Kathmandu, April 23

On April 25, 2015, Nepal witnessed one of the worst natural disasters in its modern history. An earthquake measuring 7.8 Richter caused widespread devastation and claimed more than 9,000 lives.

Hundreds of thousands of infrastructure such as schools, private and public houses, and heritage sites collapsed. An official assessment put the damage at more than USD 7 billion.

Neighbours, friendly countries and development partners rushed with help. They responded with massive relief aid and pledged generously for reconstruction efforts. Their total commitment was a whopping US$ 4.1 billion, half of which was in grants.

One year after the shock, the donor community’s initial kindness has turned into frustration. It’s mainly because of protracted delay in reconstruction and rehabilitation works. Many quake survivors are still living in temporary shelters. They are yet to receive the first instalment of Rs 200,000 support to rebuild homes. The debris is yet to be cleared and reconstruction work is yet to kick off.

“Our concern is when and how quickly the needy quake survivors receive support and are able to resume normal life,” Chairperson of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development of German Parliament Bundestag, Dagmar Wöhrl said after visiting some quake-hit areas in Kavre and Bhaktapur. “So far we have seen a very dismal performance.”

In their meetings with Nepali officials, foreign delegates, envoys and representatives of development partners have repeatedly raised questions over the slow progress in relief distribution and recovery efforts.

However, many have maintained a modest approach in their public remarks. EU Ambassador to Nepal Rensje Teerink even showed a sanguine view. She said strong leadership was shown while preparing the Post Disaster Need Assessment (PDNA) in June last year. Later it slowed down due to ‘some internal political developments and the blockade’, according to her.

The EU envoy, along with all development partners, however, do not seem impressed with the ongoing recovery work.

The larger chunk of foreign aid came through the official channel. Countries like India, China, Japan and Germany as well as the EU gave budgetary support so that Nepal could directly resolve the difficulties of the needy people. They still believe that their fund should be funnelled through official mechanisms.

“We don’t believe in creating a parallel mechanism to mobilise our support,” EU Ambassador Teerink said, stating that all need to lend support to NRA, the official mechanism created to spearhead the post-quake rebuilding process.

Saying the NRA needed to get support from all concerned local agencies as well as foreign development partners, Teerink added: “We should not shy away from working with it.”

But foreigners seem worried about the inability of official instruments to effectively mobilise their funds. This week, ADB expressed its dismay over inability to utilise its overall aid to Nepal, including those extended for reconstruction.

During her visit, German lawmaker Wöhrl said Bundestag was going to hold a discussion on whether the German taxpayers’ money was being used or not in Nepal. Earlier, Norway had warned it would divert its pledged financial support to other crisis-hit zones if its supports were not utilised for the cause of quake victims.

A Japanese Embassy official shared the difficulties of executing NRA’s programmes and projects in affected areas due to the absence of elected representatives in local bodies.

To sum up, donors have sensed three core challenges to post-quake rebuilding: Delay in NRA formation, inadequate support from other government agencies; and inability to absorb and utilise reconstruction aid in the absence of elected representatives in local bodies.

Now, NRA is bringing the Post-Disaster Recovery Framework, a blueprint covering all aspects as how to achieve rebuilding targets in five years.