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Page 6
“...tion is undermined in this
post-disaster time (Chamlee-Wright and Rothschild 2007;
Chamlee-Wright and Storr 2009). Chamlee-Wright and
Storr (2009) also find that the state’s promises are often
unrealistic, which can exacerbate pessimistic expectations
among the affected communities 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...”
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Page 7
“...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 and
bounded area (such as a whole village or district). The
NRA also notified the NGOs that no reconstruction proj-
ects...”
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Page 8
“...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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Page 9
“...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 post-disaster recon-
struction clearly demonstrates that there is reason hope
for revitalization as well as immense...”
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