“Together is the most important word in the world today: nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something,” said Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson after meeting people and communities recovering from the 2015 earthquake in Sindhupalchowk, one of the hardest hit districts of Nepal.
“I am very glad to come out and meet with you so that I can tell these stories when I get back to New York and Geneva,” he told the UN volunteer engineers he met in Sindhupalchowk where they worked for UNDP’s Cash4Work project that helped affected communities do the safe demolition and debris removal. “You should know that what you have been doing is not in vein. It is very important for people here and I will send the message from you to others.”
With around 800,000 buildings destroyed or damaged, debris management is still one of the most crucial priorities. With support from UNV, UNDP mobilized a team of 100 experts and civil engineers, along with 4,300 community members under cash-for-work, to assess and demolish 3,821 buildings and manage the debris. Part of the ongoing debris work focuses on public structures like schools and health posts allowing for the restoration of public services.
Mr. Eliasson observed with interests the debris management smart-phone application that eased UNDP’s early recovery works in the field. The experiments that you have made here with innovative applications likes could be replicated in other countries, he said. UNDP, in partnership with Microsoft Innovation Center Nepal developed the app that helped simplify the management of data during damage assessment of houses and much of the managerial aspects of debris management and cash-for-work project.
The Deputy Secretary-General also observed the prefabricated structures built for the District Development Committee (DDC), Sindhupalchowk as part of UNDP’s project on restoration of public services post-earthquake. At the DDC he interacted with local government officials and NGOs working in the areas of recovery and reconstruction.
“I understand that it is difficult to work after any disaster. We all have to work together. I say everybody must do something because we have an obligation to the people of the world -- where they are struck by natural disasters, manmade disasters -- to show solidarity,” said Mr. Eliasson during the interaction at the DDC.
Mr. Eliasson also visited and interacted with communities practicing sustainable farming with WFP support, observed the injury hospital set up by IoM, district hospital where WHO provided medical services and supported on monsoon preparedness. He also interacted with volunteers and beneficiaries at women’s multipurpose centres and female-friendly centres run with the support of UN Women, UNICEF and UNFPA.
Mr. Eliasson, accompanied including by Mr. Bruno Lemarquis, Deputy Director of UNDP's Crisis Response Unit, was on a three-day visit to Nepal as part of UN’s “Mission for Humanity” campaign in the run up to the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on May 23-24.