Communities in Nepal were left in shock after a huge magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on the morning of Saturday 25 April 2015, affecting more than 8 million people (OCHA) of whom 1 million are estimated to be children. The earthquake caused mass homelessness and destruction of infrastructure and services.
Over 8,000 people were killed and many more injured. Sadly, more lives were lost when another 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit on 12 May.
The First Year - How we helped
One Year On - Video Stories
Nepal's families came a long way in the first 12 months and your support has made a huge difference.
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We were already working in Nepal prior to the earthquake so we were able to respond quickly by distributing life-saving food and basic relief supplies. We also helped with emergency shelter; health and nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); child protection; and education.
Our Nepal Earthquake Response has provided 475,255 people with emergency relief assistance in some of the worst-affected districts. We've particularly supported the most vulnerable people: women, children and minority groups.
We've assisted thousands of vulnerable families with essential items including food, water and shelter supplies. We've helped people to access health services and education, despite several major challenges, including the monsoon rains, remoteness of many communities and fuel shortages.
Walk with the children of Nepal as they recover and rebuild their lives.
Highlights from the relief response
Children’s well-being is at the core of our humanitarian response
When a natural disaster occurs, children are always among the most vulnerable. 1.5 million children needed to regain a sense of normalcy in the aftermath of the earthquake. They need to be able to play and learn safely again. This is vital as they develop a sense of belonging within their families, amongst peers and in their communities. To support children straight after the earthquake and aftershocks, 35 Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) were set up to provide immediate psychosocial support and a safe area to play and learn.
Schools were still closed months after the quake, so we established Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) where more than 8,000 students resumed learning and returned to a regular routine.Read more
Schools were still closed months after the quake, so we established Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) where more than 8,000 students resumed learning and returned to a regular routine.
By providing teaching aids, learning materials, hygiene kits, student supplies and cash assistance we've helped more than 9,500 children to be in schools where they can be protected and cared for. Teachers, volunteers and village committee members are also trained to provide psychosocial support - upholding child protection, rights and well-being.Read less
Food & Water
To meet the most urgent needs in the immediate aftermath, we provided 1,600 families with emergency food kits and more than 112,000 people received water purification tablets.Read more
To meet the most urgent needs in the immediate aftermath, we provided 1,600 families with emergency food kits and more than 112,000 people received water purification tablets. We also built or repaired toilets and constructed 91 water systems, providing over 100,000 people with access to clean water.Read less
The earthquake destroyed and badly damaged housing and personal belongings, leaving thousands of families homeless, and exposing them - especially children - to greater vulnerability and insecurity.Read more
The earthquake destroyed and badly damaged housing and personal belongings, leaving thousands of families homeless, and exposing them - especially children - to greater vulnerability and insecurity. To meet the needs of vulnerable families, we provided over 20,000 families with materials for makeshift shelters, including tarpaulins, tents or corrugated iron sheeting, rope and toolkits. Families also received kitchen kits, sleeping mats, solar lamps and warm winter clothing.Read less
The nation’s public health system was significantly affected by the earthquake and aftershocks.Read more
The nation’s public health system was significantly affected by the earthquake and aftershocks. We repaired two health posts so that more than 13,000 people could receive health care again, and medical supplies were given to five health posts serving 60,000 people.Read less
With funding from the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), we've helped a further 62,000 people in the most affected districts with shelter, food and water.
In the relief phase this included giving shelter kits to over 9,500 people to keep them warm and dry, alongside 300 baby care kits, water purification tablets and hygiene kits. We set up 23 Women, Adolescent and Young Child Spaces to support the well-being and protection of over 2800 pregnant and breastfeeding women and children. We also gave direct cash assistance to 10,370 people so they could meet their basic, most urgent needs.
Continuing to support Nepali children
Our role in Nepal has moved from emergency response to recovery work. With a focus on health, livelihoods and education, and continuing to meet basic needs, we'll support communities to get back on their feet and provide an environment where children are safe and protected.
We'll also be helping vulnerable families and communities to re-establish livelihoods and businesses. We're repairing and reconstructing schools, health posts and WASH facilities in Nepal’s worst-hit districts.
Photo: Children playing in the Child Friendly Space (CFS) set up by World Vision in Gorkha District. © 2015 | Sunjuli Kunwar | World Vision
Highlights of the recovery phase so far:
More than 12,929 people have attended mother and child health sessions in our Women, Adolescent, Youth and Child Spaces (WAYCS).
- 410 teachers have been on child friendly teaching learning (CFTL) methodology and psychosocial counselling training.
- More than 16,633 children have taken part in extra-curricular activities on various topics such as disaster risk reduction (DRR) and life skills.
- We've supported more than 5,150 farmers to restore their livelihoods, giving training in things like crop and vegetable production and animal husbandry.
A key part of recovery is supporting communities to be more resilient to and better prepared for future emergencies. This includes the 'building back better' principles which ensure that new homes and schools can withstand future earthquakes.
But it's a long road with much still to do. The Nepali people still face more challenges in their recovery. With monsoon season in full swing, torrential rains have caused flooding in 11 districts putting thousands of lives at risk. The death toll from flooding and landslides across the country has risen to 41 while 935 homes have been damaged or destroyed. We've got a preparedness and response plan in place and relief kits ready for around 1000 households.
One year after the earthquake, approximately 166,000 children still didn't have a permanent classroom. It's critical that schools are constructed and repaired and that the buildings, including Temporary Learning Centres, are equipped to withstand the next monsoon season. To improve access to and quality of education, we'll adopt a holistic approach to safe school recovery. The 'build back safer' principles, (safe learning facilities, school disaster management, risk reduction, and resilience education) will underpin the rehabilitation of education in Nepal. This includes training teachers in disaster management and psychosocial support, complementing the building construction, repair and retrofitting.
Funding from the DEC is also being used to help the nation recover. We aim to help 2,700 earthquake-affected families and 1,600 students have access to reconstructed toilets and 10,000 community members benefit from hygiene messages and facilities. So far:
- we've distributed 341 baby hygiene kits to mothers of children under two years old.
- we've also conducted several hygiene promotion and health training sessions to community members, health workers, and counsellors and ran sessions on health and nutrition in 24 WAYCS reaching 1,976 women and children.
Because children are our main priority and because education was massively disrupted by the earthquake, we aim to support 4,000 children to have improved access to basic quality education in a protective learning environment. So far:
- we've already started repairing two out of eight schools affected by the earthquake and provided training in child friendly teaching and learning (CFTL) and psychosocial counselling to 58 teachers.
We're committed to improve the livelihood of 800 families, 300 farmers and 200 young people. So far:
- 40 groups of women have received agronomical training and received vegetable seeds. The women will also receive fruit seedlings with the second, and final, training session.
We hope that you continue to support us as we walk with the Nepali people through the next stage of their recovery.
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