On April 25th, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal – the strongest earthquake to hit the country since 1934. An estimated 8.1 million people were affected across the country. Emergency aid poured in from the national government, international aid agencies, and local organizations. And yet, the voices of affected communities were not taken seriously and their complaints were not considered a high priority for the organizations responding to the crisis. In general, communities did not get timely or appropriate information, people were not able to provide feedback properly, and when they did manage to give feedback, no one responded. At the time, I was working in the humanitarian response for an INGO and I watched as community needs were ignored and feedback requests were completely disregarded.
Amid this crisis, I also watched as political elites misused funding intended to rebuild a school. I saw the school management committee, who was motivated by personal financial gains, cut corners, and use low-quality materials and disregard building codes. Local community members complained about the committee’s misuse of power and authority, but their voices were ignored. A few months after the school construction was completed, there were visible cracks in and damage to the building. The children were unable to use the newly constructed classrooms – all because of greed, power, and corruption that went unheard and unchecked.
Why do we not learn?
Five years after the earthquake, I am still surprised that accountability to communities is still not a priority for those providing interventions. Stories like the one of the school are commonplace, and so even with all of the post-earthquake investment, communities in Nepal have not been able to recover. Five years later, a huge number of affected people are still living in terrible conditions.
This blog is part of CDA’s From Where I Stand series, designed to listen to people most affected by aid as they explore and amplify their leadership experiences, stories, and lessons for the aid sector.
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