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News > World

Nepal Still Struggling Three Months after Devastating Quake

  • Nepalese students walks to school past buildings damaged in devastating earthquakes, in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on May 31, 2015.

    Nepalese students walks to school past buildings damaged in devastating earthquakes, in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on May 31, 2015. | Photo: AFP

Published 25 July 2015
Opinion

Saturday marks three months since the huge 7.8 magnitude shook Nepal, affecting some 8 million people, and the country is still struggling to return to normal.

Three months since the first massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal, followed by another major quake less than a month later and hundreds of after shocks impacting millions of people, large sectors of society continue to face insecurity caused by deepened poverty and lack of access to basic necessaries.

Improvements in the humanitarian situation since the first earthquake hit April 25 have not been enough to meet the shelter, food, water, and sanitation needs of hundreds of thousands left desperate by the earthquake that killed over 8,800 people and destroyed close to 600,000 homes.

Nepalese army personnel collect data at a relief camp for earthquake survivors in Kathmandu on July 23, 2015. | Photo: AFP

Those most vulnerable in the wake of the crisis include families still living in areas prone to natural disasters such as landslides and floods, women facing threats of abuse, and tens of thousands of children without access to education or health services.

RELATED: Nepalese Struggle to Return to Normal After Second Earthquake

"When a major disaster strikes like the earthquakes on 25 April and 12 May, it incurs not only loss of lives but also destruction of assets, sources of livelihoods and substantially reduces household income particularly among the most vulnerable population," said UNICEF representative in Nepal Tomoo Hozumi in a statement Saturday.

According to government data, up to 1 million people in the worst impacted areas of Nepal could be pushed under the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day. More than 10,000 children identified as acutely malnourished since the first quake, and tens of thousands more children are suffering psychological trauma from their experiences, according to UNICEF.

For many women, safety and security continue to be major concerns. A lack of privacy in temporary shelters may expose women to abuse, while limited access to health services and clean water poses health risks, especially for pregnant mothers.

RELATED: UN: A Mere 5 Percent of Nepal Aid Fund Received

“Women are living in fear of physical abuse in temporary shelters,” said Oxfam Director in Nepal Cecilia Keizer in a statement Saturday. “After living through two massive earthquakes, this situation is only compounding their trauma.”

Across 13 of the worst hit areas of Nepal, there are some 318,000 woman-headed households, according to U.N. Women estimates. These women may face disproportionate challenges due to structural barriers like difficulties accessing loans or compensation needed for rebuilding without having a male guarantor.

And as monsoon season looms, already precarious situations may get even more challening.

"The rain has made life even more difficult,” a father named Rabi Baral who was forced to move his family to a shelter in the capital Kathamndu told AFP. “We are in limbo right now.”

RELATED: Tragedy Vultures: Opportunism in the Nepal Earthquake

Nepal's already weak economy was ravaged by the earthquake, plunging the country's annual GDP to the lowest it has been in eight years. Key sectors including tourism and agriculture have been particularly hard hit.

Perhaps the sole area of economic increase has been in remittances sent home from family abroad, up by more than 11 percent this fiscal year according to Central Bank figures, providing much-needed support for those in need.  

WATCH: The Ring of Fire, the world’s most earthquake prone region

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