The international community has termed Nepal's post-quake reconstruction campaign successful and 'unprecedented event' in post-disaster management.
Speaking at the International Conference on Nepal's Reconstruction (ICNR) 2021 organised by National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and inaugurated by President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Wednesday in the Capital, they expressed satisfaction over the timely completion of the reconstruction of private houses, heritages and infrastructures damaged in the 2015 earthquake.
Meanwhile, through the conference, Nepal has sent appreciation to the supporters, donors and collaborators of the reconstruction.
Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, congratulated Nepal government and people, and said that the northern neighbour would continue support to Nepal in rehabilitating livelihood. He also pledged to enhance vaccine cooperation. However, he maintained that there would not be any political conditions for any Chinese cooperation to Nepal.
Expressing happiness over the near-completion of the reconstruction in a video message, Minister Wang said that China supported Nepal in the reconstruction of the projects like Nine-Storey Palace, Arniko Highway and Durbar High School.
Indian Minister for External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, also remembered in his video message that India started supporting Nepal government six hours after the quake struck the country.
"India will always come forward to support Nepal and its people in need. India has supported the reconstruction of about 50,000 quake-damaged houses in Nuwakot and Gorkha districts," he said.
Remarkable success
Speaking at the conference, Ambassador of the United States of America to Nepal, Randy Berry, said that his country has been helping Nepal in combating disasters and climate change. "The USA has provided support of US$240 million to Nepal after the 2015 quake," he said. According to him, Nepal has achieved a remarkable success in the post-quake reconstruction.
Neil Buhne, Regional Director for the UN Development Coordination Office, said that Nepal is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change as well as floods and landslides and expressed concerns that vulnerable people experience the major setbacks during the hard times.
Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Honda Taro, congratulated Nepal over the success of the reconstruction campaign. "This is not a small feat. Japan knows what it takes to recover and the hardships that accompany the process of reconstruction," he said.
According to him, Japan had pledged the support of US$260 million at the first edition of ICNR in June 2015. Japan has long been supporting Nepal in the field of disaster reduction and risk mitigation.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said that the European Union had supported Nepal in training the human resources for building back better and provided engineering support to the government.
Meaningful partnership
World Bank's Country Director for Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Faris H. Hadad-Zervos, said that there was a remarkable progress in reconstruction in private houses, schools, health facilities.
"This was possible through the effective partnership among the government agencies and international organisations," he said.
Vice President of the Asian Development Bank, Shixin Chen, UNICEF's Regional Director for South Asia George Laryea-Adjei, and Director General of SDC, Patricia Danzi congratulated Nepal and suggested to promote resilience in public and private construction.
The international delegates said that resilience has been built in the past six years since the devastating Gorkha Earthquake 2015. They also suggested to strengthen the local governments in terms of disaster management and relief operations.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 9 November 2021.
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