The spirit of giving that has ensued from this natural disaster has been overwhelming. Donations have been collected from every corner of the world. Countries, organizations, private companies, celebrities and individuals alike are putting in a lot of effort to raise awareness and funds for the earthquake victims in Nepal. What's more, it's working like a charm. An insane amount of money has already poured in for relief work and more have been pledged. Some are of the thought that the sum total of all the donations could not only help victims rebuild their lives but if the funds were used wisely, it would also give Nepal a legit shot at rebuilding itself.That would certainly be the case, if it were an ideal world. In reality, the public can't shake off some suspicions. Forget about possible future development projects, the fear of current funds for the relief work itself being mismanaged is immense. In the absence of proper disaster management guidelines, we are solely relying on individuals, organizations and the government officials' conscience to not succumb to greed and honestly utilize the donations.
Like Shreya, Pinky Bishwakarma, of the Darjeeling's Whocares branch is taking matters on her own hand. "We set up stalls at the local market and collected money from people in our community for Nepal's earthquake relief here. Through the donations we were able to buy two truckloads worth of packaged food. But the thing is like most people here in Darjeeling our organization too thought it was best if we personally distributed the goods. Majority of the people here believe that personal delivery is the best way to make sure the relief material reach the victims. So we hired a bus and took the food to a total of nine wards in Gorkha."
Those living abroad, further than a bus drive away from Nepal, are also wary of the misuse of funds. In fact, there are instances where it has stopped many from donating all together. The rest however, have chosen to plan their route of assistance with much deliberation.
Arjun Singh of ccare.co.uk says, "We raise our funds online. We are associated with Penny4Nepal but we have also sent the first remittance of around NPR 6,15,000 through normal banking channel to Rotary Club of Kathmandu North. We chose this particular Rotary Club because we wanted an organization that works on the field and doesn't have high overhead costs in which case, they may use the funds for their own administrative purposes. This is common among the international organizations so we wanted to champion local efforts. We have already seen relief material provided to the affected areas of Dhading district as well as Sindhupalchowk so we are certain that our funds are being used honestly. Further we have plans to obtain independently audited accounts as well."
Fortunately many NRNs seem to have realized the importance of supporting local organization in their relief effort. Romit Thapa who lives in San Francisco and had taken Disaster Management courses insists that such understanding is crucial. "Supporting local and national response effort is going to make sure that the recovery process in the country is a sustainable one. In fact, it was one of the lessons from the Haiti earthquake. Donors were criticized for channeling aid funding through big agencies and NGOs rather than local organizations that know the community. In the long run, it proved to work against them. In situation like this, it's very important to help build local and national capacity."
So while local organizations have managed to gain some confidence, the intentions of the Nepal government on the other hand, is still under a lot of scrutiny. So much so, the first week of May saw a petition through Change.org being passed around for Investigation of Earthquake funds under the Nepal Government. It was so popular that it gathered more than 25,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Dr. Govinda Pokhrael, vice chairman of National Planning Commission, says that any speculation of mismanagement of the Prime Minister's Relief Fund is unnecessary and false. "I admit the state's response was a bit slow but that's because we are liable to the parliament. There are procedures in place that take time and need to be followed. NGO's don't have to abide by such rules. But we are working on it right now and besides that there is no reason for people to be concerned with the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. We are using it as responsibly as possible."
According to Dr. Pokhrael, CDOs of different district have been given money from the fund along with the duty to utilize it as per the need of their community. When questioned about the protocols that have been placed to stop corruption, he revealed that the CDOs have been asked to send in audits of their expenses. Dr. Pokhrael claims this will be enough to stop the government officials from straying from their righteous path. However, it's not a big wonder that many donors are not convinced yet.
Nevertheless, there are groups like the Nepalese Society of Calgary who are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Kalapana Dhakal, President of Nepalese Society of Calgary says, "We plan to direct our collected funds to Prime Minister's Relief fund because victims back home will require assistance down the months as well. The international organizations won't be in our country for long, that's when our government will be called upon. Also we are hoping if any of the fund will be left after the relief work, it can be directed towards rebuilding the country as well. At such tiring times we are counting on the government to show some character."
In the wake of catastrophe, disaster relief has been known to become an industry in its own right. Large sums of money are constantly changing hands and while most have honest intentions, we can't assume some won't be looking to exploit the various loopholes. While their shady intents can't be stopped, donors can help make it difficult for them to misuse the money.
Donors themselves can take responsibility for how their money is spent. They can visit the websites of the aid organizations and find out how they work. Similarly, aid organizations national and international must also be made accountable of their activities. Ensuring utmost transparency must be the priority here, for the benefit of the victims as well as recovery of the country.
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