Earthquake Relief – Controversy

The Nepal government set up the Prime Minister disaster relief fund mandating all earthquake relief money from any organization either Nepal or globally based be directed to the fund. This is in a country where thousands of non-government agencies have operated aid programs for decades without government supervision. The goal was to coordinate all funds arriving into Nepal for disaster relief into one program and avoid duplication and/or waste of services. Controversy has developed amid speculation and concerns for it’s ability to monitor, distribute and assess such a monumental task. Dr. Mahabir Pun wrote to the Nepal Chief Secretary, Lilamani Poudyal, concerning the...

Earthquake Devastation in Pictures & Numbers

American Nepal Medical Association posts regular updates on the field disaster relief work in pictures and texts. Dr. Mahabir Pun wrote: “Just to give you an idea of how big the damage is, I have given the summary of the damage as follows. They are still collecting more information.” Source: Nepal Government website No. of Nepali people died – 8,604 No. of people injured – 16,808 No. of foreigners died/injured – 70/50 No. of foreigners missing – 111 No. Government buildings fully destroyed – 768 No. of houses fully destroyed–488,789 No. of houses partially destroyed – 267,477 No. of schools fully destroyed –...

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How do you recover from a natural disaster when your government struggled on a daily basis to develop a progressive and equitable framework for raising Nepal out of poverty? An interesting debate has developed on Mahabir Pun’s Facebook page. Read Mahabir’s statement to the Nepal government here. And read the many comments here.