UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) has contributed £3 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) which allows WFP to continue supporting the Government of Nepal in ensuring stronger emergency preparedness, and faster, more integrated logistics responses to disasters in the country.
This contribution will lay the foundations for effective future emergency response, by ensuring relief items can be dispatched swiftly during a crisis through a network of forward logistics bases set up in strategic points around the country, allowing delivery by road and air.
WFP Representative and Country Director, Pippa Bradford said, “Quick response was possible thanks to the DFID-funded Kathmandu Humanitarian Staging Area, which was critical in enabling humanitarian responders to swiftly transport relief supplies to earthquake-affected communities in 2015. But more must be done to equip responders with the resources and skills needed to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively – this has been shown in the earthquakes and also in the 2017 floods.”
Head of DFID Nepal, Dr Rurik Marsden said, “Investing in emergency preparedness ahead of disasters can save time and lives. We have worked in close partnership with the Government of Nepal and WFP, through our disaster resilience programme, to send help to those who need it the most – even more quickly.
Ensuring common and up to date operational data will also ensure that all responders are on the same page in a crisis and can access information on topography, mountain trails and transport infrastructure to map out where their relief needs to go and how to get it there.
WFP has worked in close partnership with the Government of Nepal, donors including DFID, and the humanitarian community to strengthen Nepal’s emergency preparedness and response capacities so that when the next disaster strikes, the government and its partners are better equipped to respond.
