HIGHLIGHTS

• In coordination with Nepalese authorities, the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) conducts a live rescue in Kathmandu.

• Heavy-duty plastic sheeting from USAID/OFDA1 arrives in Nepal to support the critical shelter needs of earthquake-affected communities.

• Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos travels to Nepal to assess the humanitarian situation and ongoing rescue and relief efforts.

Highlights

Today’s report is a summary of only new items posted since our last situation report.

As of 30 April, the Nepal government reports that 540 people have been rescued by the Joint Army Airlift comprised of the Nepal Army and Indian Air Force. They have also delivered 22,050 food and non-food relief items (source). According to UNOCHA, a total of 365 medical personnel working for 33 foreign medical teams are currently in Nepal (source). The Government also reports that 130,033 houses were destroyed and 85,856 houses partially damaged (source)

Today’s report focuses on three special updates

1. Medical: we have included new in depth information on hospitals, medical needs, medical teams, medicines, medical supplies for hospital and trauma as well as needs for volunteers at medical locations.

2. Communications: Organizations responding with power and communications teams and equipment

3. 3W Report Addendum: We are including as a separate download, the Who What Where report published by the Standby Task Force. This report is a list of over 280 aid agencies responding with aid. Download the report here (PDF) SBTF 3WReport Apr30, 2015 Aid Agencies Responding

Our live situation report can be accessed at http://humanityroad.org/apr25nepalquake/

More than one thousand residents of Jorpati outside Kathmandu in Nepal have found shelter in their local SOS Children’s Village after last week’s earthquake.

The terrified residents, including 234 children and 12 pregnant women, flocked to SOS Children’s Village Jorpati because they are too afraid to stay in their own damaged homes. The village team worked with local social activists to set up tents and arranged for medical assistance, counselling, drinking water, toilets and food.

The tents however provided insufficient shelter against heavy rain on Sunday evening. In the true spirit of helping and sharing, the mothers and children of SOS Children’s Village Jorpati opened their homes to the victims. Beds were made in the living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms and passageways. Everyone slept dry.

The needs of the displaced earthquake survivors are monitored on a daily basis. They are currently housed in 42 tents, the physiotherapy hall, the director’s quarters and classrooms of the in-house school.Even the children from the Wonderful Unity Child Club of SOS Children’s Village Jorpati played a part in the relief effort when they conducted a clean-up campaign on the premises.

SOS Children’s Villages also offered assistance to the people of the historical city of Sankhu, about eight kilometres from Jorpati. A team from SOS Children’s Villages Nepal found the town centre completely destroyed during a visit with social workers on Monday.

Despite being warned about the risks of going inside the destructed village, our team met with local social workers, residents and community leaders. After rescue and clearing work have been completed and data from the survivors’ camps are available, a lot of assistance will be needed.

Please help the children!

SOS Children's Villages is mobilising resources to deliver urgent help to children and families affected by the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April. Your help is needed.

“Nepal's civil society must be involved and included in both the first, critical relief efforts and the rebuilding of the country,” says Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland. In the earthquake-stricken country, the situation remains desperate for many of the victims.

The first criticism of relief efforts in Nepal came on Monday, two days after the quake.

“It is unfortunately not possible to reach all those in need in the first, critical stage after an earthquake. Often there are natural constraints like casualties and destruction that prevent national as well as international aid from reaching all in the first days”.

Must avoid double work

Through his work in UN and other humanitarian organisations, Jan Egeland has played a key role in the international reponse to the biggest natural disasters in the world over the past two decades.

Egeland points out that since the tsunami in 2004, the international response to major disasters has improved significantly and become more efficient. However, certain fundamental mistakes are still repeated.

“We must avoid an unnecessary high number of organisations occupying the airport, transport capasity and other resources that are often limited in a disaster area. It is also important to ensure good coordination in order to prevent double work. Professional organisations that have lifesaving equipment, experience and contacts in the country must be prioritised”, he said.

“It is also important that the professionals have the right focus. The UN and other international aid organisations must quickly find out how they can support local organisations and local networks to do their relief work even better”, he emphasises.

Weak state, strong civil society

Requests keep coming in to NRC’s emergency roster NORCAP from the UN for experts to the relief efforts in Nepal.

“We have six people in place in Nepal now, and more are on the way, says NORCAP director Benedicte Giæver, stressing increased focus on civil society in disaster-stricken countries.

NORCAP also contributed personnel to the emergency responses after the tsunami in 2004, the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013.

“We have too often seen that many of the major international organisations are most concerned about what they can deliver of emergency relief, and that they do not include local organisations in their work”, says Giæver.

“In Nepal, the state is weak after many years of civil war and poverty, but the country has a strong civil society. Local aid organisations have experience, knowledge and contacts, which are a huge advantage in all phases of the relief effort. Our personnel are always taking this into account and aim to include local civil society as much as possible, she emphasises.

Preparedness saves lives

Giæver adds that this also must apply in the rebuilding of the affected areas.

“Reconstruction will take time, and it is important that it is carried out in a way that ensures improved emergency preparedness. In a poor country like Nepal, civil society plays a very important role in building preparedness and resilience to future earthquakes, says Giæver, pointing out that Nepal is located in a vulnerable area with high seismic activity.

“We know a lot about how we can reduce deaths as a consequence of earthquake”.

Prevention in the form of good warning systems, preventive urban planning and robust building structures is important to reduce the death toll and destruction of natural disasters.

“Mortality has declined in natural disasters because local organisations are better prepared, while the international effort has become much better in assisting the affected countries' own governments and civil society in their own relief efforts”, says Jan Egeland.

GENEVA, 29 April 2015 – In the aftermath of the violent earthquake that hit Nepal with devastating force on 25 April, IKEA Foundation has contributed €3 million to UNICEF to support emergency relief efforts.

Children are always the most vulnerable in emergencies. Current estimates indicate that over 1.7 million children have been affected by the earthquake in the worst-hit areas of Nepal. In addition to the terror of the experience, the lives that have been lost and homes destroyed, children and families face life-threatening shortages. Throughout the areas affected by the earthquake, families and children are in dire need of assistance to survive the aftermath of the disaster which has left a landscape of destruction in its wake.

The funds from the IKEA Foundation, UNICEF’s largest private sector partner, will be critical in supporting UNICEF’s relief efforts at this early-response stage, to protect the health and ensure the safety of children and families affected by the disaster.

“We are truly grateful to IKEA Foundation for their swift and invaluable contribution to help UNICEF reach the children and families whose lives have been traumatically affected by the violent earthquake,” said Gérard Bocquenet, UNICEF Director of Private Fundraising and Partnerships.

Per Heggenes, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, said: “With this commitment, we also encourage the entire private sector to join us and contribute significant financial resources, supporting the response that is urgently required in Nepal. At this devastating time, children are particularly vulnerable and it is they who suffer the most.”

UNICEF is mobilizing emergency supplies to Nepal for rapid distribution to areas hit by the country’s most deadly earthquake in 80 years. UNICEF is bringing clean water, medical and hospital supplies, tents and blankets, as well as oral rehydration salts and zinc tablets to children and their families. IKEA Foundation’s contribution will be critical to helping UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts in the difficult days ahead.

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work, visit http://unicef.org.

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

About IKEA Foundation

The IKEA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Swedish home furnishings company IKEA, aims to improve opportunities for children and youth in some of the world’s poorest

communities by funding holistic, long-term programmes that can create substantial, lasting change. The IKEA Foundation works with strong strategic partners applying innovative approaches to achieve large-scale results in four fundamental areas of a child’s life: a place to call home; a healthy start in life; a quality education; and a sustainable family income. Learn more at http://ikeafoundation.org and http://facebook.com/IKEAfoundation

For more information, please contact:

Anna Kowsar, UNICEF Geneva

Tel. +41 (0)22 909 5325, Email: akowsar@unicef.org

Jonathan Spampinato

IKEA Foundation - Head of Communications & Strategic Planning

Tel. +31 611 756336, Email: Jonathan.spampinato@IKEAfoundation.org

Oxfam India has for the first time in its short history today begun trucking in aid by land to remote villages in the Gorkha district of Nepal – the ancestral origins of the Nepalese Royal family and from where the famous Gurkha soldiery got its name.

Three trucks carrying tarpaulins, foam sheets, water containers, chlorine tablets and solar lamps have left Gorkhpur and another two have departed Kolkata with water filters and latrine construction materials. The convoy is expected to reach villages in Gorhka by the weekend. The terrain is so bad that some villages can only be reached by foot.

Oxfam has been in India since 1951 and was established as an affiliate of the Oxfam confederation in 2011. Oxfam India's Deputy Director for Humanitarian and Disaster Risk Reduction, Zubin Zaman said, "Oxfam India has responded to fifteen disasters in India in the last 6 years and has built competencies to address the great challenges of providing immediate relief in Nepal."

Oxfam aid workers in remote Gorkha villages say that 80% of houses are destroyed and practically everyone has been forced to live and sleep outside. “This is not sustainable especially for the sick, elderly and children. Women - especially those who are pregnant or breast-feeding - are desperate for private spaces to wash and bathe, while rudimentary sanitation systems have been wrecked,” said Oxfam India’s humanitarian program manager Andrio Naskar, speaking from Gorkha.

Medical functions across the entire district are largely gone. “No-one is getting formal health care in Gorkha. Medicin sans Frontiers is active, which is a great benefit, but with the lack of sanitation facilities, it is likely more people will fall sick," said Naskar.

The Nepalese army, along with support from the Indian army and other rescue teams, are still trying to save people in ground and air searches.

Oxfam India has now launched an appeal as part of Oxfam’s international donation call for the people of Nepal. Donations to Oxfam now total more than €9 million ($9.9m) from 18 countries.

Oxfam India's CEO, Dr Nisha Agrawal said, "We are pleased that the government of India has acted so quickly in allowing humanitarian NGOs based in India, like Oxfam, to be part of the relief effort in Nepal. Traditionally, Indian NGOs only work within the boundaries of the country, but by allowing Indian NGOs to provide relief in Nepal, the Indian government has stepped up their global commitment to support neighboring nations."

“Oxfam has assessed the need for tarpaulins, ground and foam sheets, solar lamps, kitchen sets and blankets. We’ll try to get hygiene kits, emergency shelter and water purification kits into Gorhka by the end of the week, but the dispersing large amounts of aid in this landscape is terribly difficult as many villages can only be reached on foot.

Nepal faces the start of its monsoon rains in one month, driving the urgent need for the construction of robust shelters. "Locally-sourced wood is available for beams and people are already planning to use debris to rebuild. We will do our best to help people as fast as possible but the terrain and subsequent travel challenges this poses are against us,” Naskar said.

There is food is available in Gorkha, and supplies are being boosted by UN World Food Program. But in remote villages, local supplies are likely to run out within a week.

In addition to Oxfam aid now trucking into Gorhka from India, Oxfam has provided drinking water, temporary latrines and water systems in camps in and around Kathmandu and aims to reach 350,000 people as soon as possible through its water and sanitation programs.

Oxfam branches have set up national appeals for the public to donate to the Nepal relief effort, in the US, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong and Macau, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, New Zealand, Quebec, India, Korea (fundraising office), the Netherlands and Sweden (fundraising office). Outside of these countries, the public can donate via oxfam.org. Ibis, an Oxfam observer (Denmark), has also launched an appeal asking for donations for Oxfam’s emergency work in Nepal.

Contact information

In Nepal, Lisa Rutherford +44 7917 791836 lrutherford@oxfam.org.uk
In UK, Media Unit Hotline on +44 (0)1865 472498 or email media.unit@oxfam.org.uk
In Spain, Ivan Garcia - Mobile: +34 620869795 - ivan.garcia@oxfaminternational.org
In India, Gunjan Jain - Mobile+91-9811777387 - gunjan@oxfamindia.org
In Australia, Angus Hohenboken - Mobile: +61 428367318 - angush@oxfam.org.au
In the US, Vanessa Parra - Mobile +1 202 476 0093 - vparra@oxfamamerica.org

For updates, please follow @Oxfam.

HI STAFF UPDATES

Care for the Injured

Bérangère Gohy, a Belgian physical therapist working for Handicap International, describes the situation in Kathmandu: “We are currently working in four hospitals in Kathmandu, caring for the injured and distributing wheelchairs and crutches, and we are beginning to provide physical therapy, which people need as soon as possible after their operations. We’re also preparing to transport patients with the most serious injuries to specialist centers. My colleagues are also working actively to extend our operations to areas which are more difficult to access and where people’s needs are far from being met.”

Type of Injuries

“Our teams have reported different types of injuries to those we’ve seen in the Haiti, China, and Pakistan earthquakes,” says Eric Weerts, a Belgian emergency rehabilitation specialist working for Handicap International. “Construction practices have a lot to do with this: buildings in Nepal use a lot less reinforced concrete, which means much fewer people are suffering from crushed limbs that require amputations.”

Arrival of First Emergency Supplies

A humanitarian cargo plane containing some of the emergency supplies sent by Handicap International to Nepal arrived at Kathmandu airport on Tuesday morning. The organization’s logistics experts were ready to receive the tents, medical kits, and other supplies which will now be used as part of our operations in the areas closest to the earthquake’s epicenter.

Arrival of Second Support Team

After leaving Paris on Monday, the second support team sent by Handicap International to Nepal landed in Kathmandu on Thursday after being delayed in Abu Dhabi for 48 hours.

by Jo Scheuer

The numbers of those who have perished are still rising following Saturday's massive earthquake in Nepal. The quake -- the country's largest in 80 years -- hit a notoriously vulnerable area.

While our attention right now needs to focus on urgent relief and aid to the affected population, including livelihood support, very soon we must address the reality: that it was widely known that a major earthquake was going to strike Nepal. It is expected to happen again and we need to be prepared.

For those of us working in disaster risk reduction and recovery, the earthquake is no surprise. Nepal's Kathmandu Valley is densely populated, seismically active and struggling to cope with weak infrastructure. Some areas remain extremely hard to reach. Over the years, numerous studies, analyses and commentaries pieces have emphasised that a major disaster is highly probable in this very vulnerable region.

Risk-blind Development and Disasters

While brought on by a geological incident, the disaster in Nepal is very much the result of human action and development choices. Poor infrastructure, a lack of compliance with building codes, and high levels of poverty that have elevated vulnerabilities mean that the likelihood of an earthquake having devastating impact is significantly higher than in a similar context with stronger infrastructure and better socio-economic conditions. It is these factors that elevated risk levels in Nepal.

In this case, because the country's towns and cities are located on or near fault zones it remains critical to invest in and prioritize earthquake-proof infrastructure. We call this "risk-informed decision-making" and it is essential to long-term sustainability.

The government of Nepal is aware of this challenge and has been spearheading efforts to both strengthen existing infrastructure and tighten legislation around new developments. This has had many positive results, including retrofitting of critical facilities such as hospitals and schools, the construction of new private housing in accordance with building codes, training of masons in earthquake-proof building techniques for non-engineered buildings, and training for airport staff in Kathmandu to better prepare for emergency relief, which was organized by the United Nations Development Programme and shipping giant Deutsche Post DHL Group.

Likewise, the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium, a coalition of partners working in the field of disaster risk reduction (DRR), has been assisting the government to roll out an inter-connected set of key measures, and has helped pass legislation addressing vulnerabilities to natural hazards.

However, decades of substandard building practices and challenges in building code compliance are hard to overcome and cannot be undone or fixed overnight. The thousands of buildings that already existed in Kathmandu and neighboring areas before the government tightened legislation have been too costly to retrofit and hence, constituted much of Nepal's disaster risk level.

In recent years, the heavy influx of rural population to cities like Kathmandu also put enormous pressure on the housing sector, and resulted in a construction boom that more often than not cut corners in building standards to save time and money. These are issues that will require sustained commitment and funding, as well as political will and efforts to raise awareness.
 
Tying disaster risk reduction to development planning and building better infrastructure is a challenge for any country, but particularly so for the poorest and most vulnerable. In a country like Nepal, donor and partner support, as well as private sector investments, are necessary to complement public resources. Unfortunately, funding for disaster risk reduction remains insufficient across the globe, with much more going towards post-disaster relief than into pre-disaster risk reduction and readiness.

But there is hope and evidence this will change. Japan announced $4 billion for DRR initiatives at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in the central Japanese city of Sendai in March. And more and more country partners are calling for the inclusion of DRR targets in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to be issued in September. As well, the international Financing for Development Forum, scheduled for July in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, will see numerous countries call for greater emphasis on aid funding for climate and disaster risk reduction.

What this disaster shows once again is the need for an urgent shift to ensure that development is risk-informed. Nepal is a country that desperately needs to invest in both risk reduction and sustainable development as one and the same thing.

Nepal's Short and Long-Term Needs

In Nepal, the obvious and most immediate need is to support the people most affected by the earthquake. Financial, human, and resource support is needed for the government and partners, who will be aiding those in need.

We must also be aware of so-called secondary disasters and indirect socio-economic impact that may cause death and suffering long after the initial event has occurred. The aftershocks of Saturday's event continue to threaten thousands of people whose houses have been weakened by the first shock wave and are no longer structurally sound.

At least 17 people died on Mount Everest due to an avalanche that occurred as a result of the earthquake, and there is increased risk of landslides in some parts of Nepal. The economic costs and impact on livelihoods (which in many areas are already fragile) are sure to be significant. For poor families without a social safety net, things will get a lot harder before they get better, unless timely support is provided.

Full economic and social recovery will take time, resources and careful planning. In the interim, early recovery operations can provide short-term employment, allowing temporary livelihood support. This will strengthen small businesses and plant the seeds for the longer term recovery.

As the lead agency in the Early Recovery Cluster of the UN system, and a partner (along with the World Bank and European Union) in long-term recovery planning and needs assessments, UNDP is already discussing with the Nepali government how it can support and help strengthen leadership for the recovery effort. The hope is that short-term measures, such as debris clearing, can generate income while clearing pathways to critical infrastructure. At the same time needs assessments (covering both economic and social losses) can be undertaken and help shape longer term recovery frameworks.

Above all else, investments have to be made now to address the vulnerabilities that led to the disaster in the first place, and to ensure that future earthquakes do not again lead to such devastation. This includes governance measures -- such as tightening regulations and ensuring compliance to existing building codes -- as well as investing in better, risk-informed development practices, especially important during the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.

It is not a matter of "if" but "when" the next major earthquake will happen -- and we need to be ready. Now is the time to reflect on lessons learned and to come together in support of better risk-informed development. Like the Indonesian island of Aceh in 2004, Nepal can use the earthquake as a rallying point to conclude the peace process, come together and unite behind a common goal: a better, safer, more resilient future.

This article originally appeared in the Asian Nikkei Review on 28/04/15.

About the Author

Jo Scheuer is Chief of Profession, Director, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction at UNDP's Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

Helicopters will help the British and Nepalese earthquake response by ferrying people and aid supplies across Nepal.

The UK government is preparing to send 3 Royal Air Force CH47 Chinook aircraft and providing funding for additional UN helicopters to assist the response to the recent earthquake in Nepal, International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced today.

Sent by the Department for International Development (DFID), the Chinook helicopters will travel to Nepal over the coming days. By providing £2.5 million to the UN’s Humanitarian Air Service, DFID will enable organisations already on the ground to immediately get aid supplies to more isolated areas. The Chinooks will supplement this activity once they arrive in the country.

The earthquake has left many of Nepal’s roads blocked and vital infrastructure damaged. These military and UN helicopters will help the British and Nepalese response by ferrying people and aid supplies across Nepal’s terrain, and enable humanitarian supplies to reach remote and hard to reach communities where aid is desperately needed.

Justine Greening:

“ These highly versatile Royal Air Force helicopters and UN aircraft will mean life-saving aid supplies can be moved around Nepal and reach people in remote communities cut off by the earthquake who are in desperate need. “ Conditions in Nepal are dire, but the UK is determined to do everything it can to help support Nepal and its people.”

The 3 CH47 Chinook aircraft will be transported from RAF Brize Norton to the region.

The UK government has pledged £15 million towards the relief efforts in Nepal so far. This includes:

•£3 million released under the Rapid Response Facility (RRF) so partners can address immediate needs on the ground

•£2 million for the British Red Cross

•£5 million to match public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s earthquake appeal and

•a £5 million package to provide a further team of trauma medics, humanitarian experts and airfield handling equipment to ease congestion at Kathmandu airport.

In addition, the UK has British Embassy staff on the ground providing practical help to more than 300 British nationals and additional Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff deployed to provide further assistance to British nationals caught up in the disaster.

Notes to editors

1. The 3 Chinook aircraft are from 27 Squadron based at RAF Odiham in Hampshire: http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/27squadron.cfm

2. The Chinook is a very capable and versatile support helicopter that can be operated in many diverse environments ranging from cold weather ‘arctic’ conditions to desert warfare operations. More information is available here: http://www.raf.mod.uk/equipment/chinook.cfm

3. Sent by the Department for International Development, the Chinook helicopters will travel to Nepal over the coming days once the necessary arrangements have been made.

Press office

Email pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7023 0600

Kathmandu, Nepal | AFP | Friday 5/1/2015 - 03:29 GMT

by Claire COZENS

The joyous rescue of two survivors of last weekend's Nepal earthquake added new urgency Friday to the search for signs of life in the ruins of Kathmandu as the Red Cross warned of "total devastation" in remote areas.

Six days on from the 7.8-magnitude quake, authorities put the number of dead in Nepal at more than 6,200 while around 100 more were killed in neighbouring India and China.

But the full extent of the destruction wrought by Nepal's deadliest earthquake in more than 80 years was still only just emerging as relief workers struggled to reach remote regions of the vast Himalayan nation.

Rescuers from more than 20 countries have been taking part in the search for survivors in the rubble-strewn capital Kathmandu as well as far-flung rural areas near the epicentre.

After hopes had begun to dwindle that anyone else would be found alive, the rescue effort received a double shot in the arm on Wednesday when a 15-year-old was pulled to safety from inside a collapsed guesthouse before a woman in her 30s was rescued nearby late at night.

• 'Born again' -

After spending 10 hours trying to free Krishna Devi Khadka, the multinational team of rescuers greeted her emergence from the rubble with tearful whoops of joy.

"She was injured but she was conscious and talking," a Nepal army major told an AFP reporter at the scene.

"It is as though she had been born again."

The earlier rescue of 15-year-old Pemba Tamang, who told AFP that he stayed alive by eating a jar of ghee (clarified butter), was hailed as a miracle by medics who said he had suffered no more than cuts and bruises.

The rescues in Kathmandu offered a rare respite from the grim reports piling in from other parts of the country.

The Red Cross warned that nearly all homes had been wiped out in some towns and villages near the epicentre and was "extremely concerned" about the welfare of hundreds of thousands of people in Nepal.

"Six Red Cross assessment teams are reporting that some towns and villages in the worst-affected districts close to the epicentre have suffered almost total devastation," it said in a statement.

The destruction appeared particularly dire in the Sindhupalchowk region, a mountainous area northeast of Kathmandu, which was becoming a major focus of international relief efforts.

"One of our teams that returned from Chautara in Sindhupalchowk district reported that 90 percent of the homes are destroyed," said Jagan Chapagain, head of IFRC's Asia Pacific division.

"The hospital has collapsed, and people are digging through the rubble with their hands in the hope that they might find family members who are still alive."

Locals in Gorkha district, another of the worst-hit areas, said their misery was being compounded by terrifying aftershocks that were still being felt more than five days after the quake.

• 'Ground still shakes' -

"The ground still shakes a little every day. We don't know when we are alive, when we are dead," Gopal Gurung told an AFP reporter in the village of Laprak as an Indian military team delivered supplies.

"We are not protected, it is raining all the time, (we don't) know what can happen. Scared, people scared now," he added in broken English.

The latest toll from Nepal's National Emergency Operations Centre put the number of dead at 6,204, adding that a further 13,932 people were injured.

With so many families in need, the Nepal Red Cross Society said it had almost exhausted its relief stocks which were sufficient for 19,000 families.

The UN's food agency issued an appeal for $8 million in donations that it said were urgently needed to help farmers and avert a crisis in the food supply.

A primary concern is making sure farmers do not miss the planting season for rice, Nepal's staple food, which is expected to begin in late May, the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Failure to plant in time would leave farmers without a crop to harvest until late 2016 in a country where around two-thirds of people rely on agriculture for their livelihood.

"There is a critical window of opportunity to help crop producers plant in time to have a rice harvest this year," said Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO representative in Nepal.

The Nepalese government, which has admitted being overwhelmed by the disaster, said it hoped more relief supplies could be flown in to those in desperate need of food and shelter.

"Rescue efforts were intensely moving forward, but now relief distribution is also gaining pace to reach all affected areas," home ministry spokesman Laxmi Prasad Dhakal told AFP.

"Helicopters are being deployed to reach geographically difficult locations."

bur/co/tha/jah

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

Kathmandu, Nepal | AFP | Friday 5/1/2015 - 05:04 GMT

by Béatrice LE BOHEC

At Nepal's crowded National Trauma Centre, overwhelmed doctors make split-second life or death decisions, arranging earthquake victims into order of priority and trying where possible to avoid amputations.

Santush Paudel inspects a frail 65-year-old woman lying still and silent on a stretcher in the Kathmandu hospital, before hanging a yellow badge around her neck during triage.

"Building stones fell on her during the earthquake, fracturing her pelvis," the doctor said, placing her in the intermediate category.

A red badge is for the most seriously injured requiring an urgent operation while a green one means the patient is free to leave hospital after an examination.

The centre, attached to the Nepalese capital's Bir Hospital, is swarming with overworked medics, aid officials and volunteers following Saturday's monster 7.8-magnitude quake that has killed more than 6,000 people.

In the immediate hours after the disaster, some 2,000 people seeking treatment descended on the centre, which has only 150 beds.

"We have faced logistical problems of space and personnel," said the centre's coordinator Thapa Buland.

"We've opened up the halls, and some injured have been sleeping on mattresses on the floor and even outside. The situation has improved a little but now we're facing an influx of casualties arriving from the mountains and districts far from the capital," the doctor added.

Aftershocks and a rugged, mountainous terrain meant it was a couple of days before wounded survivors from remote villages could be airlifted to safety.

Pushpak Kumar Newar of non-governmental organisation Handicap International said: "When districts are evacuated and helicopters turn up, there can be 30 victims all arriving at once."

Newar said the volume of arrivals made spending the appropriate amount of time examining each patient properly difficult and avoiding amputations was a major challenge.

On the fourth floor of the centre on Thursday, a five year-old girl, with both her legs and a hand in plaster, sobbed down the telephone to her mother.

• 'I thought she was going to die' -

It was the first time Sabita Nepal had spoken to her mother since the immediate aftermath of the quake, the deadliest to strike Nepal in more than 80 years.

"On Saturday I carried Sabita for three kilometres to find some transport," wept her father. "I saw that her legs were limp and swinging from side to side. I thought she was going to die," he wailed.

The quake destroyed her family's livelihood in a village in worst-hit Sindhupalchowk district, northeast of Kathmandu.

"Our animals are dead, there was nothing for us to eat, there are fears of epidemics. Here there is a lot more help," said Sabita's father.

In the next bed lay eight-year-old Salina Dhakal, whose skull was fractured during the quake and who travelled three hours with her family to Kathmandu for treatment. She clutched her teddy bear and wiped her eyes as her mother lamented their predicament.

Downstairs in the waiting room, dozens of patients who were assigned green badges sat on mattresses free to go. But many seemed reluctant to leave -- they had nowhere to head to after their homes were turned into piles of rubble.

blb-pdh/tha/mtp

© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse

KATHMANDU, Nepal ¦ 1 May 2015 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) and partner organizations in Nepal have mobilized further resources including medicine and medical equipment to prevent the possible spread of diarrhoeal diseases among populations affected by the country’s devastating earthquake.

“After an earthquake of this magnitude, the water supply is often damaged and contaminated, increasing the risk that people drinking it could develop diarrhoeal diseases,” says Dr Lin Aung, WHO’s Representative to Nepal. “The crowded living conditions in temporary shelters increase the chance that these types of diseases could spread.”

Since Saturday’s disaster, at least 2.8 million people have been displaced either because their houses have been destroyed or because they are too afraid of aftershocks to remain in their homes. Many are living in precarious conditions, including in 16 makeshift camps in Kathmandu. There, they are exposed to the elements, often with little more than a tarpaulin for shelter.

In addition to setting up systems to identify these diseases early, WHO, the Government and other health partners are providing safe water supplies and sanitation facilities, such as pit latrines and mobile toilets, to the camps. Work is also underway to improve hygiene promotion in these locations.

“WHO has been supplying chlorine tablets to treat drinking water and materials including soap and towels to improve hygiene, which reduces the risk of disease,” says Payden, WHO’s Regional Advisor for Water, Sanitation and Health.

In addition WHO is bringing in kits containing medicines and medical equipment to treat cases of diarrhoeal diseases. The kits contain IV fluids, antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, disinfectant, and other supplies and information so that all health workers have what they need.

Some sporadic cases of diarrhoeal disease have been reported in the camps, but so far, the number of cases has not exceeded expectations, given the living conditions and recent heavy rains.

“No camps have reported an increase in disease that is out of the ordinary. There is no evidence of an outbreak at this point,” according to Dr Patrick Duigan, Program Manager at the International Organization of Migration (IOM), which is responsible for establishing and maintaining appropriate makeshift accommodation for the displaced.

Dr Duigan emphasizes that WHO, IOM and the Government of Nepal are working in close coordination to prevent such an outbreak. “IOM is working with WHO and the Government of Nepal to collect information on the number of people in camps, the conditions within them and to ensure they have access to health services,” he adds.

Media contacts:

(In Nepal)
Paul Garwood
Nepal mobile: +977 9801123116
Geneva mob:+41.79.603.7294
email: garwoodp@who.int

(In New Delhi)
Vismita Gupta-Smith
Mob: +91 9871329861
Email: : guptasmithv@who.int

Shamila Sharma
Mob: +91 9818287256
Email: sharmasha@who.int

(In Geneva)
Tarik Jašarević,
tel: +41 22 791 50 99
mob: +41 79 367 62 14
email: jasarevict@who.int

Irish Aid is playing its part to respond to the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Nepal last weekend. The death toll is over 5,000, with another 10,000 injured and hundreds still missing.

Eight million people have been affected- more than a quarter of the country's population of whom 1.4 million are in urgent need of food assistance. UNICEF has warned that at least 2.8 million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, reporting dwindling supplies of water and food, power failures and communication blackouts.

Eight million people have been affected more than a quarter of the country's population of whom 1.4million are in urgent need of food and assistance.

The Government of Nepal reports that some 70,000 houses have been destroyed, and another 530,000 homes damaged across 39 of Nepal’s 75 districts, including the Kathmandu Valley districts. The earthquake has caused significant damage to infrastructure and roads. Collapsed buildings and rubble have blocked access to affected areas and populations. Landslides have also been reported, further hampering access to more remote locations.

Temporary tented camps are currently being established for displaced families around Kathmandu and shelter, health, food, medical supplies, water and sanitation, and restoration of communications are urgent priorities.

Ireland has provided initial funding of €1,000,000 to respond to the crisis, through Irish Aid’s Emergency Relief Fund Scheme (ERFS) and Rapid Response Initiative (RRI). The ERFS provides funding to Irish NGOs which are active on the ground in Nepal, and are experienced in humanitarian crises of this scale.

Under the RRI, Irish Aid is arranging airlifts of emergency relief items such as tents, blankets, and tarpaulins to assist an estimated 12,000 vulnerable people and meet their immediate acute needs. Over 63 tonnes of Irish stocks will be distributed by Plan in the Kathmandu-Makwanpur area, focusing on those most severely affected, and those living in temporary settlements or in the open air since their homes were destroyed. Irish Aid is also considering further requests for deployment of essential relief items and highly-skilled emergency specialists through the Rapid Response Initiative.

In addition, a number of Irish Aid’s long-term partners are responding to the crisis. US$15 million has been provided from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support scale-up of response activities. Ireland was one of the top 10 donors to the CERF in 2014. €500,000 has also been provided from its International Federation of the Red Cross – to which Ireland contributes - to support the Nepalese Red Cross in their initial relief efforts.

For information on how you can help the victims of the Nepal earthquake, please visit howyoucanhelp.ie