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Nepal: Post Distribution Monitoring Survey (May 2022)

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Nepal
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IFRC
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SECTION A. Introduction

Description of disaster

Nepal faces floods and landslides due to extreme rainfall normally from June till September every year. According to Nepal Disaster Report (2019), more than 10,000 families are affected by the floods and landslides annually, leaving many people homeless who faces various challenges to cope with the situation along with managing immediate humanitarian needs with their own capacity. During monsoon season of 2021 (June-September), floods and landslides affected 72 districts across the country mainly in Terai and hilly regions. The subsequent impact on lives and livelihood of the people, on agricultural products, physical properties and infrastructure was tremendous which was further exacerbated by the sudden outpour of rainfall in late October. According to the data of the Ministry of Home Affairs, between June to 27 October 2021, 673 people have lost their lives, 69 people are missing and 181 people are injured due to the water-induced disaster.

In the last week of August 2021, rainfall intensified for at least four consecutive days, with many rivers crossing warning levels, causing widespread inundation in many parts of the southern plains and reported incidents of landslides in the hilly region. As a result of this incessant rainfall, 11 districts (Myagdi, Rupandehi, Dang, Darchula, Sindhuli, Nawalparasi East, Nawalparasi West, Kanchanpur, Kailali, Udayapur and Mahottari) and 4,899 families were affected, including 2,129 who were temporarily displaced.

Again, in October, there had been intensified rainfall for at least five consecutive days starting from 17 October 2021. According to initial assessments by the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), 17 districts (Baitadi, Bajhang, Dhankuta, Kalikot, Doti, Dadeldhura, Bajhang, Kailali, Ilam, Udaypur, Humla, Mugu, Darchula, Pachthar, Sunsari, Bhojpur and Kanchanpur) and 5,415 families were affected, 3,385 families were displaced and 2,237 houses were fully damaged as a result of this incessant rainfall. Ministry of Home Affairs reported that there were 101 fatalities, 41 missing and 40 injury cases. The unforeseen and continuous rainfall not only affected families and their houses but also their livelihood as there were reports of 60-80 % of harvest loss. The disaster also affected pace of relief responses as many districts were unable to report the situation because of damage to road sections and interruptions to electricity, telephone and internet connection

Disaster impacts in communities

The floods and landslides in different parts of the nation displaced many households either temporarily or permanently. The displaced population took shelter in the schools, community centres, relative’s homes and some in temporary shelters. During the immediate post-disaster period, there was a critical need in terms of shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), livelihood, protection, health concern mainly due to risk of water-borne and vector-borne disease outbreak and COVID-19 transmission. Apart from damaging houses, the floods and landslides damaged infrastructures such as roads, markets, and agricultural lands, livestock and crops. The shelter items remained the priority needs for the displaced population followed by food and WASH needs. There was also a need to incorporate Protection, Gender and Inclusion (PGI) considerations to prioritize the vulnerable people for relief support such as for children, pregnant women, elderly people, people with long-term illness, people with disability and other people from other marginalized groups. This challenging situation was further aggravated by the risk of COVID19 transmission and spread because of affected groups of people coming together for temporary shelter.

Role of NRCS in relief operation

NRCS has been playing a critical role in providing quick response to the disaster affected population in the affected districts. It has prepared its monsoon preparedness and response plan which is in line with the government’s plan. Immediately after the onset of floods and landslides, NRCS was engaged in rendering relief services to the affected population through the provision of shelter items, hygiene items, cash grants, other non-food items (Figure 1) and health related activities. NRCS District Chapters and sub-chapters have been working closely in coordination with respective local government, security forces and other humanitarian agencies in the support provision.

In response to the disaster in August and October 2021, NRCS deployed 486 trained volunteers on the ground to provide various immediate response like carrying out initial rapid assessment followed by detail assessment in 13 districts (Darchula, Kanchanpur, Rupandehi, Nawarparasi East, Nawalparasi West, Kaski, Parbat, Myagdi, Sindhuli, Mahottari, Kalikot, Ilam and Panchthar), search and rescue, first aid, evacuation and immediate relief as needed. NRCS delivered and distributed relief assistance (in-kind and cash) in the disaster affected populations. Non-food relief items (NFRI) sets were distributed promptly during emergencies through different warehouses located at different parts of country. The NRCS District Chapters worked together with local authorities to carry out assessment and relief distribution along with supporting communities to be safe and prepared for the disaster in the future.

Considering the scale of the disaster, CHF 395, 609 was allocated by IFRC from Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to support NRCS to deliver relief services to the affected population.

Objectives of the survey

In this context, immediately after completion of relief activities, NRCS conducted Post Distribution Monitoring Survey.

The Post Distribution Monitoring Survey (PDMS) aimed to provide key lessons learned, mainly in terms of relevance/quality, timeliness, effectiveness of the relief operations carried out by NRCS and recommendations for future relief operations in Nepal and elsewhere.

The survey also intended to collect quantitative and qualitative data, conduct timeline survey and analyze the data from the beneficiaries/stakeholders in terms of timeliness of relief services, relevance/quality of relief services and beneficiary satisfaction in relation to the distribution of relief items.