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“...HIMALAYA, the Journal of the
Association for Nepal and
Himalayan Studies
Volume 37 | Number 2
Article 11
December 2017
Disaster Governance and Challenges in a Rural
Nepali Community: Notes from Future Village
NGO
Lai Ming Lam
Osaka University, christieJaiJam@gmail.com
Varun Khanna
Osaka University, varun.osakauni@gmail.com
Rob Kuipers
Osaka University, rob_kuipers@icloud.com
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya
Recommended Citation
Lam, Lai Ming; Khanna, Varun; and Kuipers, Rob (2017) "Disaster Governance and Challenges in a Rural Nepali Community: Notes
from Future Village NGO," HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies: Vol. 37 : No. 2, Article 11.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss2/11
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Macalester College
This Perspectives is brought to you for free and open access by the
DigitalCommons(2)Macalester College...”
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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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“...in reconstruction, which helped us to
gain insight into broader perspectives on the
community or family-level realities that hinder
rebuilding and community revitalization. We
conclude that by mobilizing earthquake victims,
it is possible to rebuild houses and revitalize
communities. Conversely, little progress can be
expected in Nepal's rebuilding as long as poor
governance and poor coordination between
major reconstruction actors prevails.
Keywords: Nepal earthquake, post-disaster relief and recovery,
governance, NGOs, reconstruction.
HIMALAYA Volume37,Number2 75...”
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“...double crisis. High transportation costs also limited recon-
struction progress as much reconstruction work had to be
suspended. Facing the increasing social turmoil and politi-
cal uncertainty, many NGOs decided to finish their disaster
relief work in Nepal earlier by December 2015 and gave up
the long-term recovery and reconstruction projects.
Little Gets Done Without a Reconstruction Policy
Effective reconstruction policy must go hand in hand with
good governance, which has been clearly discussed in the
literature on disaster governance. Empirical examples
indicate that effective coordination between the State and
NGOs helps to overcome the relief and recovery challenges
to those resource-poor countries (e.g. the earthquake in
Turkey on August 17,1999). Civil society’s involvement
strengthens the community’s resilience to future disasters
(e.g. the earthquakes in Sichuan on May 12, 2008 and on
April 20, 2013). Disasters can also transform the society on
multiple levels. For instance, the...”
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“...if the rebuilding work is
slow. They conclude that, in contrast with a state where
power is centralized, the coordinated relationship between
key stakeholders, including the state, local NGOs, interna-
tional non-governmental organizations (iNGOs), and local
communities, is the key to better recovery. They argue the
role of the state is to create mechanisms for disaster-af-
fected communities to self-recover by reinforcing their
local knowledge and community resources.
Nepal has faced many governance challenges in the
post-disaster period. Political dysfunction resulted in a
serious delay in the establishment of a reconstruction
authority. During the Donor Conference in June 2015, the
Nepali government promised to establish the National
Reconstruction Authority (NRA). This authority was
supposed to oversee all reconstruction work includ-
ing eligibility assessment, project approval and policy
implementation. It was also responsible for coordinat-
ing, guiding and supporting the activities...”
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“...The NRA has encouraged NGOs and INGOs to deposit
funds for private house reconstruction in the NRA’s
Reconstruction Fund. During interviews, high-ranking gov-
ernment officials pointed out that the one-door system is
necessary to avoid poor NGO governance in the post-earth-
quake context. While the number of NGOs and INGOs in
Nepal has increased dramatically in the past three decades,
their governance has long been questioned due to their
lack of transparency in the monitoring and evaluation of
project expenses and of their general activities (Dhakal
2007). This explains why the guideline requires at least 80%
of an organization’s total project budget to be allocated to
project activities, not staff salaries and traveling expenses,
which is fair. However, this attempt to avoid corruption
and mismanagement in NGOs has resulted in many NGOs
simply giving up on their house rebuilding plans, or allo-
cating funds to other recovery activities. It is estimated
that less than 2% of the rebuilding...”
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“...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 post-disaster recon-
struction clearly demonstrates that there is reason hope
for revitalization as well as immense hopelessness.
Hope and Hopelessness: Future Village Housing
Reconstruction Experiences
The earthquake caused extensive damage in the rural vil-
lages outside of Kathmandu, and the Future Village project
area was no exception. All the houses had collapsed, and
some people were killed....”
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“...well into the
future. We talk about equality in rebuilding, but not about
justice for the most vulnerable. These man-made aspects
of the disaster that hinder revitalization of communities
after natural calamities can only be resolved when all
social institutions work together cohesively to create a
better human society. By mobilizing earthquake victims,
it is possible to rebuild houses and revitalize communities;
conversely, little progress to rebuild Nepal can be made so
long as both poor governance, and poor or no coordination
between major reconstruction actors, prevail.
Postscript
After two years, the reconstruction process remains
onerous. Out of the 750 affected national heritage sites,
the NRA has completed the reconstruction of 20, while
132 are still under construction. In the private housing
sector, 554,996 households (86% of eligible households)
have received their first reconstruction installment, 14,466
households have been verified for their second install-
ment, and 595 ...”
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“...Community Response. Mercatus Policy Series, Policy Comment
No. 22. (Accessed
on September 2, 2016).
Chamlee-Wright, Emily and Daniel M. Rothschild. 2007.
Disastrous Uncertainty: How Government Disaster Policy
Undermines Community Rebound. Mercatus Policy Series,
Mercatus Center, George Mason University, No. 9. (Accessed on September 2,
2016).
Dhakal, Tek. Nath. 2007. Challenges of Civil Society
Governance in Nepal. Journal of Administration and Governance
2(1): 61-73
(Accessed on November 2, 2016).
Jaiswal, Pramod. ed. 2016. Constitution of Nepal: Evolution,
Development and Debates. New Delhi: G.B. Books.
Jalai, Rita. 2002. Civil Society and the State: Turkey After the
Earthquake. Disasters 26 (3): 120-139.
HRRP. 2017. Nepal Earthquake 2015: Housing Reconstruction
Two Years On. Housing Recovery and Reconstruction
Platform. Version 1.
National Planning Commission. 2015. Post Disaster...”
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