Nepal Earthquake Situation Update (26 February 2016)

Situation Overview

• According to the Government of Nepal, close to 9,000 fatalities resulted from the 25 April and 12 May 2015 earthquakes that destroyed 602,592 and damaged 284,482 houses.

• In the six months following the 25 April earthquake, the overall humanitarian situation in Nepal is reported to be improved. The frequency of aftershocks decreased, and the country slowly began to move towards recovery and reconstruction. However, a number of factors led to the need for the extension of the Logistics Cluster’s phase-out date from 31 December 2015 to 30 April 2016. Factors included:

• Fuel crisis: The Shortage of fuel and essential commodities in the country, since the end of September, negatively affected the activities of the whole humanitarian community. Many organisations continued to access the Logistics Cluster service facilities through the critical winter months of January and February, as the fuel crisis had delayed their winterisation aid distributions.

• Winterisation plans: The Logistics Cluster services proved to be crucial in supporting organisations to provide relief items to the earthquake-affected people, so that they could better withstand cold winter weather;

• Border crossing: The volatile security situation in the south of the country hampered the movement of trucks across the border with India. The uncertainty of the situation required constant monitoring and guidance from the Logistics Cluster.

• There is no need for further extending the Logistics Cluster operation in Nepal after the current extension date – 30 April 2016:

• The organisations winterisation plans will be completed by the end of February;

• The number of service requests has decreased since January;

• Birgunj border point reopened on 5 February and the fuel situation in the country has resumed as normal. The number of requests for fuel from the organisations has decreased to less than three requests per week.