Missing millions: Nepal’s earthquake struck population is still waiting for help

Two years ago, Nepal, one of the world’s poorest countries where a quarter of the population live on less than half a dollar a day, was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, with a massive aftershock just weeks later.

The earthquake on 25 April 2015 and its aftershock killed almost 9000 people, injured about 20 000, and left more than four million people homeless.1 It also damaged almost 1200 health facilities and 8300 schools in a country that already had poor health services and infrastructure. (Nepal had 2.1 doctors for every 10 000 people in 2000-10, compared with 27.4 in the UK, according to the World Health Organization.2)

Within two months of the disaster, donors, including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), had pledged $3.43bn (£2.6bn; €3bn) for earthquake relief.

But to date Nepal has received only $2.81bn, and the official reconstruction process has languished. Some donors—including Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Turkey, which promised $500 000, $1m, and $2m respectively—are yet to pay up and may permanently renege on their commitment.

Meanwhile, millions of Nepalese people are still living in temporary shelters. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other non-governmental organisations estimate that up to four million people are still homeless, having endured two harsh winters and monsoons since the earthquake.