~ Robert Ingersoll (American lawyer & political leader)
Immediately after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake rocked
central Nepal on April 25th, Nepali businessman Binod Chaudhary rushed
from Chitwan National Park to back to Kathmandu. As the dust from the earthquake settled, the
full devastation of the quake became apparent. The death toll rose steadily day
by day to reach nearly 9,000 people with over 25,000 people injured. According to UN estimates, 8 million people — more than one
quarter of Nepal's population — were affected by the disaster.
In addition to being a businessman and one of the 1,500 richest people in theworld, Binod Chaudhary is also a proud Nepali who recognised that now, more
than ever, Nepal needed his support. Eight schools operated by
one of his businesses were turned into shelters and a large-scale campaign was
kicked off to distribute his company’s famed Wai Wai instant noodles and other
food, as well as juice, water and medical supplies.
Deeply affected by the earthquake and seeing first-hand its
devastating impact, Binod committed to supporting the rebuilding of 10,000
homes and 100 schools across the country. Through his Foundation, $2.5 million was
pledged to restore schools and homes destroyed or damaged by the quake. Since
that day, through its global network of businesses, the Chaudhary family have worked
tirelessly to make the Foundation a hub for private-sector donations, achieving
traction and results where the government, IGOs and NGOs have struggled or failed.
The Foundation has already been successful in building an initial 1,000
transitional bamboo-and-plaster homes and has committed to working with partners
and donors globally to construct another 9,000.
Binod’s localised approach and promise of transparency has drawn
pledges from Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and South Korean company LG
Electronics, SEEDS India, Tata Group and the PwC Foundation. The Foundation maintains an open
appeal for increased private sector support in helping to
provide homes and schools to the vulnerable.
“Our hope is that very quickly we’ll be able to find the right partners who will support us in doing jointly the 10,000-home target that we’ve set for ourselves, and hopefully much more than 100 schools that we’re planning to restore.”
“Our hope is that very quickly we’ll be able to find the right partners who will support us in doing jointly the 10,000-home target that we’ve set for ourselves, and hopefully much more than 100 schools that we’re planning to restore.”
I was introduced to the Chaudhary Family at a Nepal Round Table Discussion hosted by global professional services firm, PwC. We met to discuss
ways in which the private sector working with governments, IGOs, and NGOs could
provide resources to support the Foundation’s resilience and rebuilding efforts. Having been in Nepal during
the April and May earthquakes and having seen the scale and complexity of the
relief and rebuilding efforts required, I was inspired by his approach where
one organised locally driven effort can be more effective than many
well-intentioned disparate efforts.
I had the opportunity to visit one of the rebuilt
communities in Nepal earlier this month. I confess, I approached the visit with
mixed feelings fuelled by the negative reports in the media about the Nepal government’s
floundering reconstruction efforts amid political disturbances, partisan
fighting and stories of $4.1 billion in aid unaccounted for.
But what I found was incredibly uplifting. Through their extensive network in-country
and relationships with businesses around the world, The Chaudhary Foundation have
been successful in helping to build what are called “transitional shelters”
that cost $750 each. The shelters reflect a quake-resistant design with bamboo
sticks embedded a few feet into the ground.
The beauty of the approach is that it’s both simple and scalable.
Following a tour of his modest home, one of the residents of
a ‘transitional shelter’ village just outside of Bhaktapur, proudly told me
that his structure will last at least five years, giving him and his family
time to make arrangements for more permanent residences without having to take
loans or cut back on food. Holding his baby daughter in his arms he beamed, “I
am so proud and happy with my new home.” His was one of the biggest smiles that
saw during my visit to the country and one that I’ll not soon forget.No country, community, government or company can ‘go it alone.’ What becomes clear from conversations with organisations working to deliver change in Nepal is that in today’s complex, hyper-linked environments and communities, no single entity – government, public or private – possesses all of the necessary powers, resources, or expertise to assure resilience against natural disasters and catastrophic events – be it earthquakes, floods, tornados or tsunamis. Key ingredients to effective solutions include collaborative and organised approaches, leveraging the capabilities and capacity of stakeholders from government, the private sector, local communities and society as a whole. As highlighted by The Chaudhary Foundation’s efforts in Nepal, both short term and long term, as a global community, we’re all going to have to work together with everyone’s best interest in mind to respond quickly and efficiently to current challenges and to prevent such disasters from happening again in the future.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment