Education must remain top priority in Nepals recovery

GLOBAL children’s charity Plan International UK is urging the international community to continue supporting Nepal in its recovery following the earthquake two years ago.

The earthquake on 25 April 2015 reached a magnitude of 7.8, killing nearly 9,000 people and wiping out around 900,000 homes. Education across the country also ground to a halt with 8,000 schools destroyed or damaged.

At the time of the crisis, Plan International responded immediately by providing life-saving shelter, food and water to nearly 300,000 people. Since then, the charity has helped 24,000 school children access a quality education by building more than 300 temporary schools.

Tanya Barron, chief executive of Plan International UK, was in Nepal at the time of the earthquake, she said: “So far, Plan International has built 12 new permanent schools in Nepal, with a further 10 currently being built. This means that thousands of students will have a quality education, all thanks to generous donations from the public.

“Progress has been slow, and while families are starting to get their lives back on track, the sheer scale of the disaster has meant that Nepal’s recovery will take time and is far from complete.

“We’re now urging the international community to not forget Nepal, and to continue supporting development work happening here.”

Along with building schools, Plan International is rebuilding water points, supporting the construction of safer shelters and providing families, particularly women, with access to longer-term employment.

Sven Coppens, Country Director for Plan International, said: “The affected areas are geographically very difficult environments to work in and we must rebuild in a careful and disaster-proof manner. This, among other factors, is why progress has been slower than expected.”

To find out more about Plan International UK’s work in Nepal, visit: www.plan-uk.org/emergencies/nepal-earthquake