“The death toll is very high. Right now they say more than 5,000 people have lost their lives, but everyone expects the figure to increase to 15,000 or even up to 20,000, when we get a full overview. The damages are really enormous with almost 8 million people affected including the complete destruction of some 70,000 households within the affected areas. It is a very emotional and traumatic experience for many”, said Upadhyay on phone from Nepal.
He is one of the six experts deployed by NRC’s standby roster NORCAP to support the relief efforts in Nepal. Upadhyay will help strengthen the UN’s humanitarian response in the earthquake affected areas. The UN has sent another 22 requests for expert assistance during the past few days, with more coming in each day. “I’m glad I am able to support my own country”, said Upadhyay.
Fear epidemics
The Nepali relief worker has previously been deployed from NORCAP to World Food Program (WFP) in Ukraine and to UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Iraq. He has also worked with World Food Program in Nepal and with coordination of relief efforts in Indonesia after the tsunami in 2004, in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008 and after ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan in 2011.
Now he is deployed to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is tasked with coordinating the relief work in camps for people affected by the earthquake. According to their estimates, almost one hundred thousand families have lost their homes or are living outdoors in fear of aftershocks. The families need everything, from food and water, to medical assistance.
“Many people are now living in camps with up to 10,000 people gathered within small areas. It is raining, the camps are not very well organised and the sanitation systems are inadequate. Due to poor sanitation, people fear outbreaks of epidemic diseases”, said Upadhyay.
Use local resources
One of the main tasks will be to coordinate the relief efforts by local organisations, in order to ensure that the resources are used the best way possible. These organisations often have a good outreach capacity and access to staff and volunteers from day one.
“Because I am local and know the country context, I’m in a good position to identify who the actors are, build capacity and support the coordination of the response”, said Upadhyay.
“We have learned from the flood in Pakistan, from the typhoon in the Philippines and the earthquake in Haiti how important it is to ensure good cooperation with local organisations and authorities, and to utilise and support these resources in the best way possible. In addition, it is important to deploy local experts who know the affected country”, said NORCAP Director Benedicte Giæver.
She is glad people like Upadhyay are ready to assist.
“We are now trying to make the best use of the Nepalese experts we have in our standby roster”, said Giæver.
Prepared
Upadhyay was himself in the capital Kathmandu when the earthquake hit Nepal Saturday. Unlike most people, he was well prepared for earthquakes. “My house was built very recently and is designed to withstand earthquakes, so my family and I are safe at the moment. We are thankful we survived”, he said.
Read more about the tasks Leela Raj Upadhyay embark on together with IOM here.
