KATHMANDU, June 22: The government has decided not to sign agreements with any donor agencies expressing willingness for collecting funds in the name of quake victims. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) issued such directives to all concerned ministries stating that directive is aimed at checking the growing trend of collecting funds in the name of quake victims and using those funds for running their own organizations.
Foreign donor agencies and volunteers had poured into Nepal with various types of support and aid following the devastating earthquake on April 25 and the aftershocks that followed. Some of these agencies and individuals signed agreement with the government pledging support the earthquake victims though they did not had the required resources.
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"They had nothing to spend for the victims, yet showed eagerness to sign the agreement with the government to build health facilities and infrastructures," Shanta Bahadur Shrestha, Secretary at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said adding that some of those people and organizations were using the agreement to raise funds in the name of quake victims, while not fulfilling the pledge they made.
Several international donor agencies had pledged to assist the government in restoring the infrastructures that have been damaged by the great earthquake. Agencies working in the health sector had pledged to assist the government in restoring health facilities. However, even after two months of the devastating earthquake, not a single health facility has been constructed or rebuilt.
Concerns about the health facility in the quake hit districts has been serious as over 700 health facilities, including few district hospitals in those areas have been completely destroyed and over 450 infrastructure have been partially damaged. With the donor agencies not fulfilling their commitment to assist in rebuilding health infrastructure in those areas, hundreds of thousands of residents in those areas are deprived from basic health care services.
The MoF directive aims at resolving this situation by funneling all the aid and assistance through government channels and of not discounting any of its regulations for donor agencies. It necessitates any donor agency to start working within a week of signing the agreement and follow all government rules and regulations, informed Shrestha adding, "They have to come through government channel and follow all of its rules and regulations."
Mahendra Bahadur Shrestha, chief at the Planning Division of MoHP, while conceding that some foreign volunteers and organizations assisted and continue assisting the quake victims, stressed on the need to formalize such assistance. "They came, they served. We appreciate that. On our part, we also provided them free visa and did not even care about their license," he said. "However, now they have to follow the government rules."
Government officials point to the reluctance of the donor agencies to follow government rules and regulations in providing assistance as the major hurdle for entering agreements for reconstructing health infrastructures. "We have not entered agreement with any donor agencies because of their reluctance to follow the government rules and regulations," Planning Division Chief, Shrestha added. He claimed that donor agencies have their own plans and rules and want to implement their programs bypassing the government rules and regulations.
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