The quakes caused loss equal to 36 per cent of the country’s GDP

Kathmandu, April 24

One year after the devastating earthquakes, children are still in need of safe and stable learning environment, the United Nations Children’s Fund said today.

A press statement issued here today said 1.6 million schoolchildren have started the new academic year in affected areas, yet many of them continue to study in temporary classrooms.

It said, while recovery and reconstruction efforts were moving ahead, much remains to be done to ensure a rapid return to normalcy and predictability for these children.

“The devastating earthquakes last year destroyed or severely damaged over 35,000 classrooms.

After that, tremendous efforts are being made to bring the children back to school as soon as possible to minimise disruption of their education and exposure to risks of neglect, exploitation and violence,” said Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF representative to Nepal in the statement.

He also sought the need to redouble efforts to ensure that children study in safe transitional or permanent classrooms as early as possible.

The statement said the 2015 quakes caused Nepal financial loss equivalent to 36 per cent of its GDP.

“A year on, there are still many needs to be met for children and families in the affected districts,” reads the statement, “Further prolongation of uncertainty can affect not only the education of children but also their health, nutrition, protection and overall development,” the statement read

According to the statement, of the 188,900 people who had been temporarily displaced after the earthquake, over 85 per cent left displacement camps, while 26,272 are still living in camps.

Construction of permanent buildings for the residents of over 700,000 destroyed houses started recently and the task needs to be accelerated in the months to come.

In the meantime, the children and their families continue to live in makeshift shelters next to their destroyed homes.

Children living in such temporary shelters and still unstable environments are also vulnerable to various risks, including trafficking, it said, adding that between April 25, 2015 and February 12, 2016, a total of 850 girls and boys were intercepted by police from possible trafficking and other protection-related risks.

At an average of 89 children per month, this number was higher than the 69 cases per month between July 2014 and July 2015, it said.

“The increased number can be attributed to the heightened risk to children in the wake of the earthquake, but can also be a testament to increased vigilance within Nepal,” said Hozumi.

“A lot of work has been done for humanitarian relief and recovery in the affected districts so that education continues and outbreak of diseases and severe malnutrition is avoided. But the country still has a long and hard road towards full recovery,” said Hozumi.

UNICEF also pledged to support in future in coordination with Nepal government and other partners.