Various national and international stakeholders have discussed sustainable methods of preparedness for crisis situations in Nepal.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) and the World Food Programme (WFP) assessed the emergency responses of the past and discussed ways of better preparedness in the future.

“The coordination between the National Emergency Operation Centre, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the WFP and the Logistics Cluster was excellent during the earthquake emergency,” Joint-secretary for Policy Division of Home Ministry Kedar Neupane said. “It allowed us to handle, store and dispatch humanitarian relief such as tarpaulins, blankets, food and medication to the earthquake-affected areas in a very efficient manner. As Nepal is prone to disasters, the government of Nepal is committed to working with stakeholders on developing a sustainable emergency and preparedness model.”

More than 88,800 cubic metres of humanitarian relief cargo including food, medication, emergency shelters and sanitation equipment was handled on behalf of 164 agencies at the Humanitarian Staging Area (HSA) after the earthquakes in 2015.

The HSA proved instrumental in quickly handling and processing relief materials arriving through the Tribhuvan International Airport, accelerating the response and saving lives. A study by the Boston Consulting Group estimates that the establishment of the HSA saved at least three weeks of response time after the quake.

“This initiative, by thinking ahead, saved 8 weeks of confusion and coordination at the airport which implied that humanitarian goods were moved quickly, saving lives,” said Gail Marzetti, the head of DFID Nepal.

“Nepal is among the top ten most disaster-affected countries in the world, both in terms of mortality and number of events,” said Valerie Julliand, the UN resident coordinator. 

“The collaboration of the government, civil society actors and the international community through the Logistics Cluster during the Nepal earthquake is seen as a model to be replicated across Nepal,” she added.

“Meeting here at the HSA with our partners and stakeholders, we see the concrete evidence of how we can do better when we all work together. There’s no doubt that a collaborative approach is best for the people we serve—and in an emergency it can save lives. The next step now is to find a sustainable way forward to keep the HSA going and to expand this model,” said Pippa Bradford, the WFP representative and country director.