“I was doing some mud work on the outer walls of the house when suddenly the house started shaking. I quickly ran inside to grab my 11-month old son, but I just couldn't find him. I panicked. Finally I found him playing under the bed. We both managed to get out of the house just in time before it came crumbling down,” said 23-year old Lalmati Saud, resident of Bajura, Nepal.
The crisis
On 3 October 2023, at 2:40 p.m. Nepal time, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Bajhang District in the Far Western Sudurpaschim province of Nepal. Thirty minutes later, a stronger earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck the same district and thereafter 10 other strong aftershocks followed. The tremors were felt in various parts of Nepal, including in Bajura, Doti and other neighboring districts in the far-west, and in India. On 7 October, there was another aftershock of 5.3 magnitude on the Richter scale, bringing the total number of aftershocks to 15 which fully and partially destroyed over 9500 houses forcing close to 80,000 people to spend several nights in open spaces.
The region is still recovering from the Doti earthquake (6.6 magnitude) that struck on 9 November 2022 and thereafter the Bajura earthquake of January 2023, with hundreds of damaged houses yet to be reconstructed. The prevalence of Chhaupadi (a harmful practice where women and girls are forced to sleep in small huts or animal sheds during menstruation and immediately after childbirth) added greater concern in maintaining menstruation and personal hygiene.
UNFPA’s response
In coordination with the government authorities, UNFPA immediately distributed prepositioned dignity kits and kishori (adolescent) kits reaching 2061 women and 471 girls in the two most affected districts in the province, Bajhang and Bajura. Each kit contains essential hygiene supplies such as soap and sanitary pads.
“Our prepositioned stock of supplies and our core funding makes it possible for us to be on the ground within 48 hours of an emergency. It is these resources that help us immediately transport medical and hygiene supplies that are essential for women and girls in emergency settings. It also enables us to promptly deploy our staff and partners so we can reach communities even in the most mountainous parts of Nepal. Our swift response using core resources also allows us to better position ourselves which helps us in our resource mobilization efforts to intensify our humanitarian response" said Won Young Hong, Representative of UNFPA Nepal.
With health systems disrupted due to damages to the 17 health posts with birthing centres, the main district hospitals were overwhelmed, with health personnel often seen working outdoors in fear of recurring tremors. The estimated 800 pregnant women who would give birth in the following month could likely face unimaginable challenges in accessing the medical care needed to deliver their babies safely.
Drawing from core resources, UNFPA set up two temporary mobile health tents to ensure women and girls can continue to receive uninterrupted essential sexual and reproductive health services.
UNFPA’s stock of Reproductive Health Kits (IARH) which contain essential medications to treat sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive tract infections; post-rape treatment and supplies to ensure safe delivery of babies and newborn care were also dispatched to the main district hospitals and health posts in Bajhang and Bajura, to serve 80,000 people over a period of three months in each location.
Climate-vulnerable future
“I vividly remember sitting at my desk when the earthquake struck,” says Dhan Lamsal, UNFPA District Coordinator in Bajhang “I ran out dragging everyone else with me. No one else had been trained in earthquake preparedness or response so they took things lightly. But I knew we had to get out of the building! I immediately contacted the office and took off to start helping those around me. For the next few weeks I was 100% with the affected people - day in and day out. I saw the trauma they were going through. Beyond physical support, they needed emotional and psychological support,” adds Lamsal.
As UNFPA continued to work with key partners on the ground over the next few weeks, providing medical consultations, prenatal and postnatal check-ups and gender-based violence prevention and response services through core resources, community psychosocial counselors were also mobilized to ensure communities received psychosocial first aid in both districts. Periodic training programmes were also held for government officials and health service providers on integrating the Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP) for sexual and reproductive health in crisis situations into their district disaster preparedness and response plans so the country is better prepared to face future natural hazards, given the climate-vulnerability of Nepal.
The frequency of earthquakes in Nepal continues to intensify, taking a toll on people, especially women, girls, older persons and other vulnerable groups who are forcibly uprooted from their own homes. Through core resources and donor support, UNFPA continues to stand ready to assist communities affected by humanitarian crises by providing access to essential sexual and reproductive health services and protection against gender-based violence while strengthening the resilience of the people of Nepal.
