Rahat-Sahayog (relief support): examining disaster emergency response in the aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake 2015
Disaster Prevention and Management
ISSN: 0965-3562
Article publication date: 25 October 2022
Issue publication date: 11 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to critically examine the post-disaster emergency response amongst marginalised and disadvantaged social groups following the 2015 Nepal Earthquake (7.8 Mw).
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research method was employed by conducting interviews with disaster survivors from marginalised and ethnic social groups, humanitarian aid workers and government officials in the four districts worst hit by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.
Findings
This research found that community members demonstrated remarkable cooperation in the aftermath of the disaster; however, caste-based discrimination still manifested in post-earthquake emergency environments. Further, this research showed that the engagement of government and local and international humanitarian organisations was noteworthy in the earthquake emergency response in Nepal as it localised relief packages and adapted the assistance corresponding to the fast-changing post-disaster environments. However, some relief materials were culturally inappropriate and climatically unsuitable. This paper also shows that the poor dissemination of relief distribution plans, resource duplication and ineffective targeting disproportionately impacted the oppressed and marginalised households in receiving humanitarian assistance.
Originality/value
Studies have been undertaken on the emergency response to the 2015 Nepal Earthquake, however, few have focussed on the lived experience of marginalised and disadvantaged social groups. Further, this research builds on, and contributes to, the humanitarian mobile sovereignty discourse.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mr Niraj Bal Tamang (The University of Auckland) for generating the research locations map used in this paper. Similarly, the authors would like to express sincere thanks to the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments which greatly improved the quality of this paper. The field research was supported by the Faculty of Arts Doctoral Research Fund (The University of Auckland) and Postgraduate Field Research Awards (MFAT/DevNet): all awarded to the first author (J. Karki). The larger doctoral study of the first author also benefitted from the partial scholarship awarded by United Mission to Nepal. The funding institutions had no involvement in either research design or in the writing of this paper, and the views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the position of the funders.
Citation
Karki, J., Matthewman, S. and Grayman, J.H. (2022), "
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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