Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haiti. Show all posts

Sunday, August 16, 2015

१६ बुँदे ल्याइनु को प्रमुख कारण

महाभुकम्प पछि राहत र पुनर्निर्माण को काम मा पुर्ण रुपले असफल सरकार ले जनता को ध्यान divert गर्न खेल खेलेको हो। होइन भने संघीयता को कुरा ६ महिना पछि गरे के बिग्रने थियो? सफलता पुर्वक divert गरे, म्याओवादी ले तिन लाई सघाए पनि। एउटै डयांग का मुला सबै। बाहुन हरु। तामांग को बस्ती मा आएको भुकम्प।

त्यस्तै मधेसी को भूभाग मा सुक्खा पर्यो। खाद्यान्न माग्ने काम गरेका छैनन्। मतलब छैन।

‘सरकार तयारी गर्दैछ भन्छ, उ भन्दा पहिले काल पुग्छ’
संसदमा जनबोली

न नुन, चामल, दाल पुग्छ, न ओत लाग्ने पाल पुग्छ
सरकार तयारी गर्दैछ भन्छ, उ भन्दा पहिले काल पुग्छ
गाउमा राहत पुग्नु अघि नै, हिसाब लिन दलाल पुग्छ
तिम्रो त्यो राहत वापत रु १५ हजार कुन साल पुग्छ ?

‘सभामुख महोदय, जनताका खल्तीमा मोवाइल हुन्छ । तर, बज्दैन । सञ्चार मन्त्रालय के हेरेर बसिरहेको छ ?’ ....... अधिकांशले अर्थ मन्त्री डा.रामशरण महतले पुरानै ढर्राको बजेट पेस गरेको, मन्त्रीमुखी बजेट भएको र पैसा मन्त्री र पहुँचवालाले आफ्नै निर्वाचन क्षेत्रमा मात्र छुट्याएको, पुननिर्माणको कामलाई ध्यान नदिइएको, राहत अहिलेसम्म पुग्न नसकेको बताएका थिए । साथै छलफलमा मन्त्रीहरु सहभागी नभएको, संसदलाई अवमूल्यन गरेको जस्ता प्रश्न समेत उठाएका थिए । ...... एमाले सांसद भण्डारीले शहरी विकासले मन्दिर बनाउनका लागि धेरै पैसा छुट्याएको उल्लेख गर्दै ‘शहरी हो कि मन्दिर मन्त्रालय हो ?’ ...... ‘६०१ सांसदमा मन्त्रीहरुले मात्र गोल होन । त्यो पनि आफ्नै क्षेत्रमा ।’

Thursday, July 23, 2015

बीपी कोइराला ले गरेको सबैभन्दा ठुलो गलती

बीपी कोइराला को अर्को पक्ष
सिक्किमका मुख्यमन्त्री नरबहादुर भण्डारीजस्तै बीपीलाई नेपालमा स्थापना गराउने कुरो तत्कालीन प्रधानमन्त्री इन्दिरा गान्धीबाट आएको र भारतमै बसेर नेपालको प्रजातन्त्र स्थापनाको लडाइँ लडिरहेका बीपी त्यसपछि भारतको नियतबाट झस्केको अनुमान पनि गरिन्छ।

सिक्किम भारत को उपनिवेश होइन। भारत लोकतन्त्र हो। सिक्किम त्यस लोकतंत्र को एक हिस्सा हो। सिक्किम को सांसद यदि त्यति नै सक्षम छ भने भोलि त्यो सारा भारतको प्रधान मंत्री सम्म बन्न सक्ने हुन्छ। त्यसो भएको खण्डमा सिक्किमले सारा भारत माथि शासन गर्यो भन्ने अर्थ लाग्दैन। त्यस व्यक्तिले सिक्किम लाई मात्र होइन सारा भारत लाई हेर्नु पर्ने हुन्छ। सारा भारत का लागि राम्रो गर्नु पर्ने हुन्छ।

नेपालमा लोकतंत्र फर्काउने बाटो सबैभन्दा राम्रो त्यही थियो जुन इंदिरा गांधी ले देखाइन। नेपालमा त्यति बेला नै राजतन्त्र समाप्त हुन्थ्यो। तर बीपी लाई कम्निष्ट हरुले अर्ध सामन्ती भनेर त्यसै भनेका होइनन्। राजा सामन्ती, बीपी अर्ध सामन्ती। राजसँग मेरो घाँटी जोडिएको छ भन्नु अर्ध सामन्ती ले बोल्ने भाषा हो।

नेपाल भारतको एउटा राज्य हुन्थ्यो। नेपाल ले दिल्ली मा १३ वटा सांसद पठाउँथ्यो। बीपी कोइराला ले जय प्रकाश नारायण जस्ता सँग क्रियाशील राजनीतिक सहकार्य गर्न पाउने थिए। आखिर प्रवासमा बनारसमा बीपीले गर्ने गरेको त्यही होइन?

नेपाली काँग्रेस भित्र का बीपी का फैन हरु ले बीपी लाई विश्व नेता को रुपमा जुन आकास्ने गर्छन --- त्यस कुरामा दम छ अथवा थियो भने बीपी कोइराला नेपालका मुख्य मंत्री होइन सारा भारत कै प्रधान मंत्री हुन सकथे --- क्षमता को कुरो। लोकतन्त्रमा क्षमता को कुरो हुन्छ।

बीपी कोइराला ले गणतंत्र बिनाको लोकतंत्र को कुरा गरे। त्यो लोकतंत्र नबुझेको कुराको प्रमाण हो। बीपीले लोकतंत्र नबुझेको कुराको अर्को प्रमाण के भन्दा नेपाल लाई सिक्किम बनाउने कुरा नमान्नु। त्यो चीनले तिब्बत खाए जस्तो हुने थिएन, र अहिले पनि हुँदैन।

अहिले पनि नेपाल लाई भारतको राज्य बनाउनु नै नेपालको आर्थिक विकास का लागि सबै भन्दा राम्रो हो।  होइन भने भारत अमेरिका बन्छ, नेपाल छेउ मा भएर पनि अझै दुई चार पुस्ता हेटी भएर बस्छ। 

बीपी कोइराला, प्रचण्ड र नेपालको राष्ट्रियता
राष्ट्रियता भनेको के?
बीपी को संवैधानिक राजतन्त्र प्रतिको रटान गलत थियो
लोकतंत्र, बीपी, संघीयता, गजेन्द्र नारायण सिंह
गिरिजा लोकतंत्र प्रति गद्दार मान्छे
लोकतंत्र र संघीयता: Atom र Molecule
नेपाली काँग्रेस मा राणा शासन
नेपाली काँग्रेस र मधेसी समुदाय
मधेसी किल्ला र मधेसका २२ जिल्ला र अमरेश
मधेसी क्रान्ति ३ कति बेला र केका लागि?


Thursday, June 25, 2015

$3 Billion Pledged

English: Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Guja...
English: Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat, India, speaks during the welcome lunch at the World Economic Forum's India Economic Summit 2008 in New Delhi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Go Inside the Effort to Rebuild Nepal
India announces $1 billion aid for rebuilding Nepal
highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured a prompt rescue and relief operation within six hours of the 7.9-magnitude April 25 quake. .... "We reacted as if a disaster had struck India," Swaraj said. ...... a powerful earthquake that struck exactly two months back on April 25, killing about 9,000 people and injuring around 23,000 others besides flattening over five lakh houses. ..... Government of India's pledge for Nepal's post-earthquake reconstruction of Nepali Rupees 10,000 crore, equivalent to $1 billion, one fourth of it as Grant ..... The conference was attended by several countries, including China, Britain, Norway, Japan, Sri Lanka, the European Union besides the UN, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. ...... "Ours is a 'Roti-Beti ka Sambandh' (a bond of family and kinship)." ...... India's response was "swift, spontaneous and substantive" ..... "Operation Maitri was our largest ever disaster assistance effort abroad, valued at nearly four billion Indian Rupees. But what is important is not that this support was larger than other foreign countries; what matters is the strong feeling of empathy and the instantaneous, instinctive and heart-felt response from Indians for their Nepali brothers and sisters," Swaraj said. ...... Nepal's challenge would be to ensure efficient and transparent utilisation of the funds ........ huge reconstruction needs of $6.7 billion. ..... Nepal, our oldest and closest friend and neighbour ...... "Hydropower projects now need to be speedily implemented and work on construction of the Kathmandu-Nijgadh fast track road and the Nijgadh airport with India's participation should be expedited."
Nepal earthquake: India and China pledge millions in aid
Pledges include $1bn (£640m) from India, $500m from China, and $600m from the Asian Development Bank. ..... Nepal says it needs $7bn after April and May's devastating quakes, in which nearly 9,000 people were killed....... Opening the conference, Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala promised that the relief funds would be used wisely. ....... Donor countries and international agencies have voiced concerns that red tape and poor planning could result in the donations being squandered. ...... Additional pledges of $260m from Japan, $130m from the US, and $100m from the European Union - as well as an earlier announcement of up to $500m from the World Bank - take the total assistance offered to around $3bn.
Foreign Donors Pledge $3 Billion to Help Rebuild Quake-Ravaged Nepal
“We will share periodically the use of the funds to maintain transparency because you are accountable to your own citizens,” Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told an international donors’ conference in Kathmandu ..... Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China promised $483 million, while the Japanese government pledged $260 million. ...... Chandan Sapkota, an economist at the Asian Development Bank who is based in Nepal, said concerns remained over the capacity of the Nepalese government, mired in bureaucratic delays, to use the aid effectively. ...... “We need a plan from the government that we can spend the money within four to five years,” Mr. Sapkota said. “And that’s a very tall order.” ...... Even as the central government made assurances that the funds would be implemented efficiently, officials in earthquake-affected districts have said that the government’s plan to immediately provide $2,000 to families for home rebuilding is mired in red tape. ....... the Asian Development Bank’s commitment of up to $600 million would largely go to reconstructing government schools.
After Nepal Quake, Nepalis In The US Now Eligible For Temporary Protection
some Nepalis in the United States can now apply to stay in the country for at least another year, with work permits and temporary protection from deportation. U.S. immigration authorities opened applications Wednesday for Nepalis to get “temporary protected status,” which could affect up to 25,000 people currently in the United States without long-term legal status........ may now qualify for TPS and receive authorization to stay in the country until December 2016. They have to show they have been in the country at least since Wednesday, and have until the end of 2015 to send in their applications. Nepalis who arrive in the U.S. after Wednesday aren’t eligible. ..... Lawmakers in New York also vocally supported the legislation: Around 40,000 Nepalis live in the city, mostly in Queens. .... The new measure could affect 10,000 to 25,000 Nepalis ..... The TPS program isn’t new. The U.S. previously granted TPS protection to Haitians after Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010. Since then U.S. officials have continuously extended TPS for Haitians given the slow pace of recovery after the quake, and about 58,000 people have been granted protection. Given the scale of the destruction caused by Nepal’s disaster, the U.S. could likewise easily extend protections for Nepalis past the December 2016 expiration date, potentially for several more years. ....... Immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras have received such long-term protection. The U.S. first granted TPS to Salvadorans in 2001 following a large-scale earthquake there, and to Nicaragua and Honduras in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch ravaged both countries. Anyone from those countries who was in the U.S. at the beginning of those programs is still eligible for TPS protection more than 15 years later. ..... TPS doesn’t provide for a path to legal status, however, and those who receive protection must reapply and pay new fees every time the program is extended. The comprehensive immigration bill that was passed in the Senate in 2013 would have provided a path to citizenship for TPS-eligible immigrants, but that bill has since languished amid congressional deadlock.
Go Inside the Effort to Rebuild Nepal
Rohingya Say Quake-Ravaged Nepal Is Better Than Life at Home or Death at Sea
“In Burma, just being Muslim is like a crime” ..... “This is the situation of the Rohingya,” says Hassan. “The person who is not a citizen anywhere has no limit to the punishment he can suffer.”

Saturday, June 06, 2015

Reconstruction In The Aftermath Of The Nepal Earthquake

List of Prime Ministers of Nepal
List of Prime Ministers of Nepal (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
There is no such thing called a prepared nation. When Hurricane Katrina hit the shores of New Orleans, America reeled for years. Nepal as the poorest country outside of Africa started out with a weak infrastructure, not just physical, but also political. You have to have some compassion for the poor roads in a poor country. Similarly you have to have some compassion for a weak, inefficient, perhaps corrupt government. But then the international community also has to introspect. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, $13 billion was raised, and there is not much to show for it right now.

This tragedy, the biggest in the country's history, having caused damages to the tune of half its GDP, can be a point beyond which lie years of despair, or it can be a take off point where the country and its global friends decide to take the country to new, unprecedented heights. The people and the political leadership have a role to play, and the international community has a role to play.

I, for one, am for treating this tragedy as a departure point for taking the country and its peoples to new heights of economic vibrancy. There have been countries that have done that in the aftermath of devastating wars and natural calamities. That path requires the Government of Nepal and the global community to subject themselves to the highest standards in online transparency for all deliberations, all plans, all executions of those plans, all expenditures, all services delivered, all projects started and completed, all watchdog roles. Done right that transparency could end up being the number one source for needed funds as ordinary people in multitude countries might donate as time goes on.

The second component is a need for boldness of vision. There has to be a realization that there is no going back to the way things were. A new future has to be imagined.

The political leaders of the country need to finalize the details of federalism and announce elections to the state and local governments in November. I think a compromise position would be to retain the 75 districts and create six states named Janakpur, Lumbini, Rapti, Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali. The absence of elected governments at local, district and state levels makes the hard task of reconstruction rather impossible. After agreeing on the constitution the political parties should form an all party national government for the remainder of this parliament's term. I think Baburam Bhattarai, the Maoist leader, is best qualified to lead. He also happens to hail from the district that was the earthquake's epicenter. But since his party is only the third largest, it should be willing to make major compromises in the process like giving up the idea of ethnic names for federal states, giving up the idea of a directly elected president, and agreeing to fewer berths in the cabinet than it might otherwise get.

Boldness of vision requires that you decide to shift the capital from Kathmandu to the Terai plains directly south where you would create a new megacity. My suggested name for it would be Hipat, where people from Himal, Pahad, and Terai live together. This would allow for new homes for millions of people.

Food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters are needed still. This monsoon season will likely see the worst landslides the country has ever seen. And the country remains unprepared. That is the first order of business. But simultaneously some longer term plans have to be made and executed upon.

This proposed new megacity would be a grid city of 200 square kilometers, with four lane one way roads every 100 meters.





A road every 100 meters in a city that is 20 kilometers by 10 kilometers makes for about 300 roads. Every country in the world should be approached to sponsor one, and the road would be named after the sponsoring country. Some countries might not be able to chip in, some might build more than one, maybe five, maybe 10. If a country builds more than one, the roads after the first would be named after its biggest cities. The 200 square kilometers of land that would be acquired would be valued at the new city price, and apartments of equivalent values would be given to the landholders.

People in places like Gorkha or Sindhupalchok or even Kathmandu who have lost their homes would be encouraged to move en masse into this city. You would hand over your land and house at the market rate to the government, and in the case of the hill districts they would be turned into forests. For your land and house in Kathmandu you would get credit at perhaps below market rates since the land is so expensive in that city. You would get equivalent amounts of living space in the new city. So if you have a six room house in Kathmandu, you would hand it to the government, and you would get six rooms worth of apartments in the new city. The government would turn around and sell your house to companies in the tourism industry that would remake them as retrofitted lodges for tourists built in the traditional styles.

The garden buildings in the new megacity would be built by private real estate companies from Nepal, India, China, Bangladesh and wherever. They get the land from the government. They have to build within a year or two. Each building must be at least 10 floors. The ground floor and four other floors go to the government to dole out to the original landowners, to the displaced families in the hill districts and Kathmandu. Each building's rooftop would be covered with solar panels. That might generate sufficient electricity for the city.

This city would need a canal from the Narayani river for drinking water, a fast track tunnel road from Kathmandu to Hetauda, the Nijgadh international airport completed in a hurry, and the eastern Terai developed as a feeder region.  A railway track in mid-Terai, and a highway by the Nepal India border, and a Hipat-Janakpur-Patna-Kolkata Industrial Corridor.

If there will be a million displaced people, most of them farmers, many of them can be employed by the government for upto three months a year to engage in massive reforestation schemes all across the country. The outer ring of the new megacity perhaps should be set aside for textile factories where they can work. The city itself will generate employment opportunities.

The beauty of this suggestion is it keeps the costs low. The major expenses to be provided through foreign aid stay at the big infrastructure level. Otherwise the city pretty much pays for itself.

If you can pack 10,000 people per square kilometer, that's two million people in 200 square kilometers. If you can pack 20,000 people per square kilometer, that's four million people. One million earthquake displaced, three million new residents. If you double the size of the city in five years, because it was such a good idea, next thing you know fully one third of the country is living in this one city, and that is an environmentally friendly proposition. It is much easier to provide services to residents of one big city than to 4,000 scattered villages in remote mountains. Much of Nepal's hills and mountains need to become thick forest land.

Summary: Foreign Aid On Reconstruction Should Focus on Big Infrastructure Projects
  • A road every 100 meters in a new megacity that is 20 kilometers by 10 kilometers
  • 300-500 electric buses to run on those roads round the clock 
  • Rapid completion of the Kathmandu Hetauda fast track tunnel road 
  • Water canal from the Narayani river to the city
  • A train track in mid eastern Terai
  • A highway along the Nepal India border
  • A Hipat-Janakpur-Patna-Kolkata Industrial Corridor
एउटा नया ठुलो महानगर बनाउन सकिन्छ
१० लाख मानिस का लागि रोजगार
नेपाल राज्यको संविधान 2015
वन फंडानी नगरी बनाउनु पर्छ महानगर हिपत
हिपत-जनकपुर-पटना-कोलकाता Industrial Corridor
हिपत, जनकपुर, कोलकाता
Hipat Megacity
Elon Musk सँग बाबुराम ले गफ गर्नु पर्ने भो
हिपत, काठमाण्डु

Thursday, June 04, 2015

Red Cross Under The Microscope

In Search Of The Red Cross' $500 Million In Haiti Relief
When a devastating earthquake leveled Haiti in 2010, millions of people donated to the American Red Cross. The charity raised almost half a billion dollars. It was one of its most successful fundraising efforts ever. ..... The American Red Cross vowed to help Haitians rebuild, but after five years the Red Cross' legacy in Haiti is not new roads, or schools, or hundreds of new homes. It's difficult to know where all the money went. ..... the number of permanent homes the charity has built is six. ...... the organization spent $69 million on emergency relief, $170 million providing shelter and $49 million on water and sanitation efforts. ........ millions of dollars given for new hospitals, vaccination programs, and disbursement of tents and water tablets. The charity says it has done more than 100 projects in Haiti, repairing 4,000 homes, giving several thousand families temporary shelters and donating $44 million for food. ...... Much of the money never reached people in need. ...... The Red Cross gave much of the money to other groups to do the hands-on work, resulting in additional fees. ..... First the Red Cross took a customary administrative cut, then the charities that received the money took their own fees. And then, according to the Red Cross' records, the charity took out an additional amount to pay for what it calls the "program costs incurred in managing" these third-party projects. ...... In one of the programs reviewed by NPR and ProPublica, these costs ate up a third of the money that was supposed to help Haitians. ....... about three years ago the Red Cross came with glossy booklets saying it was going to build hundreds of new homes, a water and sanitation system and a health clinic. None of that happened. ...... The men say they think it's possible that the Red Cross will still build them homes. ...... When shown a Red Cross promotional brochure about the project, the men are stunned. ...... The original plan was to build 700 new homes with living rooms and bathrooms. The Red Cross says it ran into problems acquiring land rights. ..... McGovern went to a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington and said that a fifth of the money the charity raised would go to "provide tens of thousands of people with permanent homes ... where we develop brand-new communities ... including water and sanitation." ..... The charity built six permanent homes and, according to their own account, no new communities. ..... The review also found that officials spent some of the money teaching residents to wash their hands with soap and water — and that the residents did not have access to either soap or water. ..... After several emails, the Red Cross acknowledged that the "130,000 Haitians" figure is made up of people who went to a seminar on how to fix their own homes, people who received temporary rental assistance, and thousands of people who received temporary shelters — which start to disintegrate after three to five years....... Archaic land title and government requirements make building in Haiti very difficult and time-consuming, but other charities have built almost 9,000 homes so far ....... He says the project has been successful because the majority of the staff and managers are also Haitian — and are passionate about rebuilding their country..... "All this work that you are looking at now, the calculation was made by Haitian people, Haitian engineers, Haitian architects, Haitian foreman," he says. "We know what to do."..... The Red Cross does not seem to have used that strategy. In one internal memo, the top manager of the Haiti program complains that Haitians were not being hired for top positions — and in some cases were treated disparagingly................ In a 2011 memo, the then-director of the Haiti program, Judith St. Fort, wrote that senior managers had made "very disturbing" remarks disparaging Haitian employees. St. Fort, who is Haitian-American, wrote that the comments included "he is the only hard working one among them" and "the ones that we have hired are not strong, so we probably should not pay close attention to Haitian CVs." ...... "Going to meetings with the community when you don't speak the language is not productive," says Carline Noailles, one of the former staffers. Sometimes, she recalls, Red Cross staffers would skip such meetings entirely........ According to an internal Red Cross budgeting document for the project in Campeche, the project manager — a position reserved for an expatriate – was entitled to allowances for housing, food and other expenses, home leave trips, R&R four times a year, and relocation expenses. In all, including salary, it added up to $140,000.

Friday, May 29, 2015

विवेकशील पार्टी को बाटो जपानको हो



राष्ट्रिय विपदीको बेला अहिले ५-६ महिना, १-२ वर्ष घुष सुष नखाम, भ्रष्टाचार नगरम, माफिया बाट अलग बसम भनेर देशको political class ले नभनेको अवस्थामा विवेकशील पार्टी ले यो political class लाई पुर्ण रुपले मटियामेट गर्ने र अहिल्यै गरिहाल्ने किसिमको आक्रामक भाषा बोल्नुपर्ने हुन्छ। हेटी र जापान बीच कुन बाटो रोज्ने? नेपाली जनतालाई स्पष्ट option दिने। केपी-बामे-सुशील-रामचन्द्र-रामशरण को बाटो हेटी को हो। विवेकशील पार्टी को बाटो जपानको हो।


Friday, May 08, 2015

In The News (9)

भारत सरकार, भारतीय सञ्चार, आम भारतीय र नेपाल
राहत र उद्धारका क्रममा प्रत्यक्ष संलग्नहरूको प्रशंसाको स्पर्श एकदुईवटा सञ्चारकर्मीको व्यवहारका आधारमा सबै भारतीय सञ्चारमाध्यम फिर्ता जाऊ' को अभियान जारी हुँदा त्यसले नेपालीमा कृतघ्नताको अंश बढी र सहिष्णुताको कम रहेको सन्देशसमेत बाहिर जानेछ। ....... वर्तमान चरणमा नेपालमा भारतप्रतिको अविश्वास या उसको अलोकप्रियता खासगरी आन्तरिक राजनीतिमा विगत नौ वर्षमा भारतको खुला प्रवेश, 'माइक्रो म्यानेजमेन्ट' सँगै आन्तरिक असुरक्षा उत्पन्न गर्ने एसडी मेहता प्रवृत्ति जिम्मेवार छन्। ....... दूतावासले पैसा खर्च गरी सरकार गिराएका उदाहरण किताबहरू र आधिकारिक सूचनाका आधारमा आएका छन्, जसको दूतावासले खण्डन गरेको छैन। पूर्ववर्ती सरकारको छिमेक नीति असफल भएको मोदीको भारतीय जनता पार्टीले स्वीकार गरिसकेको छ। ....... उता एसडी मेहताको गतिविधिलाई आलोचना नगर्न त्यसबेलाका भारतीय राजदूतले नेपाली नेताहरूलाई चेतावनी मात्र दिएनन्, त्यसमा सफलता नै हासिल गरे। तर त्यसले 'सरकारी' भारतको नियतलाई सबभन्दा बढी प्रश्नचिन्हमा ल्यायो नेपालमा। ......

नेपालमा २०६३ को परिवर्तनपछिको नेतृत्वदायी राजनीतिक समूहले पूर्णत: विश्वास गुमाएको छ मुलुकभित्र।

....... त्यो समूह भ्रष्ट छ र नेपाली जनताको संलग्नता तथा अनुमोदनमा उनीहरूले राजनीति सञ्चालन नगरेको पनि स्थापित भएको छ। यहाँको राजनीतिक नेतृत्व परिचालित र परचालित भएको तथ्यसमेत स्विकारी भारतले नेपाल नीति समीक्षा नगरेकाले नै नेपालको चार दलीय सिन्डिकेट जस्तै ऊ पनि यहाँ अलोकप्रिय हुँदै विश्वसनीयता गुमाएको हो। ...... जुद्धशमशेरको ९० सालपछिको सोच, उपलब्धि र कार्यान्वयनको पृष्ठभूमिमा सुशील कोइरालाको गठबन्धन सरकार अत्यन्त संवेदनहीन र असक्षम देखिएको छ। ...... दलमा युवा र विद्यार्थी समूह-संगठनहरूमा खासै दायित्वबोध देखिन सकेको छैन। राहत उद्धारमा संलग्नको संख्या अत्यन्तै न्यून छ।
Haiti's earthquake generated a $9bn response – where did the money go?
Uncertainty about the scale and outcome of spending following Haiti tragedy highlights

need for greater transparency

........ the international response to the quake was overwhelming. ..... Private donations are estimated at $3bn. ..... about 94% of humanitarian funding went to donors' own civilian and military entities, UN agencies, international NGOs and private contractors. In addition, 36% of recovery grants went to international NGOs and private contractors. Yet this is where the trail goes cold – you can look at procurement databases to track primary contract recipients, but it is almost impossible to track the money further to identify the final recipients and the outcomes of projects. ............ 60% of US-disbursed recovery funding is "not specified" (pdf), as is 67% of Canada's aid to Haiti (pdf). Data for the European commission shows that 67% of humanitarian funding and 43% of recovery funding is to "other international NGOs" (pdf). Data reporting becomes even more opaque when one looks for the specific organisations, agencies, firms or individuals that have received grants or contracts in Haiti. Detailed financial reports and rigorous impact evaluations are hard to find. ........ most organisations only publish case studies or other descriptions of their work; negative outcomes or failures are almost never documented ..... It is a contradiction that the Haitian government is asked to improve transparency when the international aid community itself fails to provide adequate information to the public. ......... We publish the financial information relevant to the execution of our budget. All we ask is for the same transparency from our donor friends ......... Haiti received an amount almost equal to its gross domestic product, but several hundred thousand people remain in tent camps set up in the aftermath of the quake. ...... the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), a multi-stakeholder scheme with a standard for publishing information about aid spending, and Publish What You Fund's aid transparency index. ..... Transparency is a critical step towards better project design and implementation in Haiti and other poor countries. Donors, NGOs, private foundations, private contractors and other civil society organisations must report to IATI and must do so in a timely manner.
प्रचण्डले यसरी थर्काए संसदमा
देशका प्रधानमन्त्री र गृहमन्त्रीले यतिबेला लम्बेतान विवरण प्रस्तुत गरेर अहिले पनि परम्परागत रुपमै ठूलठूला शब्द बोल्ने तर काम केही नहुने ‘परम्परा’ मात्रै धानेको हो कि भन्ने चिन्ता प्रचण्डले प्रकट गरे । ...... अझै पनि देशमा ठूलो भूकम्पको खतरा कायम रहेको विगत १४ दिनले देखाएको जिकिर गर्दै भने– ‘सरकारले यसलाई सुन्न चाहेको छैन या सुनेर पनि सुनेजस्तो गरेको छैन ।’
भारतले थप १ लाख त्रिपाल दिने
भारतको गृह मन्त्रालयले दिएको निर्देशनमा कोलकाताबाट पुर्वी नेपालको नाका हुँदै १ लाख त्रिपाल पठाइने भएको छ । यसअघि गत सोमबार मात्रै पश्चिम बंगाल सरकारले १ लाख त्रिपाल नेपाललाई सहयोगमा पठाएको थियो । मुख्यमन्त्री ममता बेनर्जीले थप २० हजार त्रिपाल सहयोगमा दिने घोषणा गरिसकेकी छिन् । ..... तर, भुकम्पपीडित सर्वसाधारणका लागि आवश्यक राहत तथा उद्धार सामग्री पठाइरहेको दिल्लीस्थित दुतावासले यो काम थालेको १० दिनमा पनि कहींकतै जिल्लामा पनि सामान पुगेको जानकारी पाएको छैन । .... यस बीचमा बिमान सेवा, रेल्वे र ट्रक ढुवानीबाट ४० टनभन्दा बढी सामग्री नेपाल पठाइएको तथ्यांक दुतावाससँग भए पनि कुनै जिल्ला वा सम्बद्ध निकायबाट यो सामान पाइएको जानकारी आउन सकेको छैन । भारतीय विमान सेवाको सौजन्यबाट दैनिक प्रति बिमान १ टनसम्म सामग्री ढुवानी भैरहेकोमा यसमध्ये अधिकांस सामान काठमाडौंस्थित बिमानस्थलमा अड्किएर बसेको छ भने रेल र ट्रक ढुवानीमा गएका सामानबारे पनि जानकारी आएको छैन । .... अहिले पनि दिल्लीस्थित दुतावासमा १० टनभन्दा बढी राहत सामग्री थन्किएर बसेको अवस्थामा छ ।
भूकम्पपीडितलाई विदेशबाट पालदेखि पानीसम्म --- सबैभन्दा धेरै सहयोग भारतबाट
भारतले सबैभन्दा बढी १ लाख ९३ हजार ४ सय ४ थान त्रिपाल तथा एक लाख ४० हजार २ सय ९४ थान कम्बल राहत उपलब्ध गराएको छ । भारतले चामल, चिनी, नून, चिउरा, चाउचाउ, मेटे्रसदेखि पानीसमेत उपलब्ध गराएको छ ।...... यस्तै, उत्तरी छिमेकी राष्ट्र चीनले १० हजार ४ सय ३५ थान कम्बल, २ हजार १ सय ७९ थान टेन्ट, एक हजार एक सय कार्टुन पानी उपलब्ध गराएको छ । ..... सरकारले अढाइ लाख भन्दा बढी त्रिपाल वितरण गरिएको जनाएको छ । सरकारले सार्वजनिक गरेको तथ्यांकअनुसार भूकम्प गएदेखि विहीबारसम्म ठूला परिमाणमा खाद्य तथा गैरखाद्य सामाग्री वितरण गरिएको छ । ......

अहिलेसम्म दुई लाख ६६ हजार ८ सय १८ थान टेन्ट वितरण गरिएको छ । .... सरकारले एक लाख पाँच हजार २ सय ३४ क्वीन्टल चामल वितरण गरेको जनाएको छ ।

रोनाल्डोद्वारा नेपालका भूकम्पपीडितलाई सात करोड सहयोग गर्ने घोषणा
सेनाको मुख्यालयलाई अमेरिकी र इजरायली प्राविधिकको ‘रेड स्टिकर'
‘प्रधानसेनापति गौरव शमशेर जबराले क्लवमै बसेर महाविपत्ति सामना गर्न सेनाले सञ्चालन गरिएको ‘अपरेसन संकटमोचन’को कमाण्ड कन्ट्रोल गरिरहनु भएको छ। साथै प्रधानसेनापतिबाहेक वलाधिकृत र वलाध्यक्षको कार्यालय पनि क्लवबाटै सञ्चालित भएको छ।' ..... वैशाख १२ गते प्रधानसेनापति राणा पाकिस्तानी सेनाको निमन्त्रणामा पाकिस्तान भ्रमणमा जाने तयारीमा थिए।

प्रधानसेनापति राणा आफनो निवास भत्किएपछि पालमा बसिरहेका छन्।

Reflections on the earthquake
We have been so habituated to criticizing the government and blaming them at every juncture that we have perhaps forgotten that it is we Nepalis who created this system in the first place. This system that is doomed to fail. .......... As we are rebuilding Nepal, we need to ask ourselves what kind of a governance system we have been living in if no one is satisfied with it.
नेपालका लागि सोँचेजस्तो राहत उठेनः संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ
A new generation will help Nepal rise up and rebuild
The sad irony is that we knew the big one was coming, but no one expected it. ..... Our people are icons of bravery and our homes legendary for their instant warmth and hospitality. They say people visit Nepal once but come back for their friends. ...... But we are also afflicted by man’s failings. Nepalese have endured centuries of social discrimination and exploitation from despots and modern day oligarchs. A long civil conflict killed thousands and chased away a generation’s opportunities for economic and social progress. Millions of youths have left the country to seek their futures elsewhere. We are still ranked close to the lowest end of the poverty index. ...... The messy vortex of Nepali politics has left little space for nation-building. Corruption is endemic and little of any economic benefits filter to the poor. Even in the best of times, the political leadership is mocked daily for its ineptitude. ........

A grass-roots movement is taking place among its young, educated and talented people. They are back to show the entrenched old guard how it should be done: entrepreneurship, a passion for social enterprise and a fearlessness to question the establishment.

....... In the immediate aftermath of this calamity, the one thing that stood out was the instant compassion and a can-do resourcefulness of a new force in our country. The pushcart vendor who gave all of his fruit to the tent-city occupants, the soldiers and police constables, the selfless nurses and doctors working without rest, the thousands of volunteers braving the odds: They are Nepal’s finest, all working tirelessly through the nights to rescue those trapped under rubble.

Thursday, May 07, 2015

In The News (6)

Tested and failed
Govt ineptitude has been on display, but it is the prime minister who has been found most wanting ..... For starters, at a later date someone has to be held accountable for failing to immediately inform our prime minister about the quake. ...... The papers and social media are awash with stories of one contradictory government position after another. Instead of a government in action, we have seen a government in reaction. Time after time, it has announced a policy only to modify it in response to a barrage of criticism. ...... That he was able to come up with a most insipid address to the nation more than three days after the earthquake was one thing. But to spend so much time thanking each and every country by name, a task that would be more complete and doable at a later date, just took away from the main message that Nepalis had been expecting to hear—that we have a functioning government which will do everything possible to help the affected. ....... The last thing Koirala did was inspire confidence that we have someone in charge who knows what he is doing and is doing the best he can. It is no wonder that parts of the government continued to function with a similar lethargy. ....... Speaking to a group of party leaders at Charikot, the best he could come up with was, “You should come and see where I am staying [ie, the prime minister’s quarters]. The walls are all cracked. Imagine, how I have been living!” ....... the only way to stave off a huge loss of life and property is to knock down old buildings and retrofit those that can be retrofitted. ....... “If we had had money we would have built a strong house. But we had none.” ..... what in all reckoning was not the Big One that experts had been predicting ...... The chaos that engulfed our government machinery became apparent when the numerous search and rescue teams arrived. Rather than fan them out throughout the country, since time is the crucial factor during such an effort, almost all these teams wandered around the capital, looking for someone to save. As the New York Times reported, “A team of the United States’ most renowned search-and-rescue workers drove into the shattered city of Bhaktapur on Wednesday [29 April]…They brought with them sniffer dogs trained to detect live bodies, acoustic and seismic listening devices designed to pick up noises from entombed victims, and engineers capable of cutting through six-inch walls of reinforced concrete…But the next three hours brought a slow deflation, as they bumped into other international crews…” And, all the while, locals across the devastated zone were digging through the rubble and saving lives with the most rudimentary tools............. in the case of a colleague of mine who lost a cousin in Nuwakot. The young boy had been out in the open when the earthquake struck and probably remembering what he had been taught at school ran into a house to get under a bed before the building collapsed on him.
Budhanilkantha alumni offer assistance to Sindhupalchok
The relief material was handed over to the army at the Bhimkali Barracks in Melamchi on Tuesday. The barracks currently function as the distribution centre for relief items in the area. After the relief freight is entered into the books maintained by the army, an all-party relief distribution mechanism formed at the level of the constituency decides on the amount of material to be distributed in the VDCs based on their population size. The politicians then send word to the VDC secretaries and the VDC-level all-party mechanism..... Sindhupalchok has more than 66,000 households, with more than 287,000 people in total. With almost all the households affected, the district will need at least a tarpaulin sheet for every household.
सहयोग पारदर्शी हुने संरचना बनाउन एमालेको माग
How not to rebuild Nepal
Last Saturday, I watched with the rest of the world as images emerged in the wake of Nepal’s violent earthquake: the dusty faces of survivors, bloodied bodies, the ruined historic buildings. It reminded me of the devastation I witnessed after the earthquake in my homeland, Haiti, five years ago — and it made me worry about what will come next in Nepal.......... I hope that they will be able to avoid the grave mistakes made by Haitians and by the well-intentioned donors who came to our aid. ..... here were two disasters in Haiti: the earthquake, and then the humanitarian crisis that followed. More than $10 billion in foreign aid still hasn’t enabled our country to recover from this disaster. ...... Most aid projects in Haiti promised “community participation,” yet most failed to truly include local people. What happened with housing provides a clear example. Many aid groups insisted on moving earthquake survivors who were living under tarps into “transitional shelters.” They ignored the objections of Haitians, who feared the flimsy plywood structures — prone to leaks and collapse — would become their permanent homes. Aid groups spent more than $500 million on these transitional shelters,” but have built less than 9,000 new long-term houses. Tragically, yesterday’s “temporary” shelters have become today’s permanent slums. ........ Many aid groups sent well-meaning but barely trained volunteers and deployed foreign doctors and nurses to areas where skilled Haitian professionals were readily available. Of every dollar given to the earthquake response in Haiti, less than a penny went to Haitian organizations........ If these funds had supported local people and organizations, the money would have gone much further. ........ Most aid after the earthquake focused on the short term, often ignoring long-term needs, especially infrastructure needed to prevent humanitarian crises in the future. My country is still struggling to contain the largest modern outbreak of cholera in history. The disease is thought to have been introduced by United Nations peacekeeping forces after the 2010 earthquake, but the crisis does not end there. This epidemic has continued largely because relief funds have unfortunately not been used to help Haiti build sufficient sewage systems. ............ Though coordinating aid seems like the most obvious thing to do, it didn’t happen in Haiti. Many aid groups clamored to support high-profile projects, which resulted in wasteful redundancies in some areas while allowing people in less well-known places to languish. Lack of accountability about foreign aid was the rule, with donors and Haitians receiving little news about how this aid was being spent.
Nepal 2015 Earthquake Update: Thousands Mark End To 13-Day Mourning Period, Death Toll Crosses 8,400
The death toll from the magnitude-7.8 quake has climbed to 8,413 in the Himalayan nation alone ...... the Cuban government announced it will send a 48-member medical team to help Nepal cope with the task of treating the more than 16,000 people injured in the deadliest earthquake to hit Nepal in 80 years. The Cuban medical team will include 22 doctors and a field hospital equipped with a surgery unit, an intensive care unit, and X-ray and ultrasound equipment. The field hospital will also have consulting and rehabilitation facilities ....... Nepal's central bank announced a low-cost loan to help people rebuild homes they lost in the earthquake. The loan will charge a 2 percent interest rate compared to an average commercial interest rate of 10 percent. A bank official also told state-run Radio Nepal that people in Kathmandu could avail up to $25,000 and those outside the capital could avail up to $15,000 in loans
Crowdfunded Campaigns For Nepal Are Huge. Is That A Good Way To Give?
Crowdfunding was widely popular in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy. But the magnitude of mini-campaigns for the Nepal disaster is unprecedented ...... GoFundMe alone has more than 700 individual campaigns and 45,000 donors who've collectively raised $3.5 million for Nepal. And Todi's campaign on Indiegogo Life is one of more than 100. Some of Ward's own friends on Facebook are simply asking for people to send donations to their bank accounts. ...... there's no evidence that donating to small campaigns makes a bigger impact on ground. ...... recommends donating to established charities because there's too much risk with individual campaigns. "There's no vetting in the front end and no insurance on [the] back end that people will actually use the money for what they say they will" ........ asking for donations via a check or direct transfer into his or her bank account is a huge red flag. ..... an international aid agency that's dealt with disasters before is a better choice than a small charity. "You may have only one runway available for deliveries, and places may be inaccessible immediately because roads are now broken," he says. "Well guess what? If they are impassable to the staff at established charities, they're probably going to be impassable to other charities there." ....... And he's keeping his donors updated with videos, photos and written notes.
They’re killing Kathmandu (2010)
Kathmandu has no future as a humanly habitable city. .... Its air is becoming increasingly unbreathable. It is running out of its water. The noise pollution has become the number one cause of deafness among an increasingly large number of the city’s population. Incidences of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases have skyrocketed during the last two decades. It has become a rare event to meet a healthy person in this city these days. ..... The major reason this city will go down in history as one of the most uninhabitable places on earth is the way we are making buildings. When you make money, what do you do? Build a house. When you make a lot of money, what do you do? Build more houses. ...... That’s what a friend of mine did in the last two years. Awash with money from his job at a UN agency, he built one house for his sister, another for his brother and two for himself. ...... “Anil-ji, I am, however, planning to live in Chitwan,” he said. ...... During the last four years, there has been a phenomenal growth of buildings across the valley. ..... The mighty Himalaya lies at the northern margin of the Indian tectonic plate, and much of Nepal’s landmass falls at its centre. This plate is advancing towards the north at about 5 cm a year. ...... This movement of the earth’s crust has made it one of the most seismically active geographies in the world. Thousands of tremors occur every year with occasional major ones. ..... The oldest recorded one occurred around 1255 AD according to the Gopalrajvanshabali. One third of the valley’s population perished together with its temples and other public monuments. During the “nabbe saalko bhuichalo” (the earthquake of 1990 Bikram Sambat, that is 1934 AD), over four thousand people died. Tens of thousands of houses were destroyed either partially or fully, among them about five hundred public monuments. There have been major earthquakes in the 1980s. ....... Six months after a major earthquake hit Haiti’s Port au Prince, less than 5 percent of its rubble has been cleared. One estimate shows that even with more than a thousand high-powered trucks working 24/7, it will take six years to remove all the rubble. Let’s not forget Kathmandu is not Port au Prince. Port au Prince has a long coastline. Rubble can be dumped into the sea. Where will Kathmandu’s rubble be dumped?
The Public Service
Perhaps it's a wake-up call. Seismologists are telling that big as it was, Saturday's tremor wasn't really the Big One that everyone has been fearing for several decades. That means there is still time to make amends and prepare.
दाता-सरकार किचलो
दातृ निकायले सरकारी संयन्त्र अस्वीकार गरी सिधै आफू या निकटका अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय/राष्ट्रिय गैससबाट भूकम्प पीडित सहायता खर्च गर्ने रणनीति लिएपछि विवाद उत्पन्न भएको छ। एकाधबाहेकका दातृ निकायले घोषित सहायता रकम प्रधानमन्त्री दैवी प्रकोप राहत तथा पुनःस्थापना कोषमा जम्मा गर्न चाहेका छैनन्।...... भूकम्प पीडितको पुनःस्थापना र ध्वस्त संरचना पुनर्निर्माण गर्न सहयोग परिचालन प्रक्रियालाई लिएर सरकार र दातृ निकायबीच विवाद उत्पन्न भएको हो। तीन दर्जन मुलुक र २० अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय दातृ संस्थाले उल्लेख्य भौतिक सहयोग घोषणा गरेका छन्। तर उनीहरूले पुनःस्थापना र ध्वस्त भौतिक संरचना पुनर्निर्माणका निम्ति आफूनिकट संस्थाबाट सहायता परिचालन गर्न खोजेका छन्। ....... दातृ पक्षले आफूखुसी हालीमुहाली गर्न खोजेको बुझाइ सरकारको छ। त्यो तरिकाबाट प्रशासनिक खर्च अधिक हुने र अत्यन्त न्यून रकम पीडितसम्म पुग्ने सरकारको भनाइ छ। ....... दातृ पक्षले चाहिँ सरकारी कर्मचारीतन्त्र अत्यन्त सुस्त र गाउँहरू जनप्रतिनिधिविहीन अवस्थामा रहेको भन्दै आफैं सहयोग परिचालन गर्ने अडान राख्दै आएको छ। ..... अमेरिकी राजदूत पिटर डब्लू बोडीले हालै प्रधानमन्त्रीसँगको भेटमा आफूहरू सरकार, गैरसरकारी संस्था र आफ्ना तर्फबाट समेत सहयोग गरेर पुनःस्थापना तथा पुनर्निर्माणमा संलग्न हुन चाहेको बताएका थिए। बेलायत, युरोपेली युनियन र राष्ट्रसंघले समेत आफैं काम गर्ने भन्दै सरकारलाई दबाब दिइरहेको एक अधिकारीले बताए। ...... सरकारले सरकारी च्यानलकै एकद्वार खर्च प्रणाली कायम गर्ने अडान राखेका कारण दाताहरूले 'सहयोग रकमको कम्तीमा ३२ प्रतिशत गैरसरकारी संस्थाबाट खर्च पाउने भन्ने एटलान्टिक कमिटीको निर्णय' देखाउन थालेका छन्। ...... द्वन्द्वकालमा ध्वस्त भौतिक संरचना पुनर्निर्माणका निम्ति गठित शान्ति कोषको रकम आफ्नो ढंगले खर्च गर्न नपाएपछि दातृ मुलुकले केही समयअघि मात्रै त्यसबाट हात झिकेको थिए। दातृ पक्ष भूकम्प सहायतामा पनि त्यस्तो अवस्था नआओस् भनेर मन्त्री, राजनीतिक दलका नेतासँग लबिङमा लागिसकेको स्रोतहरू बताउछन्। अमेरिका र बेलायतका राजदूतले यसै सन्दर्भमा प्रधानमन्त्री सुशील कोइरालालाई भेटिसकेका छन्। सरकार त्यस्तो कुरा नमान्ने, बरु विकास बजेट उपयोग गरेर भए पनि पुनर्निर्माणमा जाने मनस्थितिमा छ। ...... भूकम्पबाट ध्वस्त संरचनाको पुनर्निर्माणका निम्ति सरकारले २ खर्बको कोष घोषणा गरेको छ। सरकारले त्यसमा २० अर्ब रकम राखिसकेको छ र सहयोगका निम्ति सबै दातृ पक्षलाई आह्वान गरिसकेको छ। सरकार यही कोषमार्फत खर्च गर्ने तयारीमा छ। ...... भारत, चीन, अमेरिका, बेलायत, जापान, जर्मनी, श्रीलंका, दक्षिण कोरिया, सिंगापुर, क्यानडा, नेदरल्यान्ड, अल्जेरिया, थाइल्यान्ड, पाकिस्तान, म्यानमार, बंगलादेश, भुटान, माल्दिभ्स, फ्रान्स, स्विट्जरल्यान्ड, युरोपेली युनियन, संयुक्त राष्ट्रसंघ।
विपद् व्यवस्थापनमा कहाँ चुक्यो सरकार
विकासको तिव्र गतिमा रहेको चीनको सिचुवान प्रान्तमा सन् २००८ मा भूइँचालो जाँदा पनि सरकारी टोली ७ दिनपछि मात्र गाउँमा पुगेको थियो। ....... महाविपत्तिको बेला सरकारले आफ्नो स्रोत साधनबाट व्यवस्थापन गर्न सक्दैन र संकटग्रस्त क्षेत्र घोषणा गरेर विदेशी सहयोग आह्वान गर्छ। हामीले पनि यस्तै बेलामा काम गर्नका लागि प्रधानमन्त्रीको मातहत राष्ट्रिय विपद् व्यवस्थापन परिषद् बनाएका छौं। परिषदले महाविपत्तिका बेला आकस्मिक रुपमा विपद्पछि के कसरी अगाडि बढ्ने भन्ने आकस्मिक योजना बनाउने र नेतृत्व गर्नुपर्ने हो। तोकेको जिम्मेवारी अनुसार अहिले परिषदले प्रभावकारी रुपमा काम गरिरहेको जस्तो देखिन्न। ...... भूकम्प गएको दिन प्रधानमन्त्री बैंककमा हुनुहुन्थ्यो। अर्को दिन नेपाल फर्कनु भयो। उहाँले विमानस्थलबाटै राष्ट्रका नाममा सम्बोधन गरेर सरकार विपद्का बेला कसरी जनतालाई उद्धार तथा राहत दिन्छ भन्ने विषयमा उल्लेख गर्नुपथ्र्यो। त्यसपछि पनि सरकारले यो विपत्तिमा जनतालाई कसरी सहयोग गर्छ केही खाका आउनु पथ्र्यो। आजसम्म पनि परिषद्ले कुन–कुन तरिका अपनाएर कहिलेसम्म पीडितलाई राहत दिने भन्ने विषयमा ठोस योजना बनाउन सकेको देखिदैन्। ....... गृह मन्त्रालय अन्तर्गत राष्ट्रिय विपद् व्यवस्थापन समिति रहेको छ। विपद्का बेला उद्धार तथा राहत कार्यमा सो समितिले नेतृत्व गरी सेना, प्रहरी लगायतका अरु संस्थालाई परिचालन गर्नु पर्ने हो। समिति आफैंले विपद्मा काम लाग्ने कुनै सामग्री स्टक राखेको छैन्। सेना र प्रहरीसँग भएका सामग्री पनि प्रभावकारी रुपले प्रयोग हुन सकेन्। महाभूकम्पपछि ज्यान जोगाएर टुँडिखेल, रंगशाला लगायतका ठाउँमा खुला आकाशमुनि बसेका मानिसलाई सेनाको सिहंदरबारलगायत राजधानीमा रहेका गणमा भएका हजारौं त्रिपाल र रासन बाँड्न सकिन्थ्यो। किन बाडिएन? त्यसको कारण सम्बन्धित निकायबीच समन्वय हुन नसक्नु नै हो।.......विपद्का बेला तीनदिनसम्म नागरिकले आफ्नो जोहो आफैं गर्नु पर्यो। तेस्रो दिनपछिमात्र टुँडिखेलमा सेनाले पाल टाँग्यो। सिंहदरबारमा सेनालाई ती महिना पुग्ने रासन थियो। रासनबाट नागरिकलाई एक छाक तातो भात खुवाउन सकिन्थ्यो। नागरिकले राहत पनि पाउँथे,सरकार र सुरक्षा निकायप्रतिको जनविश्वास पनि चुलिन्थ्यो। ...... गृह मन्त्रालय अन्तर्गतकै उद्धार तथा राहत व्यवस्थापन समितिले पनि भूकम्पछि अपेक्षाकृत भूमिका खेल्न सकेको देखिएन। सेना र सशस्त्र प्रहरीसँग भएको उद्धार टोली सामान्य खालको मात्र हो। शहरी संरचना भत्किएर हुने विपद्का बेला यी टोलीले राम्ररी काम गर्न सक्दैनन्। स्रोत साधन र प्रविधि त अपर्याप्त नै छ। त्यसका बाबजुद् उनीहरुले राम्रै काम गरे। १सय २८ घण्टापछि पनि जीवित उद्धार गर्न सफल भए। उद्धारको ’अपरेसन’ सीमित ठाउँमा मात्र भयो। सबैतिर फैलिएर उद्धार गरेको भए झन राम्रो हुन्थ्यो। ........ राहत सामग्री प्रमुख जिल्ला अधिकारीको मातहतमा थन्किएको खबर आइरहेको छ। ...... प्रहरीले आफ्नै तरिकाले, सेनाले आफ्नै तरिकाले, सशस्त्रले आफ्नै तरिकाले सूचना सार्वजनिक गरिरहेका छन्। विदेशी मिडियामा सूचना प्रवाहित गर्दा पनि निश्चित मापदण्ड बनाउनु पर्छ। त्यसैगरी जनतालाई सरकारले गरिरहेका काम र आगामी योजनाका बारे पनि सूचना प्रवाह गर्नुपर्छ। ....... चीनको सिचुवान प्रान्तमा आएको सन् २००८ मे १२ को भूकम्पको तीन वर्ष नबित्दै उनीहरुले सबै संरचना पूनर्निमाण गरी त्यहाँका जनताको आर्थिक अवस्था अन्य प्रान्तका जनताको बराबर बनाएका छन्। जापान लगायतका देशले पनि प्राकृतिक विपत्तिपछि नै आर्थिक पूनर्जिवन पाएका उदाहरण छन्।

हेटी ले सिकाउने: घुस खाने कि तलब खाने?



Hello, Jajarkot! No worries. I’ve sent doctors and drugs. They’ll arrive in a couple of years!

How not to rebuild Nepal
Last Saturday, I watched with the rest of the world as images emerged in the wake of Nepal’s violent earthquake: the dusty faces of survivors, bloodied bodies, the ruined historic buildings. It reminded me of the devastation I witnessed after the earthquake in my homeland, Haiti, five years ago — and it made me worry about what will come next in Nepal.......... I hope that they will be able to avoid the grave mistakes made by Haitians and by the well-intentioned donors who came to our aid. ..... here were two disasters in Haiti: the earthquake, and then the humanitarian crisis that followed. More than $10 billion in foreign aid still hasn’t enabled our country to recover from this disaster. ...... Most aid projects in Haiti promised “community participation,” yet most failed to truly include local people. What happened with housing provides a clear example. Many aid groups insisted on moving earthquake survivors who were living under tarps into “transitional shelters.” They ignored the objections of Haitians, who feared the flimsy plywood structures — prone to leaks and collapse — would become their permanent homes. Aid groups spent more than $500 million on these transitional shelters,” but have built less than 9,000 new long-term houses. Tragically, yesterday’s “temporary” shelters have become today’s permanent slums. ........ Many aid groups sent well-meaning but barely trained volunteers and deployed foreign doctors and nurses to areas where skilled Haitian professionals were readily available. Of every dollar given to the earthquake response in Haiti, less than a penny went to Haitian organizations........ If these funds had supported local people and organizations, the money would have gone much further. ........ Most aid after the earthquake focused on the short term, often ignoring long-term needs, especially infrastructure needed to prevent humanitarian crises in the future. My country is still struggling to contain the largest modern outbreak of cholera in history. The disease is thought to have been introduced by United Nations peacekeeping forces after the 2010 earthquake, but the crisis does not end there. This epidemic has continued largely because relief funds have unfortunately not been used to help Haiti build sufficient sewage systems. ............ Though coordinating aid seems like the most obvious thing to do, it didn’t happen in Haiti. Many aid groups clamored to support high-profile projects, which resulted in wasteful redundancies in some areas while allowing people in less well-known places to languish. Lack of accountability about foreign aid was the rule, with donors and Haitians receiving little news about how this aid was being spent.
हेटी २०१० बाट नेपाल ले सिक्नुपर्ने छ। सब भन्दा गड़बड़ गर्ने धनी देश हरु नै देखिए त्यहाँ। मेरो विचारमा समस्याको समाधान 100% Online Transparency नै हो। समस्याको समाधान बामे ले भने जस्तो सबै पैसा प्रधान मंत्री राहत कोष मा राख्ने भन्ने होइन। त्यसो गर्दा के हुन्छ नेपालको बच्चा बच्चा लाई थाहा छ। सबको मालुम है।



Media lessons for Nepal from Haiti: Don’t let outsiders seize control of the narrative
Expressions like ‘fragile state’ and ‘among the poorest nations’ were used by foreign powers to take control of the disaster response in Haiti in 2010. Nepal shouldn’t allow the same mistake. ...... each disaster has its own context, its survivors and citizens as first responders their own cultural understandings and priorities. Local people need to be in charge of the response. ..... At 4.53 pm on January 12, 2010, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude struck outside Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. The damage was unimaginable: an estimated 230,000 people died and equal numbers were injured. Over half the housing in the capital was seriously damaged; 105,000 houses were completely destroyed and 188,383 houses badly damaged, requiring repair. An estimated 1.5 million people lost their homes and stayed in makeshift Internally Displaced Persons camps. Though some of these numbers were subsequently contested, the Haiti earthquake became a transnational event because of foreign media coverage. For weeks it dominated the airwaves and cyberspace. ...... In the first week, private US citizens contributed $275 million, mostly to large NGOs like the Red Cross. ..... Sixty per cent of American households and over 80% of African-American families donated to the Haiti quake response, despite feeling the pinch from the global financial crisis. Worldwide, individuals donated $3.02 billion. ........ In the US, media stories abounded of first-time mission trips, almost invariably to celebrate the hometown heroes. Many of these narratives extolled Haitian people’s spirituality and resilience, at times to justify less aid. The returning heroes, now newly-minted experts, spoke about the virtues of Christianity, of capitalist development, public health and hygiene, and limited representative democracy – all markers of assumed cultural and racial superiority. The collective residues of these stories justified, and naturalised, foreign control of the country. ........ The New York Times columnist David Brooks, for instance, argued that Haitian culture was resistant to progress. ..... After the earthquake, the familiar language of Haiti being a “fragile” or “failed” state, which is among “the poorest in the hemisphere”, served to justify the need for foreign intervention as well as a convenient explanation for the limited progress of this intervention. ....... By focusing on “deficient” local cultural practices, social systems and institutions, the foreign media diverted attention from how foreign policies had played a role in amplifying the quake’s destructiveness. In processes similar to Mumbai, the population of Port-au-Prince had quadrupled after the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and United States Agency for International Development began promoting neoliberal economic policies there. Coupled with the erosion of state capacity, neoliberalism contributed to Haiti’s “vulnerability” to the disaster. ..... Haiti-as-a-failed-state is within the frame, while foreign imposed neoliberalism is outside. Similarly, heroic acts of foreigners are highlighted, whereas Haitian people are outside the frame, dehumanised and infantilised. ....... First, the discourse of a “weak state” served to justify foreign control of the process and near-total exclusion of Haitian people from it. Second, this exclusion, having roots in framing Haitian people out of the story and tropes of dehumanisation, led to practices and relationships wherein

aid recipients felt treated like animals

. Third, the disaster response was greatly influenced by the “photo op”, prioritising high-visibility and high-cost “solutions” at the expense of those more sustainable. Finally, a “blame game” led to increasingly severe responses, including increasingly violent forced evictions.