Of the $415 million requested by the UN and its partners last week, just $22.4 million has been provided - about five percent.
"It's a poor response," Orla Fagan, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Reuters news agency on Thursday.
Fagan attributed the shortage to "donor fatigue", citing more than a dozen other long-running international crises, such as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, which are also making demands on donor nations.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck northwest of Nepal's capital Kathmandu on April 25 has killed at least 7,759 people, injured more than 16,000, and destroyed more than 300,000 homes.
Nepal's post-disaster response has been heavily criticised in the 10 days following the earthquake. Many people in rural areas have still not received any government aid. The UN and Western governments have blamed the country's bureaucracy for taxing and stalling the flow of supplies at border crossings.
The government, however, has denied those accusations.
"Nepal is a very small country, we have limited resources," Brigadier General Jagadish Chandra Pokharel told Al Jazeera this week. "The terrain is inaccessible even under ideal circumstances. We have no conflict and good relations, so 90 percent of military personnel are focused on relief efforts."
Source: Al Jazeera And Reuters
8/5/15
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Related:
EU announces €3 million emergency aid for Nepal
U.S. responds to powerful earthquake in Nepal with disaster response teams, one million dollars (White House)
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UN: Nepal Donations Need to Be 'Ramped Up' ...
ReplyDeleteThe United Nations says it has received only $22 million of the $415 million it says it needs for the emergency response to the 7.8-magnitude Nepal earthquake.
Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N.'s chief official in Nepal, said donations for the humanitarian efforts in the impoverished Himalayan nation following the earthquake need to be "dramatically ramped up."
McGoldrick said relief personnel are now working "so that people have roofs over their heads and their other urgent needs are addressed before the monsoon season starts."
Monsoon rains usually start in June, triggering avalanches and flooding.....voanews.com
8/5/15