A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal on 25 April 2015. This was followed by several powerful aftershocks, including a major one (7.3 magnitude) on 12 May, 2015. The earthquake has had severe humanitarian implications in terms of shelter, food security, health and sanitation, and access to basic services. Over 750,000 buildings have been completely or partially destroyed, with critical infrastructure such as bridges, hospitals and schools heavily damaged.
The Nepal humanitarian assistance included urban areas strongly hit by the Earthquake. While the capital Kathmandu which counts over 1 million people was greatly affected, other smaller urban centers in surrounding Districts faced even greater damage. These include Gorkha, Dhading, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchok, and others. Across Districts, people have reported damage or complete loss to their key food stocks; 80 percent of households have lost their entire food stocks, and overall 55 percent of households have lost more than half of their cereal stocks.
This emergency highlighted once again the specificities of a humanitarian response in urban settings and the need of specific approaches. The Urban Working Group of the gFSC put together some lessons learned and best practices on this particular case that could serve as an input for the development of ad-hoc tools and coordination mechanisms, both to inform continued response to this crisis in Nepal as well as other future crises that affect urban areas.
The findings in this document are the result of consultations with all gFSC partners, both at national and global levels that were involved in the Earthquake Response, Co-Lead Agencies and the food security cluster in Nepal. The gFSC Urban Working Group would like to thank all partners for their valuable contributions.