Senior U.S. Official Says Aid to Nepal Will Grow as Flood Needs Are Assessed
Bethany Morrison, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, discusses U.S. assistance to Nepal following devastating floods. “Our response was fast. It was efficient,” Morrison said. Photo by Kishor Panthi for NepYork.
NEW YORK — U.S. assistance to Nepal for flood response and recovery has surpassed $36 million and is expected to increase as the needs of affected communities are assessed, a senior State Department official said.
U.S. assistance to Nepal for flood response and recovery has reached $36 million, making the United States the largest donor to the response, Bethany Morrison, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, told NepYork.
The United States announced an additional $31 million in assistance earlier this week, bringing its total contribution to $36 million, Morrison said. The aid includes support for permanent bridges, humanitarian relief and disaster-recovery drones.
Morrison said the United States responded quickly to the devastation in Nepal and that the speed of the response demonstrated the government’s ability to deliver assistance efficiently.
“The devastation in Nepal that we saw, we are now the number — and we are very proud to be the top donor,” Morrison said. “We made an announcement earlier this week of an additional $31 million to the response; that brings us to a total of 36 million, now becoming the top donor.”
“Our response was fast. It was efficient,” she said. “You hear reports of post — once we re-integrated USAID into the State Department, it didn’t slow us. We’ve actually become more nimble. We’re more efficient. We’re able to get resources out quickly. And that’s exactly what we saw in Nepal.”
The assistance includes newly announced support for permanent bridges, humanitarian relief and disaster-recovery drones, the senior State Department official said.
The United States responded within hours of learning about the devastating flooding in Nepal, declaring an emergency humanitarian need and providing an initial $500,000 for basic emergency services, the senior State Department official said.
“So I’ll say we, from the beginning, from day one — and I know because I was directly involved when I woke up in the morning to the news of the tragic flooding — we immediately responded with issuing an emergency declaration of humanitarian need, and we immediately got out the door half a million dollars — I mean, within hours,” the senior State Department official said. “And that was to provide sort of those basic emergency humanitarian services.”
Since then, the United States has remained in close contact with the Nepal government and has conducted daily assessments of the country’s needs, adding assistance as necessary, the senior State Department official said.
“Since then, we have been in very close touch with the government assessing every single day what those needs are,” the senior State Department official said. “And as we do those assessments, we add to our contribution.”
The immediate priority is reaching communities that remain inaccessible, while assistance for schools is expected to come later, the senior State Department official said.
“And so when it comes to schooling, I imagine that’ll be later down,” the senior State Department official said. “The focus right now is making sure we’re getting access to those communities. We still haven’t.”
The United States announced $10 million this week to support temporary bridges and restore road connections in areas affected by the flooding, the senior State Department official said. The funding is intended to help deliver lifesaving supplies and other recovery assistance to isolated communities.
“So you’ll — you would have seen an announcement this week of $10 million from the United States of custom long bridges,” the senior State Department official said. “We’re trying to re-establish bridges to connect roads so we can get lifesaving recovery needs and response to some of those affected areas.”
The immediate humanitarian priorities include food, shelter and water, the senior State Department official said.
The United States is also working with Nepal to identify people who remain missing after the flooding. The senior State Department official said 70 Americans are still unaccounted for.
“And then we also have 70 Americans unaccounted for, and that also remains a huge priority of ours, working with the Nepal Government,” the senior State Department official said. “There are 70 Americans still unaccounted for, including more than 600 foreigners.”
The Department of War, the FBI and other U.S. agencies are deploying resources to assist with identification efforts, the senior State Department official said.
“So we have our Department of War, we have our FBI and others deploying resources there to help identification,” the senior State Department official said.
The U.S. response remains focused on urgent relief and recovery, the senior State Department official said. Washington will later coordinate with the Nepal government on longer-term reconstruction, which the senior State Department official described as likely to be substantial.
“So we’re — so my point is we’re still really in that stage of the most urgent recovery and response needs,” the senior State Department official said. “And then we will start moving to coordinate with the Nepal Government on some of the long-term reconstruction efforts, of which there will be quite a significant.”
The United States will continue supporting Nepal throughout the recovery, the senior State Department official said.
“And I think you’ll find — you look at our record thus far, you’ll find the United States will continue to be there and support Nepal through this period,” the senior State Department official said.