A market stall vendor talks to an Action Against Hunger staff member in Kathmandu. The country is slowly rebuilding six months after the first earthquake.
On Saturday 25 April, a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, killing nearly nine thousand people and injuring many more. Just two weeks later, on 12 May, a second earthquake hit the country, destroying more homes and causing further physical and emotional trauma for children and their families. Our teams – already present in Nepal to address deadly child malnutrition – immediately launched an emergency response. Six months on, we remain committed to helping families rebuild their lives and ease their trauma.
Samshana Koju, 26 (left) with her mother Krishna and her 10 month old twins Ramanika and Samanika Koju leaving the Siddhi Memorial Hospital in Bhaktapur. Samshana has received counselling and support from Action Against Hunger.
We know that nearly 9,000 people lost their lives and thousands more were injured. Nearly 60,000 Nepalese have been displaced to 120 sites across 13 districts. Now, six months later, many have been preparing to return home – with uncertainty about what to expect when they arrive.
Action Against Hunger is proud to be part of the rebuilding and recovery process. Our teams have been active in Nepal for nearly a decade, and we were able to respond swiftly. To date we have:
- Screened 35,932 children under age five for malnutrition
- Admitted 219 children to outpatient therapeutic programs
- Provided supplementary feeding assistance to 7,316 children under age five
- Provided maternal counselling to 17,060 women
- Distributed 1,942 shelter and 2,165 kitchen kits, and given conservation seed bags to 527 households
- Provided cash transfers and worked on debris removal and management with 2,400 households
- Provided water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions to 41,625 beneficiaries in communities and displacement sites
- Given mental health support to 5,798 people in communities, camps, and health centres
- Trained 1,028 health staff, teachers, and aid workers on mental health care and practices
Thousands of people living in quake-hit mountain villages and displacement camps will require urgent help as winter approaches. We continue to scale up our programs to help people throughout the cold winter. We will also continue providing malnourished children with urgent treatment and follow-up care, and working with the Nepalese health authorities to integrate the Community-Based Treatment of Malnutrition approach into its health services. This means children can receive the care they so urgently require within their community, before their condition becomes critical.
Children play in the nursery at Bode camp where Action Against Hunger is providing families with psycho-social support.