it has not been published explicitly anywhere, so I have attempted to close that information gap by performing data analysis and sharing the findings with you.

In this post, we will review the largest donors and their recipients based on eight different categories:

1. Countries
2. Corporations
3. INGOs
4. Multilateral
5. Nepalese Government
6. Individuals
7. NGOs
8. Others

First of all, let us look at who the current largest overall donors are. 

Expat runs miles for earthquake relief efforts

By Saugat Kandel

In an effort to collect crucial funds to help with the relief efforts in Nepal, Nirakar Poudel, a Nepali expat living in Los Angeles, USA, has started a novel challenge called "Miles for Nepal Earthquake Relief". As part of the challenge, Nirakar is shooting to run 40 miles this week, and is asking the community to donate at least 1 cent per mile if he accomplishes this challenge. If he falls short, Nirakar promises, he will donate $1 per mile, or $40 to charity. This is only the beginning, Nirakar promised in a personal conversation with this author. He wants to take this challenge further, with more miles to run in the coming weeks. He is also trying to coordinate with other running events, sports companies, and other running enthusiasts. He is hoping to get more people involved, whether through similar challenges, or through sponsorships.


We, the One Stop Portal team, are amazed by Nirakar's dedication to this cause (40 miles a week!). We want to spread the word, get more people involved in this novel challenge. Please go "like" his page and donate if you appreciate his amazing effort, and please contact Nirakar if you are interested in collaborating with him, or in organizing a similar challenge. Help Nirakar keep up the good work!

The One Stop Portal team is cheering for you, Nirakar!

Situation Report, May 3, 2015: Needs Unmet

By Saugat Kandel

It has now been more than a week since Nepal was struck by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake. The official death tally has now risen to 7250, and the number is expected to rise still, with some sources estimating the minimum expected tally to reach 20,000, or an even higher estimate of 57,000. The official injury tally stands at 14,122, the number of houses completely destroyed at 20,052, and the number of houses partially destroyed at 186,285. With access to remote areas still scarce, these numbers can only rise still - it is estimated that around 500,000 homes are destroyed and 2.8 million people displaced.

Geographical distribution of the number of deaths due to the earthquake (Data from May 01, 2015). Image credits: Nabin Kafle 

GoFundMe Agrees To Donate Up To $250,000 For Earthquake Relief

By Anu Joshi

Purushottam Shah, a member of our team, filed a petition with Change.Org on March 27th. He asked popular fundraising platforms GoFundMe, Indiegogo and Crowdrise to waive their service fees for campaigns raising money to help the earthquake victims in Nepal. He asked the sites to 'stand in solidarity with the victims of this natural disaster' - and stand, they did.

Three days after the campaign started, GoFundMe pledged to donate their 5% fee to the AmeriCares - a non-profit disaster relief and global health organization. Indiegogo also expressed their solidarity with the earthquake victims.

Thank you Puru, you insipire us. #InspireNepal

GoFundMe pledges to donate up to $250,000 via AmeriCares

Go For Trusted Fundraisers

To people who are creating personal GoFundMe fundraising link,

We suggest that you instead promote donation to some reputable organizations. Creating these individual links has a number of disadvantages. 

• Apparently this money is taxed. 
• You need to reach a certain amount to cash out. 
• Also there comes the problem of getting this money to Nepal. 

Unless you are absolutely sure that you can individually handle everything, consider donating to some trustworthy organizations. The organization you choose to donate is your own choice. You can visit the links we have provided and consider donating through them. Please think carefully about this message before you start your own individual fundraisers.

Thank you!