UN races humanitarian relief to quake-affected Nepali communities as monsoon season nears
Marking one month after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal killing thousands and devastating large swathes of the country’s Kathmandu valley, the United Nations relief arm is continuing to intensify its humanitarian operations as it supports national and local authorities with critical life-saving efforts.
The 25 April earthquake, and its 7.3 magnitude follow-up on 12 May, damaged 26 of Nepal’s hospitals and over 1,100 health facilities, while affecting some 5.6 million people, half of whom have been displaced. An estimated 8,500 people were killed by the two quakes. In addition, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed that 8.1 million people are in need of humanitarian support while another 1.9 million require food assistance.
Among the major obstacles facing emergency responders is Nepal’s unique and challenging mountainous topography which has rendered many affected communities difficult to reach. And now, with monsoon season no more than three weeks away, time is now of the essence as affected communities – without shelter and short on food supplies – remain more vulnerable than ever to potential landslides and torrential rains, the UN has warned.
As a result, OCHA has reported that elite climbers and porters have joined the relief efforts, setting off on foot from humanitarian staging areas where aid is dropped off in order to optimize delivery to the more hard-to-reach areas.
Against that backdrop, however, there is also growing concern that international funding for the humanitarian response is, to date, insufficient. In today’s press release, OCHA warned that only 22 per cent of what is required for the response was received against the $423 million humanitarian appeal.
[UN News Centre]
This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.