Prague, Kathmandu (April 25th, 2015) – Czech humanitarian NGO People in Need has started a public appeal SOS NEPAL to provide help for the victims of earthquake in Nepal. Up to 1.000.000 CZK (approx. 36 000 EUR) will be released from the humanitarian fund „Club of Friends of People in Need“ and three members of an emergency team are being dispatched to Nepal to distribute aid among the afflicted people.
The most destructive earthquake in Nepal in more than 80 years reached 7,8 points on the Richter scale and its epicenter was in the central part of the country. The earthquake has already caused more than 2000 deaths, thousands of wounded and destroyed hundreds of houses. Emergency teams are still trying to get into the most afflicted areas and local authorities are afraid that many more victims are still under the ruins.
Because of damaged communication lines, there is a lack of information from the areas around epicenter such as Gorka or Lamjung. „I spoke with my relatives in Gorka and they told me that many houses in three closest villages are destroyed,“ says Sudip Joshi, People in Need’s program manager in Afghanistan, whose family is from Nepal. „Nobody knows the exact number of victims, because many remote villages are inaccessible,“ adds Sudip, who is a member of People in Need’s emergency team.
Medical aid, food and water are most important
Our team will assess the extent of damage, acute needs of local population and provide immediate assistance to the most vulnerable people. “We will focus on the Gorka area around the epicenter. It is crucial to quickly deliver medical aid, food and water. After the immediate assistance, we will focus on reconstruction of damaged and destroyed houses,” says Marek Stys, director of humanitarian programs of People in Need.
“We will coordinate with our partner organizations Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide from the Alliance2015 platform, who are also sending their teams,” adds Marek Stys. “There will be heavy monsoon rains in a few weeks. This will further complicate the situation of affected people. We have to provide aid as soon as possible,” says Simon Panek, director of People in Need. “We ask everyone for immediate help and solidarity with Nepal,” adds Panek.
For more information, please contact:
Marek Stys, director of humanitarian programmes of People in Need
tel. +420 777 053 522, mail: marek.stys@peopleinneed.cz
Autor: Petr Štefan
You can help by contribution to our account SOS NEPAL Account no. 54333345/0300 IBAN: CZ8803000000000054333345