UN and partners launch Nepal COVID-19 Response Plan

The United Nations and partners in Nepal have launched the Emergency COVID-19 Plan and Call for International Solidarity to bring life-saving aid to Nepal’s most vulnerable people and communities

The COVID-19 Response Plan was endorsed by the Nepal Humanitarian Country Team and the Government of Nepal’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre and lays out critical areas of support required to complement the Nepali government’s response efforts.

Since Nepal has been facing a breaking point amidst its worst COVID-19 outbreak, the UN and partners today launched the Nepal COVID-19 Response Plan calling for $83.7 million to mobilise an emergency response over the next three months to assist 750,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the pandemic.

The UN has stated that after several months of relatively low daily cases in Nepal, cases began to increase rapidly in mid-April, rising to over 8,000 cases per day since May 5. Over 44 per cent of COVID-19 tests nationally are coming back positive, suggesting that case numbers are much higher than reported.

Despite the surge beginning almost three weeks after India’s, Nepal is experiencing roughly the same number of daily cases per capita as India, but with a health system whose capacity is much more limited. Millions of people in Nepal are struggling not just with the direct health impact of COVID-19, but also with hunger, malnutrition, devastating economic losses, and other health needs that are being overlooked, the United Nations mentioned.

It also stated that the Government of Nepal is leading the response, but capacities are stretched to breaking point and international solidarity is urgently needed to assist the most vulnerable people with life-saving response activities in health, food security, education, nutrition, shelter, protection, and water and sanitation.

UN Resident Coordinator Sara Beysolow Nyanti said: “The current outbreak is having a devastating impact not just on health but across all sectors, hitting the poorest and most marginalised people in Nepali society the hardest. The COVID-19 Response Plan that we are launching today calls for swift action and international solidarity that is desperately needed to save lives and prevent unnecessary suffering today, tomorrow, and in the difficult weeks to come. We have no time to lose.”