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Highlights
In 2022, Nepal experienced the third wave of the COVID-19, resulting in over 425 reported COVID- 19 related deaths in the year. The total COVID-19 tally reached slightly over 1 million (with 87,969 people under the age of 20) with 988,951 recoveries and 12,019 fatalities as of 31 December 2022.
Over 53.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered by the Government of Nepal (GoN) covering around 99 per cent of the target population (above 12 years of age) with the first dose and around 95 per cent with full doses as of 31 December. Starting from June 2022, around 8,395,200 doses of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines were also administered to children aged 5-11 years, covering 92 per cent of children with first dose and 82 per cent with two doses, by end of December. The vaccines were received from COVAX facility and UNICEF continued to support GoN in COVID-19 vaccination programme.
UNICEF supported learning continuity of 257,173 children (51 per cent girls) impacted by the pandemic and monsoon through access to formal and non-formal education as well as accelerated learning. Over 5,720 flood- and landslide-affected children benefited from self-learning materials.
UNICEF, in collaboration with governments and partners, responded to COVID-19 and localized monsoon disasters as well as the 6.6 magnitude earthquake of November in far-western region, through life-saving humanitarian emergency response in over 23 districts.
Overall, UNICEF and partners reached 249,943 people (51 per cent females) with critical WASH supplies and services, during COVID, monsoon, earthquake and public health emergencies. UNICEF supported the government in response and preparedness actions.
Funding Overview and Partnerships
UNICEF appealed for US$27.3 million in 2022 to sustain the provisions and meet the needs of children, women and their families in Nepal, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and to respond to the natural disasters such as monsoon flooding, in line with the UNICEF Nepal Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) Appeal 2022. During 2022, UNICEF mobilized US$4.7 million, including US$0.66 million received in 2022, in addition to the US$4.09 million of carry-forward from 2021. Further, UNICEF also re-programmed around US$3.85 million of its resources, including regular resources (RR), and other donor funds, for humanitarian response. Overall, US$ 8.6 million was used to achieve results in 2022. UNICEF wishes to express its sincere gratitude to the European Union (EU)/Commission/ECHO, UNICEF’s Global Thematic Humanitarian Funds, GAVI vaccine alliance, the United States Permanent Mission, the German National Committee for UNICEF as well as USAID, UNDP/USA, British Government/FCDO, Asian Development Bank (ADB), WHO, United States Fund for UNICEF, and the Swiss National Committee for UNICEF and other donors of RR for their generous contribution to UNICEF Nepal’s humanitarian response in 2022. UNICEF is thankful for all the contributions to all donors for helping families and children in Nepal during the crisis.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The overall humanitarian and socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis in 2022 in Nepal was less than in the previous year as number of reported COVID-19 positive cases fell significantly this year. The reduced impact of COVID-19 brought in a much-needed respite for people as daily lives and businesses began to return to relatively normal, mostly after the first quarter (January-March) when the country experienced the third wave of COVID-19 fuelled by the Omicron variant. The Omicron’s unprecedented rise in daily cases at an alarming rate occurred mainly between early and late January, and thereafter Nepal continued to see a substantial decline and downward trend in the average daily reported COVID-19 cases. Overall, UNICEF’s response to COVID-19, except for vaccine support, occurred largely during the first quarter. The pandemic’s impact on the socio-economic situation lessened gradually. The UNICEF’s Child and Family Tracker (CFT) survey showed that jobs and livelihood losses fell from 60 per cent in May 2020 to six per cent in April 2022. However, the socio-economic impact of a prolonged monsoon season, public health outbreaks of cholera and dengue, coupled with an earthquake in Doti District in the far-west of the country this year, also collectively affected thousands of families, including children, resulting in compounded humanitarian needs.
By the end of 2022, the reported cumulative number of COVID-19 related deaths in Nepal reached 12,019, including 108 children.
Of these, 425 deaths were reported in 2022 (compared to 9,700 deaths reported in 2021). As of 31 December, the total number of COVID-19 cases reached slightly over 1 million (100,1000) including 87,969 children, while the cumulative recovery rate stands at 98.8 per cent with 988,951 recoveries, according to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP).
The GoN successfully carried forward the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in 2022 and UNICEF continued to provide technical, operational and logistics support to government’s vaccination efforts. Over 53.5 million doses5 of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered by the government as of 31 December, covering around 99 per cent of the target population (above 12 years of age) with the first dose and around 95 per cent with two full doses. Meanwhile, on 19 June, Nepal received over 2.2 million paediatric doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from the COVAX facility, donated by the United States Government. With this, MoHP launched the first phase of the week-long Pfizer vaccination campaign for children aged between 5 and 11 years, in the last week of June6 in 27 districts. The second phase of the campaign started in August7 covering the remaining 50 districts.
This year’s monsoon as well as the late monsoon heavy rains including the one between 4 to 11 October, triggered floods and landslides across 15 districts of mainly three provinces (Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpaschim). The prolonged monsoon season triggered disasters and claimed 1278 lives (63 females, 64 males), affecting over 2,321 households across the country. The monsoon caused massive damage to public infrastructure like schools, roads, bridges and government offices as well as impacted the agriculture sector. In late 2022, far-western Nepal was hit by earthquakes. A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck Doti District (and neighbouring areas) in Sudurpaschim Province in far-west Nepal on 9 November, and claimed six lives (four females, two males, including four children aged 8-14 years), injured eight (including 2 children) in Purbichauki Rural Municipality and affected over 7,000 families in Doti and neighbouring districts. On 12 November, another 5.4 magnitude10 earthquake hit nearby Bajhang District, with no casualties. Overall, UNICEF, in collaboration with governments (at all three levels) and partners, responded to localized monsoon disasters such as floods, landslides, and earthquake through life-saving humanitarian emergency response in over 23 districts.
Meanwhile, public health outbreaks continued to affect health systems throughout the year as Nepal experienced a surge of cholera (after June) as well as a major outbreak of dengue11 from late August. In late June, Kathmandu Valley was hit by sudden onset of cholera. There were 76 cases (three cases in under-five children) of cholera between June-October with no fatalities. On the other hand, the dengue outbreak spread to all 77 districts by the end of October. Around 54,232 cases (approximately 14 per cent children) of dengue with 67 deaths were identified12 as per MoHP/Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) update of 11 December 2022.