Introduction
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal on 25 April 2015 affected 39 out of Nepal’s 75 districts, with an estimated 8.1 million people living in these 39 districts1 . The Government of Nepal declared a state of emergency, requesting assistance from the international community. Just 17 days after the initial earthquake, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake followed, exacerbating the humanitarian situation. Close to 9,000 people were killed, more than 22,000 people were injured, in excess of 600,000 houses were destroyed and more than 288,2552 houses damaged. The high levels of damage to residential property particularly had an impact on the poor, pushing more households below the poverty line. Senior citizens, female-headed households and people living with disabilities were particularly affected by the earthquake and rendered even more vulnerable.
World Vision declared a Category III Global Response on 26 April 2015, and mobilised global surge capacity to support the response efforts. On 1 October 2016, the response moved under the national office.
Two years after the devastating earthquakes, significant recovery efforts are underway. Although the Government of Nepal sped up the support for the reconstruction of damaged houses, community assets and resumption of services after the earthquake, much more remains to be done to achieve a resilient sustainable recovery.
World Vision’s Nepal Earthquake Response (NER) has made significant achievements in the past 24 months with a goal ‘to meet the emergency needs, strengthen the resilience and self-recovery and restore a sense of safety for earthquake-affected children and their communities’.
To date, World Vision has reached more than 526,873 people across 10 of the hardest hit districts3 through its relief phase (April – September 2015) and recovery phase (October 2015 – December 2016) and in the rehabilitation phase starting in January 2017. The total expenditure for both the relief and recovery phases was US$37.6 million.
In addition, under the currently ongoing rehabilitation phase (January 2017 – April 2018), World Vision plans to reach 27,250 additional people with livelihoods, WASH and shelter interventions that aim to further strengthen communities’ resilience and promote self-recovery with a projected budget of US$13.4 million.