UN says only small portion of US$ 415 m aid request received

KATHMANDU, May 9: United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal Jamie McGoldrick has said that their focus in Nepal now is to quickly reach as many of the affected people in remote, hard-to-reach areas as possible to beat the onset of the monsoon.

Addressing a press conference organized in the UN Office in Lalitpur on Friday, McGoldrick, however, said the international assistance needs to be dramatically ramped up to continue with the relief efforts since only 22.4 million of the total US$ 415 million requested to support immediate humanitarian interventions has been received so far.


McGoldrick said they are working to reach far flung areas to ensure that earthquake victims have roofs over their heads and their other urgent needs are addressed before the monsoon season starts.

"Shelter remains our top most priority. Nearly 285,000 houses have been destroyed and another 230,000 thousand damaged, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without roof over their head," he said.

Other priority needs include sanitation and hygiene, household items, medical kits and supplies and food. According to him, tens of thousands of tarpaulins were distributed, nearly 270,000 people received food and more than 300,000 people were provided with safe drinking water.

McGoldrick said that since they now have much greater airlift capacity, they are decentralizing logistical support through the creation of additional five logistical hubs and inclusion of the road network to enhance their ability to speed up the flow of relief goods. "Many mobile relief teams were dispatched to cover the affected areas on foot. At the same time, relief goods are being dropped off at agreed locations with the communities so they can pick them up using their traditional methods," he said.

He also said coordination between government and partners is ongoing at all levels, from national to district and community levels. "We recognize that primary responsibility for the relief effort lies with the government, and we are committed to complementing the government's relief efforts," he said.

This comes in the wake of donor agencies, including the UN, standing against government coordinating the relief efforts for quake victims.

"The Chief District Officers (CDOs) and local administrations have the most detailed information about community needs. We have been coordinating distribution with them so as to ensure even distribution and avoid duplication of relief efforts," he said.

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