The United Nations' Resident Coordinator to Nepal, Jamie McGoldrick, is being transferred to Yemen after two and a half years in Nepal. How would he evaluate his time in Nepal? How does he view the ongoing supply disruptions?
And what could Nepal realistically do? Subhash Ghimire, Guna Raj Luitel and Mahabir Paudyal met him at the UN House, Pulchowk on Wednesday afternoon.
Nine mediation centers come into operation in Rangeli
How do you assess the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Nepal following the blockade? What is the UN doing?
We are very worried about the situation and we have issued a number of statements. My first statement was issued on October 15, where I highlighted what we thought was an impending problem with the supplies of fuels and essential materials not coming in, and the fact that a large number of earthquake affected people were facing difficult situation. At that time we were hopeful that the situation would improve and we would be able to plan supplies of humanitarian assistance to the affected population. We have identified a number of areas such as livelihood, health, food security and shelter as problems for a large number of people living in higher altitudes in earthquake-affected region. They need to be provided assistance before the winter kicks in. But we have been unable to deliver.
We have stores and stocks and we have helicopters to deliver them but we have no fuel to deliver on a regular basis. We are doing it intermittently. We have not been able to deliver the planned support. We are racing against time to get fuel. I was in a meeting last week with the Ministry of Finance and local development partners where I highlighted the need for dedicated fuel supply to ensure that we reach affected population, both by air and land.
Unicef recently released a very strong statement saying that millions of children have been affected. We have had delegations coming to this office from schools and hospitals. WHO has also highlighted the crisis caused by lack of essential supplies. We have made every attempt to ensure that supplies of materials are not halted and children's health not endangered further. I hope through all these statements we will be able to make the parties concerned realize that this is a serious humanitarian crisis in Nepal.
The blockade has also affected reconstruction. How do we take it forward?
It is unfortunate that the Reconstruction Authority has not been established yet. The international community never thought we would be doing this 'winterization' process, whereby in addition to delivering immediate humanitarian assistance such as tarpaulins and tents, we are now also having to go back with blankets and warm clothes and reinforced shelter. We thought the authority would be established by now. However, I think reconstruction will eventually take place. I have been to a number of places like Dolakha and Dhading where people are using the money they received in assistance. We have Yubaraj Khatiwada as the vice-chair of Planning Commission, who knows the Millennium Development Goals and UN system very well. I hope things will be easy under his leadership. Yes, there is a delay in reconstruction but we are hopeful that the earthquake aid will reach affected population through the government which will help them rebuild their houses.
Often small countries like Nepal struggle for voice within the UN system. What can Nepal do to highlight the crisis brought by earthquake and blockade?
Landlocked countries and small island states face complicated challenges. Nepal with its geography, history and topography is a very challenging place. You are sandwiched between two large powers. That's why the UN has things like LDCs to try and ensure that small countries do not get overlooked in global issues such as climate change and trade. Nepal is well regarded in international community. There was a magnanimous response by global community post-earthquake. People around the world have soft spot for Nepal. The UN also values Nepal for many things such as its peacekeeping contribution, which is fifth largest in the world. This country has come through conflict, an attempt at transitional justice, favorable election of 2013, and constitution process. And you suddenly have the earthquake. You were moving towards LDC graduation, moving on to the democratic path and then you have this crisis. The UN is very much engaged at various levels to protect, develop and support countries like Nepal.
It is said the kind of support expected of UN post-earthquake was missing in Nepal.
Perception is always interesting. I am an experienced humanitarian disaster specialist. We brought in a team from Bangkok the very next day of the first earthquake. We offered the support the government wanted. We called search and rescue teams from different parts of the world. The response was quick. Then the goods started coming in through the airport. And then the speedy efforts to get the assistance delivered to the affected people followed. This was very much by-the-book response. I had a meeting yesterday (Tuesday) with many donors. One of them said ours was one of the best responses he has ever seen. Given the extremely challenging topography of this country and the only one international airport, planning for a quick response was something that we tried, we saw and expected but it did not come out as planned because of the challenges we faced here.
Questions are often raised about transparency of funds of international agencies including the UN. How transparent is your organization?
We put up flash appeal with overview of needs of key sectors, which in the case of earthquake are normally shelter, sanitation and health and protection. There is financial tracking through a public website where you can see how much money came in and which organization received it. It also tells you what kind of money was given bilaterally to agencies and to the government for search and rescue. So there is a very transparent approach to find where the money came from and how it was spent. If anybody has a concern about funding they may go to the financial tracking system which is run by OHCHR. You can find flash appeal and the situation reports of what we have done during the earthquake. There is nothing to hide.
How does UN view border obstructions at no-man's land and targeting of Nepali security forces from no-man's land?
The UN takes the whole crisis facing Nepal seriously. My own statement and the statement by the Secretary General have highlighted this, urging the concerned parties to lift obstructions and ensure smooth supplies of goods in Nepal. We have also been asking people to protest peacefully and not to target medical supplies. When I meet the agitating parties here I repeat the same concern. I see dialogue taking place. Hopefully the crisis will end soon.
The UN had a very guarded response to Nepal's constitution before it welcomed it. What happened?
You have to look at it from the headquarters' point of view. We don't make statements for the Secretary General. He makes the statements based on his own understanding. We do report on the general situation to the headquarters which makes statement on the basis of what they see and what they hear. Regarding our response to Nepal's constitution, there was no conflicting statement from our side. I think the second statement was complementary to the first. People made different interpretations. I find Nepal one of those curious places where there are a lot of word watchers (laughs). Forgive me, I am Scottish and I find it difficult to ascertain the strength of language. I think you need to look into what we do here more than what we say. What we have done is supported through the earthquake, constitution and development.
How do you view Nepal's handling of the conflict in Tarai-Madhesh?
I think many initiatives are being taken to resolve the crisis. There are top-level discussions. Foreign Minister paid a visit to India recently. And this is the way to resolve the crisis. You cannot resolve conflict by conflict. Nepal has great history of managing serious conflict by itself. We must keep reiterating that the ongoing discussions and talks between the government and the agitating parties continue and will ultimately end all protests, obstructions and lack of fuel and medicines. Things will then get back to normal and economy gets a boost. This is our hope.
Do you think Nepal will need third-party mediation?
This is Nepal's internal matter and things need to be resolved internally. You have the head of UCPN (Maoist) heading high level political panel to hold talks with the agitating parties. The positive thing is they are in the process of resolving crisis through dialogue. Third-party mediation is required when parties in conflict stop talking. They are talking.
If the blockade continues and the humanitarian crisis continues to get worse, what will the UN do?
The important issue for the UN and international community is to ensure that people's lives are not at risk. We know there are many vulnerable communities. Up to 200,000 earthquake-affected people in high altitudes are suffering. We are very worried about the health and wellbeing of these vulnerable people. We will make sure that they get shelter and support. We will always be asking for continued dialogues to end the protests. We will ask not to interrupt essential supplies such as medicine and fuel. UN will continue to do that through the Secretary General's office, human rights office, Geneva office, among other bodies. We have appealed the parties to be serious. The impact of crisis is so dire for the poor and vulnerable people. We have drawn the attention of the concerned parties to the blockage of essential supplies through our statements. UN is keen to see continued dialogue so that these internal matters are resolved internally.
You have been here for the last two and half years. How do you rate your performance?
I came here thinking that I will have development challenges. I thought I will help Nepal with LDC graduation and to implement development programs. I arrived during the government headed by Khil Raj Regmi. Nepal held peaceful second elections of Constituent Assembly despite various factions threatening security. Seventy percent people came to vote and set the fantastic foundation for democratic future. Then the new government was formed. You were trying to complete the constitution process and you suddenly had the devastating earthquake. We overcame the challenge of reaching out to the people during these hard times.
Sadly many people died and many people were injured. As head of UN in Nepal, my role has been to get the UN to support the government and people of Nepal. This is what I always intended to do. I have done the best I could. I have tried to make the UN do well here, make it relevant and helpful. I came during an uncertain and quiet time and am leaving during dark times. I hope this darkness will soon lift. I hope there will be change, reconstruction and development.
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