World Vision Nepal Earthquake Response

On April 25, 2015 a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck some of the most vulnerable communities in Nepal followed by a strong 7.3 aftershock on May 12. These two earthquakes caused 7 billion USD worth of devastation, leaving around 9,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. 

World Vision has reached 386,984 people with emergency relief, focusing on the urgent needs of the most vulnerable including women, children and minority groups. 

From emergency to recovery phase, World Vision supports the urgent needs of earthquake-affected families providing life-saving food and emergency essentials and providing long term support in the areas of shelter, water sanitation and hygiene (WASH), food security, livelihood and cash programming, child protection and education.

WV-NER continues to integrate gender and social inclusion, disaster risk reduction and build back safer initiatives in its programs to strengthen community resilience and further help communities rebuild and thrive with more opportunities in the future.  

Challenges of the response include: monsoon weather, fuel shortages and logistical difficulties due to rough terrain. World Vision closely coordinates with humanitarian, government and community partners building local capacities and community participation as living conditions and access to basic services continue to improve.

Moving forward we will be implementing more programmes to address the recovery and rehabilitation needs of earthquake-affected families - restoring livelihoods of vulnerable families and communities, repairing and reconstructing schools, health posts and WASH facilities to benefit the most vulnerable sectors in Nepal’s worst-hit districts.

World Vision’s Response - Quick Facts:

• Over the past 12 months at least 386,984 individuals including 171,860 children have been reached across 161 Village Development Committees and 5 municipalities in 10 districts.
• Food-security, livelihood and cash-for-work initiatives benefited more than 165,000 people, including more than 8,000 people, who received emergency food kits within the first one hundred days of the response. 
• Up to 20,789 earthquake-affected families were given shelter and non-food items including tarpaulins with rope, iron roofing sheets, shelter toolkits, blankets and sleeping mats.  
• Health in emergency interventions reached 72,730 people who benefitted from repairs of health facilities, provision of medical supplies and equipment, clean delivery kits, baby hygiene kits, family and infant winter kits, set-up of women and young children spaces and health education for mothers and health volunteers. 
• Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions served 118,420 people providing thousands of families access to clean water. Hygiene kits, mosquito nets, toilet and water system repairs and construction helped to improve sanitation and hygiene practices in affected communities.
• For children in emergencies, 9,534 children benefitted from education interventions while 4,927 were provided with psychosocial support enhancing child protection. Construction of 54 temporary learning spaces with water facilities, hand-washing areas and toilets currently serves 8,214 children while ongoing school repairs and rehabilitation of classrooms and facilities will further help more than 1,500 school children.
• Thousands of children were also encouraged to stay in school by providing them with school kits and learning materials.
• Hundreds of teachers, volunteers and school management committee members were also trained to provide psychosocial support and uphold children’s rights and well-being. 

Shelter and Non-Food Items

• Displaced families are exposed to difficult living conditions and are more vulnerable to extreme weather. Emergency shelter kits, shelter toolkits and household implements were distributed in the hardest-hit areas, while winter kits and other essential supplies were provided to keep children and families safe and warm to withstand the harsh cold months.
• Ongoing repairs and rehabilitation of schools, health centers, meeting areas, markets and water systems are done by locally trained masons, builders and home owners, facilitated through community-based projects that uphold build back safer approaches – empowering communities towards self-skilled recovery.

Health

• Improving health and nutrition outcomes and restoring primary health care services remains an urgent need especially with pregnant women and nursing mothers needing nutrition support to help counter mother and child malnutrition.
• 36 Women, Adolescent, Youth and Child Spaces (WAYCS) have been established as a haven for psychosocial support and health promotion for more than 3,100 people.
• Moreover, 28,000 people were reached by community counselling sessions. This included pregnant women and their families learning about maternal nutrition,child health and proper hygiene. Pregnant and new mothers use clean delivery kits and baby kits to care for their infants.
• During cold months, 2,551 infant winter kits and 5,077 family winter kits were also provided to care for the vulnerable in the face of extreme weather.
• Ongoing repair of health facilities, health trainings for volunteers and community members, and continuous awareness raising on health and nutrition for children and women including safe delivery, postnatal care and reproductive health.

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)

• Accessing clean water and preventing water-borne diseases are major concerns for children and families. More than 20,000 people now have improved hygiene and sanitation conditions with clean water from 91 water systems repaired and constructed by World Vision. More than 2,800 toilets are serving more than 14,000 people. Hygiene promotion messages helped raise awareness, reaching more than 67,000 people. These integrated efforts are implemented under the Community-led Total Sanitation approach (CLTS).
• Improved water access also translates to decreased burden for women and girls who manage household water supply – less hours consumed by them fetching and storing water efficiently, while toilet repairs give women and girls more privacy.
• Thousands of distributed hygiene and clean water kits, together with community volunteer trainings, raised awareness and improved hygiene and sanitation practices for earthquake-affected families. World Vision will continue to restore damaged water systems, repair and construct toilets while conducting positive hygiene promotion to further improve health and well-being of families and communities in the worst-affected areas where we serve.

Livelihood and Food Security

• In the aftermath of the earthquake, World Viison provided food packs to meet the pressing needs of more than 1,600 families. As markets improved, cash transfers helped support the basic needs of more than 18,000 families.
• To help address livelihood needs, World Vision in partnership with the Village Development Committees started to roll-out cash-for-work initiatives. Beneficiaries did great work during clean-up drives, clearing debris and repairing community assets – restoring safe public spaces for children and families while developing a conducive environment for livelihoods to thrive once again.
• Our work continues to focus on families’ ability to bounce back – improving household income and access to resources to fulfill basic needs. Small-scale famers can have their livelihoods options increased through rehabilitated irrigation systems, seeds and livestock, while also building their economic resilience and capacity through vocational trainings and savings group.

Education and Child Protection

• 1.5 million earthquake-affected children need to regain a sense of normalcy in their altered surroundings. They should have an environment conducive to learning and playing. This is integral to children’s growth as they develop a sense of belonging within their families, amongst peers and in their communities.
• Child-friendly spaces immediately addressed children’s need for psychosocial support after the earthquake. World Vision has built 54 temporary learning centers with clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities for more than 8,200 children. These now serve as safe spaces for children to resume schooling. This also serves as a way for children to give feedback on their needs and how they are impacted by the humanitarian response while referral systems are in place to further strengthen child protection reaching around 5,000 children in the worst-hit communities.
• Provision of teaching aids, learning materials, hygiene kits, student kits and bags and cash assistance all contribute to keep more than 9,500 children in schools where they can be more protected and cared for. Teachers, volunteers and village committee members are also trained to provide psychosocial support -- upholding child protection, rights and well-being.
• Build back safer approaches provide the foundation of rehabilitating schools and similar learning facilities. World Vision wants to strengthen school disaster risk reduction programs that integrate resilience education in school curriculums to help promote the culture of safety and preparedness among Nepalese youth.

Last Updated: 14 April 2016

• 1-year report (PDF)
  

Nepal’s harsh winter weather puts more than 3 million children under age 5 at risk of disease or death, says the U.N. children’s agency. November through February are the critical months.

Parents of young children whose families were affected by last year’s earthquakes tell World Vision staff they are struggling to meet their children’s needs.

“I did not have enough money to buy warm clothes to protect my baby from winter illness,” says 28-year-old Kabita. Kabita received a winter kit of baby supplies from World Vision. The kit contains a warm hat, gloves, socks, a jacket, a sleeping bag, and diapers.

Masini, 62, received the winter kit for her 6-month-old grandson. “We are living in the temporary shelter made of old iron sheets, which gets very cold during the night,” she says. “This is making my grandson fall sick very frequently.”

Internal unrest and disputes along Nepal‘s border with India have led to shortages of food, medicines, vaccines, and fuel for heating and cooking.

About 400,000 people who survived last year’s earthquakes in Nepal now need emergency assistance to survive the brutal winter weather, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

World Vision has provided aid to more than 460,000 individuals affected by the Nepal earthquake and distributed more than 4,019 winter supplies kits to affected families.

Family winterization kits include jackets, hats, and socks for adults and children, as well as wool blankets, hot water bottles, and a duffle bag. Women also receive a woolen shawl and sari.

World Vision's other response activities included:

• Distribution of 30,588 tarps, 277 tents, 1,087 kitchen kits, 125,168 CGI Sheets, 27,829 blankets, 26,540 Sleeping Mats, 12,500 Hygiene Kits, 12,663 Buckets, 21,295 Mosquito nets, 19,171 Solar Lamps, 21,896 Jerry cans, 8,682,993 Aqua tabs, 1,663 water purifying bags and food items for 1,607 families.
• 54 Temporary Learning Centers have been functional (8,214 children have been attending), with 12 emergency toilets.
• 31,552 families have benefited through multi-purpose cash transfers.
• Additionally; 89 Water Systems have been renovated allowing more than 3,918 households to access potable drinking water, 2828 household toilets have been constructed, 479 tents have been distributed to health workers including community hygiene promotors, 766 baby hygiene kits, 400 clean delivery kits have been distributed and, 21 Women, Adolescent and Young Child Spaces (WAYCS) have been established (619 women have been attending).
• 4019 family winterization kits and 951 baby winterization kits have been distributed. Additionally 50 Temporary Learning Centers have been upgraded to meet the winterization need, 1 Health post in Gorkha district has been repaired and medical equipment has been distributed to 5 health institution which will benefit more than 60,000 people living in their catchment area.

Links:

• See World Vision's Temporary Learning Centers