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“...Disaster Governance and Challenges in a Rural Nepali Community:
Notes from Future Village NGO
Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by Osaka University for this research project.
Furthermore^ we gratefully appreciate government officials; NGOs workers; scholars to share their disaster
relief and recovery experiences with us. Finally we are very grateful to the many villagers in our research area
who shared their views on; and experiences of; hope and hopelessness in post-earthquake time.
This perspectives is available in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies:
http:/ / digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss2/11...”
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Page 7
“...mentioned that they did not have sufficient knowledge to
build earthquake-resilient houses.
Government: "NGO Fund is Also a Government Fund"
The direct involvement of NGOs and INGOs in housing
reconstruction is very rare. Most NGOs and INGOs in
Nepal have allocated their funds to public infrastructure,
masonry and carpentry training programs, and livelihood
improvement activities. This dilemma was prevalent
among NGOs, and in fact, in February 2016 the NRA
requested that NGOs and INGOs not provide financial assis-
tance or building materials directly to villagers because
such organizations could not comply with building codes.
Later, the NRA clarified that NGOs/ INGOs were welcome
to become involved in the house rebuilding sector with the
understanding that the one-door system meant they must
obtain approval from the NRA and sign a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Nepal
prior to becoming involved. In addition, NGOs were told
that their housing projects should cover one defined...”
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“...concerned about
handing over donations to the government. The NGO
officer pointed out that safe shelter for affected villagers
should be the top priority, but it was difficult to deal with
the bureaucracy. Finally, the decision was made to allocate
funding to less controversial reconstruction sectors, such
as education, health and water facilities. Five months later,
the officer told us that the MoU with the Nepali govern-
ment was finally signed. According to the MoU, the NGO
would provide financial support to 8,000 households in
four districts to rebuild their houses and the government
had the right to decide the beneficiaries and oversee
grant disbursement.
Under the equality principle, these 8,000 households would
receive the same housing grant amount as other earth-
quake-affected households. The NGO was also responsible
for providing the masonry and carpentry training for
villagers. The officer admitted the agreement was not
perfect. First, the NGO lost the authority to decide who...”
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Page 9
“...in
the region. The NGO even contacted the schoolteachers
to request they terminate the rebuild project with us by
offering them ‘better deals’ (meaning that no financial
or in-kind contribution from locals would be necessary).
Consequently, we stopped the project and removed all
building materials. As a local and volunteer-based NGO,
we did not have enough human resources to look for a
new beneficial school. This story illustrates that if better
coordination existed among NGOs, we could distribute
resources wisely and widely so that more schools could be
benefited faster.
The sustainability of the top-down reconstruction
approach has been a serious concern. In our two-year
observation, the coordination between the State, the NGOs
and INGOs, as well as local communities, has been very
limited. Instead of simply offering financial resources in
an efficient way, we believe that good governance and
effective coordination will determine whether Nepal can
be rebuild. Our NGO experience in po...”
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Page 13
“...such as National
Vice President of Stonewall Japan, Vice Chair of Foreign
Citizens'City Council atToyonaka (Osaka), and Global
Ambassador of the University of Tokyo.
Rob Kuipers is an undergraduate student at the School of
Human Sciences of Osaka University, Japan. He recently
completed fieldwork on education in post-disaster Nepal
and is a part of The Chance Initiative by Future Village, a
Japanese NGO.
The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided
by Osaka University for this research project Furthermore, they
gratefully appreciate government officials, NGO workers, and
scholars who shared their disaster relief and recovery experiences.
Finally, the authors are very grateful to the many villagers in the
research area who shared their views on, and experiences of, hope
and hopelessness in post-earthquake time.
Endnotes
1. On March 10, 2017, the Nepali government has adopted
a 744 local body system, fulfilling the requirement...”
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