Overview
On Saturday 25 April 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale was recorded in Nepal, 80 km to the NorthWest of Kathmandu. In addition to thousands of smaller earthquakes, a second major earthquake measuring 7.3 magnitude was recorded 76 km northeast of Kathmandu on Tuesday 12 May 2015.
According to the Government of Nepal, close to 9,000 fatalities resulted from the earthquake, over 600,000 houses were destroyed and more than 284,000 were damaged. Out of Nepal’s 39 affected districts, 14 were declared severely affected and prioritised in the Flash Appeal (Gorkha, Kavrepalanchok, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Okhaldhunga, Makwanpur, Sindhuli, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur).
As a result, the Government of Nepal declared a state of emergency in the country and called upon the international humanitarian community for support. The Logistics Cluster was activated on 27 April to ensure an effective and efficient response to the emergency and overcome the logistical challenges faced by the humanitarian community in their efforts to deliver life-saving relief items across affected areas in Nepal.
The Logistics Cluster, by coordinating with UN agencies, International and National NGOs and the private sector, supported the Government-led response providing logistics coordination and information management and facilitating access to common services. In particular, the Logistics Cluster facilitated air transport services provided by the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) across the country, handled cargo from the pre-established Humanitarian Staging Area (HSA) to warehouse facilities made available for relief items, and supported WFP in implementing the Remote Access Operation (RAO), a logistics effort tailored to Nepal’s landscape which allowed access to otherwise inaccessible locations.
The Logistics Cluster facilitated the transportation of different priority items throughout the operation; the following is a list of the transported cargo types divided by sector: Shelter, Food, Health, WASH,
Education, Nutrition, Construction, Protection, Agriculture, Logistics and Operational Support.