A Year After Nepal Earthquake, WFP Focuses On Helping The Poorest Build Back Better
“People who were worst off before the quake are the ones who lost the most,” said Pippa Bradford, WFP Representative and Country Director. “Ensuring that support targets these households is vitally important so that no one gets left further behind.”
WFP provided food assistance to 2 million people within six weeks of the earthquake, and has been using food assistance to support early recovery work by paying people with food or cash to rebuild community infrastructure. In the past year, irrigation systems were built or repaired on 546 hectares of agricultural land, 729 kilometres of feeder roads were repaired, and 1,714 kilometres of mountain trails were fixed.
Despite improvements in food security in quake-affected areas, due in part to humanitarian assistance, significant pockets of vulnerability remain. A quarter of people in Nepal live on less than US$1.25* a day, and on average spend 60 percent of their income on food, making it hard for them to cope with shocks such as disasters and soaring food prices.
WFP has just launched a three-year development programme focusing on vulnerable groups including female-headed households and ethnic minorities. WFP’s work will support the Government’s livelihood recovery strategy in the sectors of community infrastructure, food security and agriculture, nutrition and disaster risk reduction.
WFP will also expand its emergency preparedness measures. One month before the earthquake, WFP established a Humanitarian Staging Area (HSA) next to Kathmandu airport, which became the hub for emergency aid in the early response. It is estimated that this facility enabled survivors to receive emergency supplies weeks faster than would otherwise have been possible. WFP plans to continue developing the HSA facility in Nepal.
“We cannot afford not to invest in emergency preparedness,” said Bradford. “Disaster can strike Nepal at any time, and we need to be ready.”
As lead of the logistics cluster, during the emergency response WFP coordinated the transportation of relief materials for more than 160 organizations, from entry into the country through to delivery by foot or mule to the remotest areas.
For photos, contact Rein.Skullerud@wfp.org
Shareable video of WFP’s work in Nepal available here
*Nepal has achieved remarkable progress in recent years. The country managed to halve the percentage of people living on less than US$1.25 a day in only seven years, from 53 percent in 2003-04 to 25 percent in 2010-11 and is continuing to make progress.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/overview
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WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 80 countries.
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For more information please contact email address:firstname.lastname@wfp.org:
Seetashma Thapa, WFP/Nepal, Tel. +977 15260520, Mob. +977 9851177901
Silke Buhr, WFP/Bangkok, Tel. +66 2 6598616, Mob. +66-81-701-9208
Frances Kennedy, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 65133725, Mob. +39 346 7600806
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Steve Taravella, WFP/Washington DC, Tel. +1 202 653 1149, Mob. +1 202 770 5993
