Handling disasters, natural or otherwise, has never been the strength of any Nepali government. But given the scale and intensity of Saturday’s earthquake, its ineffectiveness has become more apparent than ever. People and organisations all over the world, for instance, are eager to send money and material into the country, but no one seems to know whom exactly they are supposed to contact. Lists containing the names and phone numbers of various international and local NGOs and individuals are circulating on the Internet. Yet, there is no way to know, or verify, if these organisations can be trusted to transport relief materials to far-flung villages on their own or if they will be working with the government.
This is largely due to a failure to effectively disseminate information about what is being done by the government on the ground. There is a Disaster Management Division within the Home Ministry, under which there are three sections: the Disaster Research and Study Section, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovering Section, and a National Emergency and Operation Centre (Neoc). According to the Home Affairs website, Neoc is apparently the “coordination and communication point for disaster information across Nepal, including government agencies and other response and recovery stakeholders such as Nepal Red Cross Society, UN agencies, I/NGOS”. Also, under the Natural Calamity (Relief) Act 1982, there’s a Central Natural Calamity Relief Committee consisting of secretaries from various ministries and members from the National Planning Commission, the police, the Army, and representatives of the Nepal Red Cross Society and Nepal Scout, among others. The body works with the relief committees at the regional, district and local (VDC, municipality) levels.
The government should be more open about the work done by these committees and also provide information about what it needs most. This would help interested institutions and people to channel their funds effectively. More importantly, it would also help the government set priorities with respect to channeling aid and relief to the most-affected areas. Various political party leaders, who are reportedly pressuring the government to channel aid to their districts regardless of the impact of the earthquake, can also be dissuaded from pork- barrel tactics once it has information.
There is an urgent need for the government to take charge of coordination. One way to do so would be to use the information that is now with issue-based institutions like the local branches of the Food Corporation, District Agriculture Office, and Health Office, apart from those related to disasters. Information on the state of food supply in a district, for instance, could then be relayed to agencies like the Food and Agriculture Organisation. Relief work should focus on the food, water, shelter, and health needs of the people. Local media and community-based organisations can also help provide and verify disaster-related information. The government must realise that resources at its disposal can only be used to the extent that it can effectively mobilise them. If not, the world’s goodwill will go to waste.
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