Dolakha Detailed Needs Assessment

Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

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June - July 2015 Page | 1

Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Contents ...... 1 ACRONYMS ...... 5 INTRODUCTION ...... 6 METHODOLOGY...... 7 Tools...... 7 Sample size ...... 7 Data collection and analysis ...... 8 Limitations ...... 8 MAP ...... 10 Executive summary ...... 11 Main findings ...... 11 Recommendations ...... 16 MAIN FINDINGS ...... 24 Demographics ...... 24 Table 1. Population per VDC ...... 24 Table 2. Number of Households per Caste per VDC ...... 25 Contextual Background...... 25 Damages caused by the earthquakes ...... 25 Ward accessibility ...... 26 Market Accessibility ...... 26 Recommendations: ...... 28 Shelter ...... 28 Type of Housing...... 28 Figure 1: Housing types in Dolakha ...... 29 Vulnerabilities of Type of Housing ...... 31 Assistance Received ...... 32 Figure 2. Shelter Assistance per VDC (multiple answer) ...... 33 Shelter Needs of the Communities ...... 33 Women’s Perspective on Shelter Needs ...... 34 Recommendations ...... 35 Non-Food Items ...... 36 Assistance Received ...... 36 Figure 3. Non Food Items Assistance per VDC (multiple answers) ...... 37 NFI Needs of the Communities ...... 37 Women’s Perspective on NFI Needs ...... 38 Recommendations ...... 39

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) ...... 41 Main Sources of Drinking Water ...... 41 Damages to Water Sources ...... 41 Figure 4: Water availabily per VDC ...... 42 Women’s Perspective on Damages to Water Sources ...... 42 WASH Needs of the Communities ...... 43 Latrines and Hygiene Practices ...... 43 Recommendations ...... 44 Food Security ...... 46 Assistance Received ...... 46 Figure 5.1: Food relief received per VDC ...... 46 Figure 5.2: Food relief received per VDC ...... 47 Figure 6: How long the food would last after completion of field assessment ...... 48 Food Needs of the Communities ...... 49 Women’s Perspective on Food Needs ...... 50 Recommendations ...... 50 Livelihoods...... 51 Main Livelihoods ...... 51 Figure 7: Main Livelihoods in Dolakha ...... 51 Crop agriculture ...... 52 Plantation and harvesting time ...... 53 Livestock rearing...... 53 Women’s perspective on Livelihood ...... 53 Division of Labour ...... 54 Table 4. Division of Labour in Agriculture ...... 55 Table 5. Division of Labour in Livestock Rearing ...... 55 Women’s perspective on Division of Labour ...... 56 Assistance Received ...... 57 Livelihoods Needs of the Communities ...... 58 Women’s Perspective on Livelihoods Needs...... 58 Recommendations ...... 59 Infrastructures and Education ...... 60 Access to main roads...... 60 Landslides ...... 60 Access to education ...... 60 Table 6. Number of schools per VDC before the earthquakes ...... 61 Figure 8: Level of school destruction per VDC ...... 61

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Women’s perspective on access to education ...... 62 Education Needs ...... 62 Recommendations ...... 63 Health ...... 64 Access to Health Facilities ...... 64 Figure 9: Location of health care provision ...... 64 Women’s perspective on access to health facilities ...... 65 Healthcare Needs ...... 65 Recommendations ...... 66 Coping Strategies ...... 66 Figure 10. Coping Strategies of Households ...... 67 Women’s perspective on Coping Strategies ...... 68 Recommendations ...... 69 Conclusion ...... 70 ANNEXES ...... 71 Annex 1 – Dolakha’s Main Markets ...... 72 Annex 2 - Gravity Water Supply Schemes Damaged but Functioning ...... 73 Annex 3 – Gravity Water Supply Schemes Destroyed and Non-Functioning ...... 74

Table 1. Population per VDC ...... 24 Table 2. Number of Households per Caste per VDC ...... 25 Table 3. Number of households per Gravity Water Supply Scheme ...... 41 Table 5. Division of Labour in Agriculture ...... 55 Table 6. Division of Labour in Livestock Rearing ...... 55

Figure 1: Housing types in Dolakha ...... 29 Figure 2. Shelter Assistance per VDC (multiple answer) ...... 33 Figure 3. Non Food Items Assistance per VDC (multiple answers) ...... 37 Figure 4: Water availabily per VDC ...... 42 Figure 5.1: Food relief received per VDC ...... 46 Figure 5.2: Food relief received per VDC ...... 47 Figure 6: How long the food would last after completion of field assessment ...... 48 Figure 7: Main Livelihoods in Dolakha ...... 51 Figure 8: Level of school destruction per VDC ...... 61 Figure 9: Location of health care provision ...... 64 Figure 10. Coping Strategies of Households ...... 67

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 ACRONYMS

AMEU – Appraisal, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit FGD – Focus Group Discussion INGO – International Non-Governmental Organisation KII – Key Informant Interview NFI – Non-Food Items PDD – Project Development Department VDC – Village Development Committee WASH- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

INTRODUCTION

On the 25th April 2015, Nepal was hit by a 7.8 earthquake, causing major damages to houses and infrastructures, killing over 8,800 people and injuring thousands more. Government has reported that 30 out of overall 75 districts were affected, including highly populated areas in Kathmandu Vally but mostly remote areas in the mountains, especially Sindhupalchowk, Kavre, Nuwakot, Rasuva, and Dolakha districts in the central region and in Kaski, Gorkha, Lamnjung districts in the Western region1.

A subsequent 7.3 earthquake hit the country on the 12th May 2015, with its epicentre in Sindhupalchowk. Multiple aftershocks have since been experienced, leading thousands of traumatized households to sleep outside in makeshift shelters in fear of further collapsing. As of 7th of July 2015, it is estimated that about 600,000 houses were fully damaged by both earthquakes, with an additional 280,000 houses being partially damaged, adding up to more than two thirds of the country’s buildings having been affected by the 2015 earthquakes2.

ACTED has established its Nepal mission two days after the first earthquake, engaging in relief distribution and conducting needs assessments in the field. ACTED has its capital office in Kathmandu and operates in three area bases in Sindhupalchowk, Dhading and Solukhumbu districts as well as in the sub-base of Dolakha District. ACTED is also implementing activities in Sankhu (Shankarpur municipality, Kathmandu district).

A month and half after the first earthquake, AMEU and the Coordination teams decided to conduct a detailed assessment on the vulnerabilities and needs of the affected communities in ACTED targeted areas. The main objective of this assessment is twofold: i) inform the Project Development Department (PDD) on the needs of the communities in order to design future proposals, and ii) inform coordination on the needs of communities in order to target the most vulnerable and overlooked communities.

1 OCHA in Nepal, “About the crisis”, http://www.unocha.org/nepal/about-ocha-nepal/about-crisis, accessed 12th of July 2015 2 OCHA in Nepal, “Nepal Earthquake, Humanitarian Snapshot – as 7th of July 2015”, http://reliefweb.int/report/nepal/nepal-earthquake-humanitarian- snapshot-07-july-2015, accessed 12th of July 2015

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

METHODOLOGY Tools

This assessment was based on both quantitative and qualitative tools. Two quantitative surveys with Key-Informant Interviews (KII) were used to collect quantitative data to provide ACTED with detailed findings and statistics on the needs and vulnerabilities of the targeted communities.

Considering Nepal’s ranking on the Gender Inequality Index3 and the significant level of discrimination towards women and girls, AMEU also developed two tools aiming at providing ACTED with comprehensive understanding of women’s perspective regarding the specific challenges they face and their priority needs that need to be covered.

The survey questionnaires were conducted at the ward level, with ward leaders (or, if not available, with an individual with good knowledge of the ward and respected authority, such as teachers) and with prominent female figures, including teachers, Women Committee leaders and Female Committee Health Volunteers. These tools aimed at understanding the needs and vulnerabilities of communities in ACTED targeted areas. Both questionnaires collected quantitative information on the needs of the communities in terms of (i) shelter, (ii) non-food items (NFI), (iii) water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), (iv) health and education, (v) food security, (vi) livelihoods and (vii) coping strategies of households. The ward leaders questionnaires collected more detailed information on demographics of the ward, relief received, infrastructures present in the ward, damages (to houses and infrastructure) and markets available.

Qualitative data was collected through Focus-Group Discussions (FGDs) with women. FGDs aimed at better understanding the difficulties faced by women and girls and how their needs may vary from the general population in terms of shelter, non-food items, food, water, health facilities, latrines, security, livelihoods and distributions.

Sample size

Data was collected in all Village Development Committees (VDCs) in which ACTED is working in Dolakha. These VDCs are Aalampu, Babare, Bigu, Chilankha, Kalinchowk, Khopachagu and Lamidanda. Every nine wards in each VDC were assessed except for Kalinchowk where only 5 VDCs were accessed. In total, 54 ward leaders and 60 women leaders were interviewed, including 32 female Health Volunteers, 21 Women Committee Members and leaders and 7 teachers.

3 http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/gender-inequality-index-gii (accessed 26/07/15)

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

FGDs were conducted in random VDCs and wards, depending on accessibility. Random women were asked to gather to participate in an open group discussion. Two FGDs in Babare and Lamidanda VDCs were conducted with a total of 29 women (19 in Babare and 10 in Lamidanda).

Data collection and analysis

Data was collected from the 6th to 16th June 2015. Enumerators were newly hired ACTED Programme staff. FGDs were collected by the AME Manager assisted by the (female) AME Monitor from Dolakha office acting as translator. Forms were daily crosschecked to avoid any discrepancies in data by the Area Coordinator and/or Programme Manager. Quantitative analysis was done using Excel software by ACTED’s Database Officer in Kathmandu.

Limitations

AMEU identified six main limitations to this assessment.

1. Difficulties in accurate data entry were experienced by Monitors and Officer, which has made the data cleaning process longer and more complex as a lot of data collected had to be cross-checked with original hard copies of questionnaires. Sometimes respondents do not wish to answer the question, which leads to leaving lines blank when entering data and provoking data discrepancies for analytical purposes. Most important lesson learnt is to include “I don’t know” options in each Yes/No question to clarify the answer in case of doubt or lack of knowledge about the specific issue.

2. The questionnaires would have benefited from being piloted. Piloting would have allowed AMEU to discover the need for precise specification on each single or multiple answer question to enumerators as well as the need for further defining and explaining key terminology such as household or disability to the Monitoring team.

3. Demographic data could only be collected on registered households. Indeed, AMEU discovered that only land and / or property owners could register their households in their respective wards. Local authorities do not recognize landless people as ward inhabitants. Lessees, for example, are not registered on official records. As per an informal conversation with the member of an unregistered household4, this very often leads to blunt discrimination towards unregistered households / landless people in terms of accessing relief. These households count therefore amongst the most highly vulnerable of all; however, INGOs, including ACTED, do not have authorization from national and local authorities to select them as beneficiaries.

4 In Dolakha district.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

4. Figures were sometimes conflicting between the data collected from ward leaders and women leaders. AMEU favoured information data collected from women’s questionnaires when conflicting numbers referred to women-related issues; it favoured data obtained from ward leaders when the question required solid knowledge about community structures and general organisation of the wards since the earthquakes. Yet both women leaders’ data and ward leaders’ data were always used for comparison.

5. Most figures, especially those related to demographics, distance to infrastructure/market and livelihoods, are based on rough estimations provided by our respondents who might not always have sufficient knowledge to give an accurate answer. Hence it has been challenging to find out an accurate total number of households for comparison, including when comparing it with total number of households divided by castes or total number of households that received relief. For all statistics calculation, the total number of households provided by ward leaders has been used.

6. During Focus Group Discussions, women were asked about security threats such as Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and gender-related while accessing relief. These two questions did not yield much data, which might be explained by the choice of data collection tool. Indeed, Focus Group Discussions are not individual interviews ensuring confidentiality for all information shared and are usually conducted in open, public areas. As this cannot be considered as a safe place for women to share intimate concerns, it may be possible that women restrained themselves from revealing any security incident, threat or discrimination.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

MAP

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Executive summary

Main findings

Demographics & Contextual Background

 All ward leaders reported a market in their wards in Aalampu  All ward leaders have a market in their wards in Khopachagu.  Total population in seven targeted VDCs is approx. 29,268 for 6,231 households.  The average household size is 5 members across all VDCs.  There is a high proportion of women-headed households in all assessed VDCs, ranging from 10 to 25%.  16.4% of households are headed by an elderly member across all VDCs  94.9% of the ward leaders reported that their wards have been affected by both earthquakes.  Accessibility following the earthquakes has been much impacted. 27.6% only of the wards are still accessible by car, 25% by 4x4 and 29.3% by trucks.  In terms of accessibility, Aalampu and Khopachagu were the two VDCs most affected by the earthquakes; they became completely inaccessible by vehicle after the earthquakes.  All nine ward leaders from Kalinchowk reported that the VDC was already not accessible by car, 4x4 or truck at all before both earthquakes.  Other VDCs are partially accessible but roads are at high risk of being blocked due to landslides.

Shelter

 Mud and stones houses along with mud, stone wall and CGI roofing were the most popular type of houses across the seven VDCs. 89% of houses amongst VDCs were made in mud and stones.  As per estimations of the ward leaders, all houses have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.  Mud and stone houses are considered as one of the most vulnerable to earthquakes.  Mud, stone walls and CGI roofing are also considered as prone to destruction and damages during an earthquake.  Almost one half of the ward leaders reported that they did not receive any shelter assistance from the government in Dolakha (45.8%).

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  The large majority of households (88.6% among those that did receive shelter assistance) received only tarpaulins.  All Ward leaders ranked CGI sheets as the most urgent material to be provided to people in Dolakha.  All Women Leaders ranked CGI sheets as the most urgent material to be provided to people in Dolakha.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Ropes and nails, Steel wires, Training on Build Back Safer techniques and toolkits.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Steel wires, Ropes and nails, Bamboos, Insulation material.

Non Food Items

 As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Solar lamps, Kitchen sets, Hygiene kits, Toolkits and Bedding.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Kitchen sets, solar lamps, bedding, Hygiene kits and menstrual sanitary pads.

WASH

 Gravity water supply schemes are the most common source of drinking water, with a total of 253 schemes reported to cover water needs of 6047 households (97% of all population).  Across all VDCs, all ward leaders reported that those gravity water supply schemes were made with plastic pipes (HDP).  In average, one gravity water supply scheme provides water to 24 households.  Damages to water infrastructures have left 2866 households (46% of the population) with no or limited access to drinking water.  97% of women leaders reported that distance, and hence the walking time, had increased to reach the closest water point for women and girls and it increased the time needed to collect water as well for 93.3% of them.  Top three priority needs the rehabilitation of the water points is: HDP, cement/concrete for water tanks and source protection to make water points rehabilitation sustainable.  Prior the earthquake, all of the households had septic tank latrines in all VDCs.  Following the earthquakes, access to latrines has been tremendously impacted, with more than half of the population that have no access to latrines any more (53.5%) and more than 40% that use temporary pit latrines only.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  93% of the respondents said that people had to practice open defecation after the earthquakes due to lack of alternative solutions and 44% share their pit latrines with other households.  In terms of hygiene practices, all ward leaders declared that households wash their hands after defecation and prior eating or cooking.

Food security

 By the time of this final assessment reporting, 96.5% of food that had been received as emergency relief by people in Dolakha has been consumed.  Tuki Sang and Oselive as local NGOs and Red Cross and WFP to a lesser extent as INGOs seem to be very active in Dolakha, especially in food security activities.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, lentils, oils and fats, sugar and salt and food for young children and infant.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, oils and fats, lentils, sugar and salt and vegetables.

Livelihood

 As per ward leaders’ estimations, 5939 households in Dolakha have crop agriculture as a main source of income, which represents 95.4% of all assessed households in the district.  47.5% of them lost their agricultural land during the earthquakes.  51% of them have lost their harvest for this season due to the earthquakes.  74.7% of them have lost their agricultural inputs (e.g. tools, seeds, storage facilities) for this season due to the earthquakes.  As per ward leaders’ estimations, 4218 households in Dolakha have livestock rearing as a main source of income, which represents 67.7% of Dolakha’s households5.  16.8% of them have lost their livestock.  55.6% of them have lost access to grazing land due to the earthquakes.  By the time of assessment completion in June, 94.9% had not received any agriculture-related assistance.  However, 98.3% affirmed that households in their wards were ready to restart their livestock rearing and / or agricultural activities.

5 We observe that there is some double counting - many households have reported two different activities as their main source of income. These overlaps might be explained by the local context since in Nepal, it is very current to have both agricultural and livestock activities at the same time.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Potatoes, millet/kodo, maize, vegetables, wheat and barley are the most cultivated crops by households in Dolakha. All these crops are mostly used for household’s consumption except in Chilankha and Kalinchowk VDCs where crops contribute to both food security of the household and to generate some income thanks to sales in the local markets.  Grain amaranth, legumes, cotton, jute, tobacco, sugarcane, oil crops, tea and spices are generally not cultivated in Dolakha.  Goats, chicken, cows and buffaloes are reared for both personal consumption and income generation.  89% also report that they have livestock rearing as a main livelihood, which includes double counting – some households consider both crop agriculture and livestock rearing as their main livelihood without distinction).  Women are in charge of pre-harvest activities such as plantation, cultivation, irrigation and daily maintenance, of harvesting and of post-production activities. They contribute to make decisions regarding the pre-harvest and harvest phases and are also well involved in the decision-making process for sales.  Livelihood assistance was inexistent or very low in Dolakha at the time of the assessment.  As per ward leaders ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of livelihoods are the following: seeds, livestock, vocational training, shelter for livestock and animal feed.  As per women leaders ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of livelihoods are the following: seeds, livestock, animal feed, shelter for livestock, vocational training.

Infrastructures and Education

 73 schools were running in Dolakha before the earthquakes  Only four are still standing after both earthquakes. 69 were destroyed.  All schools have been destroyed in Babare, Kalinchowk and Lamidanda.  Top three priority needs for educational infrastructures are; the reconstruction of the building, WASH assistance and rehabilitation (latrines and water access) and school supplies distributions.

Health

 76.2% of ward leaders declared that activities are being run in tents or makeshift shelters.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of livelihoods are the following: reconstruction of the health facility, medicines, WASH assistance (latrines and water access), staff and physical accessibility through rubble clearance activities.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Tarps and tents, given their very temporary nature, are not favoured by the people as they are hoping for more solid and sustainable solutions in order to get proper health care.

Coping strategies

 Alarming is the number of ward leaders reporting that households will cut on essential goods, necessities and social welfare expenses such as food (88%), health (71.1%) and education (45.8%).  Reduction in food expenses is the second expected coping strategy for households after taking a loan from family and friends.  Reduction in food quantity and meal frequency could greatly endanger their health in terms of proper nutrition levels and quality diet.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 mostly used coping strategies have been / will be: take loans from their closest family and social environment (relatives and friends) eat less, decrease medical expenses, use own savings and borrow money from a money lender.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 mostly used coping strategies have been / will be: use own savings, cut off education expenses for their children, borrow money from family and friends, eat less, and reduce their healthcare expenses.  Top three coping strategies for ward and women leaders are: take loans from family and friends, buy less food and use their own savings.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Recommendations

Contextual Background

 The high level of ward inaccessibility by car, 4x4 or trucks is to be taken into account when planning future activities. Helicopters, tractors or porters should be planned to enable delivery of items planned to be delivered.  After the earthquakes, two VDCs became completely inaccessible by vehicle, namely Aalampu, and Khopachagu. Road rehabilitation and pathway clearance under a Cash for Work scheme should be envisaged and specifically target those VDCs.  Important to bear in mind is that roads were already not accessible by car, truck or 4x4 before the earthquakes in Kalinchowk; even pathway rehabilitation is then not a solution to improve accessibility to this VDC.  Some areas still might only be accessible by foot, which requires including the necessary walking time in Programme and M&E activities timeframe as well as accommodation if required, appropriate equipment for physical security and the right amount of field allowance paid in advance for the staff.  Market accessibility for food, hygiene items or shelter material is important to keep in mind while planning and implementing activities. Cash for Work schemes in VDCs or wards where market areas have been destroyed or damaged and where markets do not have the capacity to satisfy their consumers’ demands should be avoided. In those areas work against in-kind goods should be systematically preferred until markets re-open on full capacity, i.e. clients are able to purchase all basic goods there.

Shelter

Shelter assistance remains a priority for most households who have been living in damaged houses or makeshift shelters since the earthquakes. ACTED should prioritize shelter assistance over other relief provision to increase shelter quality, resistance to earthquakes and help people to live in conditions that respect their basic human dignity. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Top three priority needs for ward and women leaders are CGI sheets, steel wires, ropes and nails. Hence all Shelter kits distributed by ACTED should contain at least these three elements.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Ropes and nails, Steel wires, Training on Build Back Safer techniques and toolkits. These answers imply that households are willing to re-build their shelter autonomously; however, ACTED should ensure that they get the appropriate knowledge and practical means to complete this task. Skilled masons from each ward where ACTED operates could be extensively trained by ACTED engineer staff so they would be able to organize capacity-building sessions for the greater communities.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Steel wires, Ropes and nails, Bamboos, Insulation material.  Distribution of shelter material should be combined with Build Back Safer awareness sessions, enabling beneficiaries to be well informed about the risks of some shelter materials and the advantages of others, thus encouraging them to take ownership on their own accommodation by re-building it themselves.  Training on Build Back Safer techniques should inform beneficiaries very clearly that although mud and stone houses are by far the most common (and almost the only one) housing type in Nepal, they are at very high risk to be completely destroyed in case of an earthquake and hence should not be considered as a safe and sustainable shelter.  Training on Build Back Safer should rely on ACTED’s Shelter Assessments for main findings and technical expertise and recommendations.  Other materials respecting local availability and shelter preferences should be provided to beneficiaries to enable them to build safer houses. Cf. ACTED Shelter assessment.  The very large percentage of women-headed and elderly-headed households should be taken into account when programming activities as these households may face more challenges in being economically self-sufficient as well as in accessing distribution sites and transporting heavy relief material. ACTED should provide cash grants to those beneficiaries or directly hire porters for door-to-door delivery to cover their transportation needs, especially if heavy material such as CGI sheets (approximately 55 kilos a bundle) are distributed.  Those vulnerable households should also be offered assistance in building their shelters. Cash for Work schemes or Cash Grants have already been implemented or envisaged by ACTED; however, AMEU would recommend bearing in mind that Cash Grants need higher budgeting than Cash for Work. The two activities are not interchangeable in terms of required funds as Cash for Work workers are given 80% of daily pay rate while labour employed with Cash grants would require full remuneration.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Non Food Items

Even though it may be ranked lower than shelter in terms of priority, NFI assistance nevertheless remains critical. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 ACTED should increase NFI distributions in order to cover all households in each targeted ward in Dolakha.  Top three priorities for NFI distribution is: kitchen sets, solar lamps, hygiene kits including sanitary pads.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Solar lamps, Kitchen sets, Hygiene kits, Toolkits and Bedding.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Kitchen sets, solar lamps, Bedding, Hygiene kits and Menstrual sanitary pads.  Kitchen sets have to be prioritized in every VDC as very few have been distributed and this only in Aalampu and to an even lesser extent in Bigu. Kitchen sets have been highly ranked by both ward leaders and women, which is explained by the fact that households are often left with no choice but cooking in unsanitary conditions (e.g. outside, close to dust, mud or animals). Items in kitchen sets should include cooking pots / pans and recipients for food and boiled water.  Almost all households in Chilankha and Khopachagu had received solar lamps at the time at the assessment. Solar lamps should be a priority for Aalampu, Babare, Bigu, Kalinchowk and Lamidanda where the needs have not been covered yet.  Hygiene kits should be distributed in all VDCs, giving priority to Khopachagu and Bigu and Khopachagu where respectively 14% and 12% of the needs have been covered only.  Hygiene kits should directly include sets of re-usable menstrual sanitary pads for women as well as 24 soaps, 7 shampoos, 5 – 6 toothbrush, 12 large size toothpastes per household and per month as well as and detergent / laundry soap.  Hygiene kits should be accompanied by hygiene promotion sessions where basic key messages would be transmitted to the communities and the use of each component item should be explained.  At least half of hygiene promoters should be female to allow women to talk more freely about menstruation and other intimate issues in case they feel the need.  ACTED should involve potential beneficiaries and local population in the decision- making process on what items should be distributed to them based on helpfulness and capacity and willingness to use them.  Particular attention should be given to the content of hygiene kits; especially women should be involved in choosing what should be included in it.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Women beneficiaries have shared that they prefer reusable / washable sanitary pads instead of plastic pads. Real pads should be preferred over cloth though.  ACTED should provide households with water filter and water containers / storage units for water collected for drinking purposes. Water filters are considered as a more sustainable solution than purifying tablets. This is especially crucial for women as they are generally in charge of collecting water; having water storage would decrease the frequency of walking with heavy burdens as they could purify non- drinking water available near their house.

WASH

Drinking water and latrines, along with shelter and food, have been identified by communities as one of the main priorities in Dolakha. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 Gravity Water Supply Schemes are the main sources of drinking water for Dolakha. Due to damages induced by the earthquakes, 46% of the assessed population has been left with no or limited access to water. Thus ACTED should prioritize the distribution of material for rebuilding / rehabilitating water points, giving priority to Aalampu and Lamidanda VDCs which have been the most affected during the earthquakes in terms of their population’s water needs’ coverage. Materials needed would most likely include HDP pipes, cement / concrete for tanks and source protection to ensure sustainability of repairs. Either cash could be provided to households to allow them to buy the material directly, or material could be provided should it be unavailable in the local markets. Cash for Work with local plumbers could also be implemented to rehabilitate damaged gravity water supply schemes or Cash Grants could be given to beneficiaries for them to directly hire local plumbers. It is important for ACTED to remember though that while Cash for Work participants are paid 80% of the minimum pay rate, the budget for Cash Grant should cover 100% of the minimum pay rate so that beneficiaries can employ plumbers for as many days as they need to complete the task.  Most VDCs were Open Defecation Free before the earthquake. The lack of latrines leading people to practice open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of communities and dignity of individuals, especially women who are in dire need of intimacy, for example for changing sanitary pads. WASH programmes therefore should be considered a priority by ACTED that should rehabilitate septic tank latrines or build more resistant latrines.  Accent shall be put on rehabilitating or building household latrines with functioning hand-washing system.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Household latrines are very important to respect women and girls’ dignity as well. Indeed, most of them were used to have private latrines before the earthquakes; resorting to open defecation can be experienced as unsafe and / or uncomfortable, especially for women.  ACTED should distribute material for rebuilding latrines. This would most likely include toilet pan, cement, pipes, CGI sheets or timber. Either cash could be provided to households to allow them to buy the material directly, or material could be provided should it be unavailable in the local markets. Cash for Work with local plumbers could also be implemented to rehabilitate damaged gravity water supply schemes or Cash Grants could be given to beneficiaries for them to directly hire local plumbers. It is important for ACTED to remember though that while Cash for Work participants are paid 80% of the minimum pay rate, the budget for Cash Grant should cover 100% of the minimum pay rate so that beneficiaries can employ plumbers for as many days as they need to build a latrine.  ACTED should distribute water tanks either at ward level or household level. This would likely contribute to decrease the burden of water collection for women (who are usually in charge of this task) as more water could be stored in the house.  As open defecation was not common practice before the earthquakes and that all people are reported to wash hands before cooking or eating and after defecating, hygiene promotion should include only very basic messages and does not need to be very exhaustive as this could appear as patronizing to local communities.

Food Security

Food relief remains one of the top three priorities identified by communities. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 In the short term, in order to cover basic needs of the population affected by the earthquakes, ACTED should distribute food items. Indeed, although all communities have received some kind of food assistance by other organisations or by the Nepali government after the earthquakes, households were likely to have faced very rapid food shortages as the food distributed was not reported to last very long in the days and weeks following the distributions.  Food packages should include, at least, rice, lentils, oils and fats.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, lentils, oils and fats, sugar and salt and food for young children and infant.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, oils and fats, lentils, sugar and salt and vegetables.  Food packages distributed should also include food for young children and infant (lactosine) as well as food for pregnant and lactating women.  While food aid seems to be an important immediate path to help people to keep proper levels of nutrition and food diversity in their diets, the risk of dependence on external aid should be taken into account when programming. It is acceptable to use food distributions to ensure short-term food security; however, means of growing their own food should be considered as a better alternative option in the medium and longer-term, for example in the form of livelihood inputs / agricultural kits.

Livelihood

Supporting households to rebuild a sustainable livelihood is an essential step in helping them recover the self-sufficiency level that they had before the earthquakes. Not only will it enable them to restart normal activities and provide for their households but it will also decrease the level of dependence on external aid on the medium and longer-term. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 ACTED should prioritize seeds and / or livestock distribution as seeds and livestock losses due to the earthquakes seem to have been negatively impacting households in Dolakha.  Specific seeds distributed should be assessed at VDC level, ensuring that they were planted by the population before the earthquakes and thus not disturbing diet habits of the population. In general, seed packages should be composed of potatoes, millet/kodo, maize, vegetables, wheat and barley.  As per ward leaders ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of livelihoods are the following: seeds, livestock, vocational training, shelter for livestock and animal feed.  As per women leaders ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of livelihoods are the following: seeds, livestock, animal feed, shelter for livestock, vocational training.  To provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for those engaged in livestock rearing activities, ACTED should distribute animal feed and shelter for livestock – which could come in the form of timber for frame and tarps or CGI sheets for goats, chicken and cows and buffaloes.  To provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for those engaged in agricultural activities, ACTED should provide vocational training to both men and women to empower them in terms of planting and harvesting capacity and usage of tools. Furthermore, agro-inputs alongside seed packages and training – toolkits and harvest storage units – should be provided to them so that, in addition to increased knowledge and capacities, beneficiaries receive the physical means to start, maintain

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 and increase their production and productivity levels. However, the needs should be assessed at household level since storage units have not been ranked amongst the five most urgent priorities by communities in Dolakha, implying that some households may still possess these materials.

Infrastructures and education

Numerous schools in Dolakha have been severely damaged or even fully destroyed by the earthquakes, which has negatively impacted the education of thousands of children. Drop- outs due to lack of alternative should be a tremendous concern for the aid community. Going back to school is a priority for children as it enables them to ‘go back to a normal life’ and build a brighter future for themselves. Furthermore, according to UNICEF6, the longer children are out of school after a disaster, the less likely it is for them to ever go back to the classroom. It is therefore crucial to ensure that schools are able to resume their activities as soon as possible. While providing free public education itself is the responsibility of the Nepalese government, ACTED could contribute to improve children’s possibilities by concentrating efforts on infrastructure rehabilitation. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 ACTED should engage in school infrastructure rehabilitation, including WASH programmes such as rehabilitation of damaged latrines. Local masons and plumbers could be trained by ACTED technical staff and engineers. Cash Grants could be given to beneficiaries for them to directly hire local masons and plumbers. Cash Grants should cover 100% of the minimum wage so that beneficiaries do not have to add extra money from their own savings to ensure the task is properly completed.  ACTED should build gender-separated latrines in schools.  ACTED should distribute school supplies, including notebooks and other stationary to children as well as furniture to schools such as tables, chairs, blackboards and chalk sticks or whiteboards and markers.  While re-building schools is the priority in terms of education, ACTED should not overlook the fact that construction takes time. In the short-term period, provision of emergency material such as tents and tarps would be of immense help to school teachers.  ACTED should take into account that Aalampu ward 5, Chilankha ward 7 and Lamidanda ward 3 ranked the distribution of tents and tarps as one their main priority needs, if not the most urgent, implying that schools are being run in open air in those wards.

6http://unicef.org.np/latest-updates/stories/2015/05/31/back-to-school-makes-back-to-normal-possible (accessed 28/07/15)

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Health

Considering the large number of casualties across Nepal following the earthquakes, providing healthcare services and improving health facilities infrastructures remains a priority in most VDCs. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 ACTED should rehabilitate health facilities infrastructures, including damaged latrines, especially since 76.2% of ward leaders declared that activities are being run in tents or makeshift shelters, hence greatly endangering greatly the staff and patients’ safety. Cash for Work activities could be implemented to rehabilitate health facilities. Hygiene promotion could also be provided to health staff, as basic hygiene practices may be overlooked when running activities in makeshift and unconventional shelters.  Considering ACTED’s lack of medical expertise, distributing medicines is not considered as a viable and fruitful option. However, AMEU would recommend exploring the option of partnering with a local medical NGO to establish a first aid kit - or getting it in kind from donors - that could be distributed to beneficiaries to minimize the risks of not being physically able to reach the closest health facility.

Coping strategies

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

MAIN FINDINGS

Demographics

The total population for the seven targeted VDCs is approximately 29,268 for 6,231 households (see Table 1). Due to time constraints, demographic data have not been checked against official records. These estimations will thus be used to create statistics in this report. The average household size is 5 members across all VDCs.

Table 1. Population per VDC

Number of Households Total Population Aalampu 683 3236 Babare 1182 5514 Bigu 737 3470 Chilankha 950 4749 Kalinchowk 745 3954 Khopachagu 468 1945 Lamidanda 1466 6400 Total 6231 29,268

According to the ward leaders, a high proportion of households are headed by women (16.8%) across the seven VDCs, predominantly in Aalampu (27.8%), Babare (20.6%) and Kalinchowk (19.5%). This matches with women’s estimations (17.8%); yet mentioned VDCs were not the same. Women mentioned that one quarter of households in Bigu were female- headed households and more than one fifth in Chilankha and Lamidanda. We can conclude that there is a high proportion of women-headed households in all assessed VDCs, ranging from 10 to 25%.

16.4% of households are headed by an elderly member across all VDCs, including 27.5% in Aalampu, 19.2% in Khopachagu, 18.9% in Kalinchowk and 18.4% Bigu.

Less than 1% of households assessed in all VDCs are headed by children. 2.4% are headed disabled persons. Details on the number of households per caste can be found in Table 2.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Table 2. Number of Households per Caste per VDC

Dalit Chhetri Tamang Thami Newar Barhaman Sherp Other a (e.g. Giri, Gurung, Magar, Pahari) Aalampu 26 2 0 644 2 0 7 0

Babare 53 491 15 465 101 34 21 2

Bigu 38 98 41 107 103 6 295 49

Chilankha 57 309 169 81 78 8 120 59 Kalinchowk 6 6 196 494 30 0 2 11 Khopachagu 2 75 5 331 11 3 41 0 Lamidanda 111 854 73 152 76 189 10 1 Total 293 1835 499 2274 401 240 496 122

Contextual Background

Damages caused by the earthquakes

94.9% of the ward leaders reported that their wards have been affected by both earthquakes.

When asked which earthquake caused the most damages, 55.9% of the ward leaders said that both earthquakes caused the biggest damages to houses in their respective wards, including 100% in Aalampu, 80% in Kophachagu and 78% in Chilankha. 44% reported that the 12th May earthquake caused most major damages, including 100% in Bigu and 67% in Kalinchowk. No ward leader reported the 25th of April earthquake as having caused the most damages in Dolakha.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Ward accessibility

In terms of accessibility, VDCs were asked about different means of transportation. The majority of the wards were accessible by car (59.3%), 4x4 (72.8%) and trucks (76.3%) prior the earthquakes. Important exception is Kalinchowk VDC where all wards were already reported inaccessible before the earthquakes. Accessibility following the earthquakes has been much impacted. 27.6% only of the wards are still accessible by car, 25% by 4x4 and 29.3% by trucks.

59.3% said that their VDCs were accessible by car before the earthquakes; yet in Aalampu, Chilankha and Kopachagu, roads were not accessible by car afterwards. Impact has been inexistent in Babare where all roads are still accessible by car.

72.8% reported that their VDCs were accessible by 4x4 before; yet Aalampu, Chilankha and Kopachagu VDCs have been very much impacted since all Chilankha’s and Khopachagu’s roads and two thirds of Aalampu’s roads were accessible by 4x4 before the earthquake but 100% of the ward leaders in those respective districts reported that 4x4 could not drive anymore after the earthquakes.

All VDCs in Dolakha were completely accessible by trucks before the earthquakes, except for Kalinchowk which was not accessible at all, Aalampu where one third of its roads were not accessible by truck, one fifth of Kopachagu’s roads and one tenth in Bigu. Only Babare (100%), Bigu (22%) and Lamidanda (67%) are still accessible by truck since the earthquakes.

Aalampu and Khopachagu were the two VDCs most affected by the earthquakes; they became completely inaccessible by vehicle after the earthquakes. All nine ward leaders from Kalinchowk reported that the VDC was already not accessible by car, 4x4 or truck at all before both earthquakes. After the earthquakes, 100% of ward in Aalampu, 100% in Kalinchowk, 100% in Kopachagu, 89% in Chilankha, 78% in Bigu, and 75% in Laminanda reported that the roads were not accessible with these means of transportation. Only Babare VDC reported accessibility.

Market Accessibility

 All ward leaders reported a market in their wards in Aalampu  Four ward leaders reported a market in their wards in Babare (ward 1, 3, 5 and 6).  Three ward leaders reported a market in their wards in Bigu (ward 2, 5 and 9).  None of the ward leaders reported an accessible market in their ward in Chilankha  Only one ward leader in Kalinchowk said that there was a market there (ward 2).  All ward leaders have a market in their wards in Khopachagu.  Only one ward leader in Lamidanda said that there was a market there (ward 6).

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

57.6% of all ward leaders report Singati market as being the closest food market available to them; it adds up to 100% in Chilankha. Other markets include Nikhobumi in Kalinchowk, Banchare and Charikot in Lamidanda, Milanchowk, Sahakari Bazar and Pirtha Bazaar in Babare, Barabise and Sangba in Bigu, Charikot and Topara Danda in Aalampu.

52.5% report that food markets are accessible by road, yet it is not the case for 89% of ward leaders in Kalinchowk, 78% in Babare, 67% in Chilankha and 55.5% in Lamidanda. In average, the closest food market is more than 16 kilometres away. 89.3% say that food markets are still accessible by foot. 40.7% report that the food market does not have the capacity to fulfil the needs of all the consumers, i.e. all basic necessary products are not available in an appropriate quantity. This is especially the case in Khopachagu where 100% report that the market does not have enough food to sell and 89% in Aalampu.

64% of ward leaders say that there is no market in their ward where they could buy hygiene items, including all in Chilankha, Kalinchowk and Khopachagu. In average, the closest hygiene items market is 16.7 kilometres away from the village. 61% report that markets where hygiene items are available are not accessible by road, yet 96.6% of ward leaders affirm that those markets remain accessible if walking. Two thirds of respondents reported that hygiene items are available for all customers. Yet again, 100% in Khopachagu and 89% in Aalampu report that the quantity is not sufficient for all.

Almost half of the respondents say once again that Singati market is the place to buy hygiene items; it adds up to 100% in Chilankha. Other markets include Nikhobumi in Kalinchowk, Banchare and Pokhare in Lamidanda, Milanchowk, Sahakari, Pritha and Deurali Bazars in Babare, Barabise and Sangba in Bigu, Charikot and Topara Danda in Aalampu.

No market where building material can be bought was reported in any of the assessed wards. In average, the closest market for construction material is reported 35.8 kilometres away. However, 81% of ward leaders reported that building material for shelter construction was available on a market accessible by road.

54.2% mentioned Singati and 34% Charikot, including in Kalinchowk, Lamidanda, Babare, Bigu, Khopachagu and Aalampu. Other markets include Barabise in Bigu and Topara Danda in Aalampu.

Singati market

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Recommendations:

Shelter Type of Housing

Ward leaders reported a total of 6,955 houses before the earthquakes, indicating that households have moved from the VDC or that household members passed during the earthquakes that destroyed their house. Indeed, the reported number of households after the earthquakes was 6,231.

Mud and stones houses along with mud, stone wall and CGI roofing were the most popular type of houses across the seven VDCs. 89% of houses amongst VDCs were made in mud and stones. 5.4% had additional CGI roofing. 1.9% was made with slate stones. The remaining percentage is divided between concrete blocks or bricks with concrete roofing or CGI roofing and concrete stone walls with CGI roofing (see Figure 1).

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Figure 1: Housing types in Dolakha

5.8% 5.2%

Stone and mud houses

Stone and mud houses with CGI roofing 89% Others

As per estimations of the ward leaders, all houses have been destroyed or damaged beyond repair.

Destroyed houses in Dolakha

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

“All of us had houses but they all collapsed. Some houses were 3 or 4 floors. Now we live in makeshifts shelters made of CGI sheets or tarps.”

Women from Babare ward 9, FGD, 09.06.15

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Salvaged and damaged CGI sheet used by households as temporary shelter

Vulnerabilities of Type of Housing

Ward leaders were asked to rank the vulnerabilities of the different types of housing, from 1 – as being the most vulnerable – to 3.

 Mud and stone houses scored an average 1, and were ranked in all VDCs by 100% of the ward leaders. Mud and stone houses are therefore considered as one of the most vulnerable to earthquake.  Mud, stone walls and CGI roofing houses scored an average of 1.98, and were ranked by all ward leaders. Mud, stone walls and CGI roofing are therefore also considered as prone to destruction and damages during an earthquake.  Concrete stone walls and CGI roofing scored an average of 3 and were ranked in all VDCs by 96.6% of the ward leader.  Concrete blocks/bricks and CGI roofing scored an average of 2.5, although only Aalampu’s and Laminanda’s ward leaders ranked this type of housing, implying that they are not present in other VDCs.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Fully destroyed mud and stone house

Assistance Received

57.6% of ward leaders reported that their wards did not receive shelter assistance after the first earthquake, especially in Khopachagu (100%), Bigu (89%), Lamidanda (89%) and Babare (78%). 100% reported that they received shelter assistance after the second earthquake.

As detailed in Figure 2, the large majority of households (88.6%) received only tarpaulins. It is important to note that almost half of the ward leaders (45.8%) reported dissatisfaction about the quality of the tarpaulins received after the earthquakes.

Almost one half of the ward leaders reported that they did not receive any shelter assistance from the government in Dolakha (45.8%). Mainly local and international NGOs have been mentioned as having distributed shelter assistance to the population, including RRN, Tuki Sang, Oselive, Ananta Dhan Center and Marbadi Samaj Nepal as local NGOs and Red Cross, Unicef, WFP and USAID as INGOs. Indian and Korean government have also been mentioned.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Figure 2. Shelter Assistance per VDC (multiple answer)

100.00% Tarpaulins only 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% Tarpaulins with 60.00% ropes 50.00% CGI sheets 40.00% 30.00%

20.00% CGI sheets with 10.00% insulation 0.00% material

Shelter Needs of the Communities

Following the earthquakes and as a result of the damages and trauma, 88.7% of Dolakha’s assessed households were reportedly living in makeshifts shelters with tarpaulins. Few others out of the remaining 11.3% reported that people lived in makeshift shelters made from salvaged material from their previous house and in tents (8.6%). Absolutely no ward leader reported that people were still living in their own undamaged house or that people had had the financial means to rebuild a new one.

Ward leaders were asked to rank the most urgent shelter items that the population would need to receive, 1 being the most urgent and 5 the least.

 All Ward leaders ranked CGI sheets as the most urgent material to be provided to people in Dolakha. Indeed, CGI sheets scored an average of 1 in all VDCs.  Ropes and nails scored an average of 2.7 and were ranked as second position in all VDCs by 83% of ward leaders. Ropes and nails are the second priority need for people in Dolakha.  Steel wires scored an average of 3.4 and were ranked in all VDCs by 84.7% of the ward leaders; however, they were ranked as the least urgent material to receive in Khopachagu. Steel wires are the third priority need in Dolakha.  Training on Build Back Safer techniques to learn how to build safe and more resistant to earthquakes shelters was ranked as fourth position with a score of 3.5 (ranked by

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 69.5% of ward leaders). Training on Build Back Safer should be the fourth priority in ACTED’s programming activities.  Toolkits scored an average of 3.9 and were ranked in all VDCs by 69.5% of the ward leaders. Toolkits are ranked in fifth position.  Assistance with building shelter was ranked by 30.5% with a score of 3.7. It was mentioned in all VDCs except in Chilankha.  Tarpaulins scored an average of 3 but were ranked only in Kalinchowk by two ward leaders.  Timber for frame scored an average of 3 but was ranked only in Aalampu (ward 5) and Chilankha (ward 8) by two ward leaders.  Bamboos scored an average of 3.5 but were ranked only in Chilankha and Lamidanda by two ward leaders (Chilankha ward 8 and Lamidanda ward 6).  Insulation material scored an average of 4.2 and was ranked in all VDCs by 50.8% of the ward leaders.

Women’s Perspective on Shelter Needs

Women leaders were asked to rank the needs in terms of shelter assistance, as per women and girls’ needs. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 All Women Leaders ranked CGI sheets as the most urgent material to be provided to people in Dolakha. CGI sheets scored an average of 1, and were ranked by 100% of the women leaders. This result correlates with ward leaders’ answers, thus further highlighting the urgency to distribute CGI sheets to Dolakha’s households.  GI / Steel wires were ranked as second position with a score of 2.65. They were mentioned in all VDCs by 85% of women leaders in total. GI/Steel wires are the second priority for women in terms of shelter.  Ropes and nails scored 3.4 and were mentioned in all VDCs by 91.7% of women leaders. Ropes and nails are the third priority.  Bamboos scored 2.97; yet only 51.7% of the women leaders mentioned bamboos. Bamboo is the fourth priority.  Insulation material scored 3.65 but was also not mentioned in Aalampu and Kalinchowk. It was ranked by 28.3% of women leaders. Insulation material is the fifth priority.  Timber for frame scored 3.5 but was not mentioned by Aalampu’s and Kalinchowk’s women leaders. It was ranked by only 10% of the women leaders.  Training for safer building scored an average of 4, and were ranked in all VDCs by 53.3% of the women leaders.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Tool kits scored an average of 4.4, and were ranked in all VDCs by 63.3% of the women leaders.  Assistance with building shelter scored an average of 4.3, and was ranked by 11.7% of the women. It was only mentioned in Babare, Kalinchowk and Lamidanda VDCs.  Tarpaulins scored an average of 4 but were only by one women leader in Kalinchowk (ward 8).

Recommendations

 Prioritise the distribution of winterized shelter kits that include CGI sheets and insulation material. As more than three months have passed since the first earthquake, ACTED should engage in the provision of sturdy and insulated shelter material before the winter season comes, especially since it has been reported as one of the five priority needs by women respondents in Dolakha.  Top three priority needs for ward and women leaders are CGI sheets, steel wires, ropes and nails. Hence all Shelter kits distributed by ACTED should contain at least these three elements.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Ropes and nails, Steel wires, Training on Build Back Safer techniques and toolkits.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: CGI sheets, Steel wires, Ropes and nails, Bamboos, Insulation material.  Distribution of shelter material should be combined with Build Back Safer awareness sessions, enabling beneficiaries to be well informed about the risks of some shelter materials and the advantages of others, thus encouraging them to take ownership on their own accommodation by re-building it themselves.  Training on Build Back Safer techniques should inform beneficiaries very clearly that although mud and stone houses are by far the most common (and almost the only one) housing type in Nepal, they are at very high risk to be completely destroyed in case of an earthquake and hence should not be considered as a safe and sustainable shelter.  Training on Build Back Safer should rely on ACTED’s Shelter Assessments for main findings and technical expertise and recommendations.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Other materials respecting local availability and shelter preferences should be provided to beneficiaries to enable them to build safer houses. Cf. ACTED Shelter assessment.  The very large percentage of women-headed and elderly-headed households should be taken into account when programming activities as these households may face more challenges in being economically self-sufficient as well as in accessing distribution sites and transporting heavy relief material. ACTED should provide cash grants to those beneficiaries or directly hire porters for door-to-door delivery to cover their transportation needs, especially if heavy material such as CGI sheets (approximately 55 kilos a bundle) are distributed.  Those vulnerable households should also be offered assistance in buiding their shelters. Cash for Work schemes or Cash Grants have already been implemented or envisaged by ACTED; however, AMEU would recommend bearing in mind that Cash Grants need higher budgeting than Cash for Work. The two activities are not interchangeable in terms of required funds as Cash for Work workers are given 80% of daily pay rate while labour employed with Cash grants would require full remuneration.

Non-Food Items

While access to durable shelter may prevail over other priorities, non-food items (NFI) needs also remain dire. Women during FGDs expressed their lack of access to NFI such as hygiene kits or kitchen sets.

Assistance Received

When asked if people received any assistance other than shelter, ward leaders responded that 56.5% received hygiene kits, 51% solar lamps and half of the population received bedding equipment. All VDCs received bedding and hygiene kits; all received solar lamps as well except for Babare where only one household reported to have received it. No VDC received any toolkits and only very few households in Aalampu and Bigu received kitchen sets. Other VDCs did not receive any at all (see Figure3).

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Figure 3. Non Food Items Assistance per VDC (multiple answers)

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% Bedding 40.00% Hygiene kits 30.00% Kitchen sets 20.00% Solar lamps 10.00% 0.00%

All respondents said that they did receive these items from the government; yet few local NGOs and INGOs were also mentioned in some wards, such as RRN, Tuki Sang, Oselive, Urja, Red Cross, Unicef, WFP, Action Aid and Plan International. Tata, the Indian company, was reported to have provided NFI assistance to people in Khopachagu.

One third were not satisfied about the content and quality of items received in the hygiene kits; 44% said that they were also not satisfied about the quality of other items received, implying that needs and preferences of beneficiaries and local culture had not been correctly assessed before the distributions of items and kits.

NFI Needs of the Communities

Ward leaders were also given a list of Non-food items and asked to rank the most urgent Non Food Items that the population would need to receive, 1 being the most urgent and 5 the least.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

 Solar lamps were ranked as the most urgent Non Food Item to receive by households in Dolakha (scored 1.4 and were ranked in all VDCs by 76.3% of ward leaders)  Kitchen sets came in second position (scored 2.1 and were ranked in all VDCs by 86.4% of ward leaders)  Hygiene kits came in third position (scored 2.2 and were ranked in all VDCs by 69.5% of ward leaders )  Toolkits came in fourth position (scored 2.35 and ranked in all VDCs by one third of ward leaders)  Bedding came in last position (scored 2.6 and was ranked in all VDCs except Kalinchowk by 35.6% of ward leaders)

Women’s Perspective on NFI Needs

Women leaders were asked to rank the needs in terms of NFI assistance, as per women and girls’ needs. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 Kitchen sets scored an average of 1.96, and were mentioned in all VDCs by 95% of the women leaders. Kitchen sets are thus the first priority according to women leaders for women and girls to receive as relief items.  Solar lamps scored an average of 1.85 and were mentioned in all VDCs by 80% of the women leaders. Solar lamps can then be considered as the second priority as per women leaders recommendations.  Bedding scored an average of 3.38 and was mentioned in all VDCs by 91.7% of women leaders. Bedding is the third priority.  Hygiene kits scored an average of 3.1 and were mentioned in all VDCs except Aalampu by 48.3% of women leaders. Hygiene kits are fourth priority.  Menstrual sanitary pads and related items scored an average of 3.5, and were mentioned in all VDCs by 68.3% of the women leaders. Menstrual sanitary pads are fifth priority.  Toolkits score 3.9 but were not mentioned in Aalampu and Bigu and only by 13.3% in average across VDCs; yet it was ranked as first priority in Khalinchowk.  Water storage scored an average 4.3 and was mentioned in all VDCs by 80% of women leaders. In Aalampu, water storage was ranked as least urgent priority by all women leaders.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

We don't have menstrual sanitary pads, we have no money to pay for pads. So we use cloth. For us, sanitary pads are the most urgent need.

Women in Lamidanda Ward 5, FGD, 06.06.15

“We need sanitary pads. Before the earthquakes, we could get pads from the market but now we can’t because we have no money. Before the earthquake we used soap, shampoo, washing powder but after the earthquakes we take only a little bit because the market is too far and we have little money, some people have no money at all.”

Women in Babare Ward 9, FGD, 09.06.15

 6 pieces of soap are reported to be used per week and per household, adding up to 24 a month.  12 large size toothpastes per month per household.  Toothbrush for each household member (in average 5 – 6)  7 shampoos a month  5 packs of washable sanitary pads per month and per household.

Recommendations

Even though it may be ranked lower than shelter in terms of priority, NFI assistance nevertheless remains critical. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Solar lamps, Kitchen sets, Hygiene kits, Toolkits and Bedding.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: Kitchen sets, solar lamps, Bedding, Hygiene kits and Menstrual sanitary pads.  Kitchen sets have to be prioritized in every VDC as very few have been distributed and this only in Aalampu and to an even lesser extent in Bigu. Kitchen sets have been highly ranked by both ward leaders and women, which is explained by the fact that households are often left with no choice but cooking in unsanitary conditions (e.g. outside, close to dust, mud or animals). Items in kitchen sets should include cooking pots / pans and recipients for food and boiled water.  Almost all households in Chilankha and Khopachagu had received solar lamps at the time at the assessment. Solar lamps should be a priority for Aalampu, Babare, Bigu, Kalinchowk and Lamidanda where the needs have not been covered yet.  Hygiene kits should be distributed in all VDCs, giving priority to Khopachagu and Bigu and Khopachagu where respectively 14% and 12% of the needs have been covered only.  Hygiene kits should directly include sets of re-usable menstrual sanitary pads for women as well as 24 soaps, 7 shampoos, 5 – 6 toothbrush, 12 large size toothpastes per household and per month as well as and detergent / laundry soap.  Hygiene kits should be accompanied by hygiene promotion sessions where basic key messages would be transmitted to the communities and the use of each component item should be explained.  At least half of hygiene promoters should be female to allow women to talk more freely about menstruation and other intimate issues in case they feel the need.  ACTED should involve potential beneficiaries and local population in the decision- making process on what items should be distributed to them based on helpfulness and capacity and willingness to use them.  Particular attention should be given to the content of hygiene kits; especially women should be involved in choosing what should be included in it.  Women beneficiaries have shared that they prefer reusable / washable sanitary pads instead of plastic pads. Real pads should be preferred over cloth though.  ACTED should provide households with water filter and water containers / storage units for water collected for drinking purposes. Water filters are considered as a more sustainable solution than purifying tablets. This is especially crucial for women as they are generally in charge of collecting water; having water storage would decrease the frequency of walking with heavy burdens as they could purify non-drinking water available near their house.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Main Sources of Drinking Water

Gravity water supply schemes are the most common source of drinking water, with a total of 253 schemes reported to cover water needs of 6047 households (97% of all population). Across all VDCs, all ward leaders reported that those gravity water supply schemes were made with plastic pipes (HDP). In average, one gravity water supply scheme provides water to 24 households. Chilankha’s population’s needs are the least covered by the scheme as it is reported that 36 households have to use the same one. Kalinchowk’s population’s water needs, however, are well covered with only 10 consumer households per gravity water supply scheme. Details per VDC are shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Number of households per Gravity Water Supply Scheme

Number of Households per Gravity Water VDCs Supply Scheme Aalampu 1 scheme/ 26 households Babare 1 scheme/ 24 households Bigu 1 scheme/ 28 households Chilankha 1 scheme/ 36 households Kalinchowk 1 scheme/ 10 households Lamidanda 1 scheme/ 27 households

Handpumps are not used in the assessed VDCs. 488 households are receiving water from 25 springs / streams.

Damages to Water Sources7

139 gravity water supply schemes have been reported damaged by the ward leaders, adding up to 55% of total gravity water supply schemes, yet they are still functional. 79 water supply schemes have been fully destroyed by the earthquakes. Only 14 spring / streams were reported damaged (mostly in Aalampu and Bigu).

Damages to water infrastructures have left 2866 households (46% of the population) with no or limited access to drinking water (see Figure 4).

7 See Annexes 2 and 3

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  449 households in Aalampu (65.7%)  473 in Babare (40%)  314 in Bigu (42.6%)  400 in Chilankha (42.1%)  351 in Kalinchowk (47.1%)  80 in Khopachagu (17.1%)  799 in Lamidanda (54.5%).

Figure 4: Water availabily per VDC

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Aalampu

Babare

Bigu

Chilankha

Kalinchowk

Khopachagu

Lamidanda

88% of ward leaders interviewed said that the most common types of damages were pipes made dysfunctional because of landslides and 89.8% because water-tanks have been damaged or destroyed during the earthquakes. 25.4% reported that the water source had been shifted to another place after the earthquake, including one third in Babare, 40% in Khopachagu and two thirds in Lamidanda.

Women’s Perspective on Damages to Water Sources

When asked about the person in charge of water collection for domestic purposes in their wards, 100% of women leaders responded that collecting water was adult women’s responsibility as well as their children’s responsibility, irrespective of their gender.

100% of women leaders affirmed that the main water source in their ward had been damaged by the earthquakes, which has affected all women and girls’s access to water in the assessed wards. While only 6.7% reported that they cannot access water at all since the

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 earthquakes, 97% reported that distance, and hence the walking time, had increased to reach the closest water point for women and girls and it increased the time needed to collect water as well for 93.3% of them. In average, the closest water source is approximately 2 kilometres away from their households. 90% reported that it had also increased the domestic workload and 40% reported that water was used only for drinking or bathing since the earthquakes, including 89% of women respondents in Aalampu.

WASH Needs of the Communities

Ward leaders were asked to rank the needs of their community in terms of WASH assistance. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 3 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 HDP pipes are the most urgent material needed to rehabilitate their water points. They scored an average of 1.8 and were reported in all VDCs by 89.3% of the ward leaders.  Cement/ concrete for tanks scored an average of 2.11 and was ranked in all VDCs by 93% of the ward leaders. Hence cement/concrete for water tanks are the second priority need of people in Dolakha.  Source protection scored an average of 2.03 and was ranked in all VDCs by 55.9% of the ward leaders. Source protection is the first most urgent material to make water points rehabilitation sustainable.  GI pipes scored an average of 2.06 and were ranked in all VDCs by 55.9% of ward leaders.  Plastic tanks scored 3 but were ranked by two ward leaders in Laminanda only (wards 3 and 9).  Tools scored 3 but were ranked in Aalampu only by the Ward 1 leader.

Latrines and Hygiene Practices

Prior the earthquake, all of the households had septic tank latrines in all VDCs, except for less than 0.2% in Lamidanda which did not have any latrines.

Ward leaders reported that those with no latrines did not practice open defecation though.

Following the earthquakes, access to latrines has been tremendously impacted, with more than half of the population that have no access to latrines any more (53.5%) and more than 40% that use temporary pit latrines only. Only 12 Aalampu households report to still have access to their septic tank latrines. 93% of the respondents said that people had to practice open defecation after the earthquakes due to lack of alternative solutions and

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 44% share their pit latrines with other households. 100% of women leaders reported that women and girls used private latrines prior to the earthquakes. Since the earthquakes, according to 83.3% of women leaders, women and girls have to practice open defecation due to lack of alternatives. Only 10% still have access to a private latrine. 10% also use pit latrines. Depending on availability, 71.7% report that women and girls also use latrines shared with other households.

“All people have this problem. We go anywhere we can.”

Women in Lamidanda Ward 5, FGD, 06.06.15

In terms of hygiene practices, all ward leaders declared that households wash their hands after defecation and prior eating or cooking.

Recommendations

Drinking water and latrines, along with shelter and food, have been identified by communities as one of the main priorities in Dolakha. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 ACTED to remember though that while Cash for Work participants are paid 80% of the minimum pay rate, the budget for Cash Grant should cover 100% of the minimum pay rate so that beneficiaries can employ plumbers for as many days as they need to complete the task.  Most VDCs were Open Defecation Free before the earthquake. The lack of latrines leading people to practice open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of communities and dignity of individuals, especially women who are in dire need of intimacy, for example for changing sanitary pads. WASH programmes therefore should be considered a priority by ACTED that should rehabilitate septic tank latrines or build more resistant latrines.  Accent shall be put on rehabilitating or building household latrines with functioning hand-washing system.  Household latrines are very important to respect women and girls’ dignity as well. Indeed, most of them were used to have private latrines before the earthquakes; resorting to open defecation can be experienced as unsafe and / or uncomfortable, especially for women.  ACTED should distribute material for rebuilding latrines. This would most likely include toilet pan, cement, pipes, CGI sheets or timber. Either cash could be provided to households to allow them to buy the material directly, or material could be provided should it be unavailable in the local markets. Cash for Work with local plumbers could also be implemented to rehabilitate damaged gravity water supply schemes or Cash Grants could be given to beneficiaries for them to directly hire local plumbers. It is important for ACTED to remember though that while Cash for Work participants are paid 80% of the minimum pay rate, the budget for Cash Grant should cover 100% of the minimum pay rate so that beneficiaries can employ plumbers for as many days as they need to build a latrine.  ACTED should distribute water tanks either at ward level or household level. This would likely contribute to decrease the burden of water collection for women (who are usually in charge of this task) as more water could be stored in the house.  As open defecation was not common practice before the earthquakes and that all people are reported to wash hands before cooking or eating and after defecating, hygiene promotion should include only very basic messages and does not need to be very exhaustive as this could appear as patronizing to local communities.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Food Security Assistance Received

All ward leaders reported that their community received some kind of food relief since the earthquakes. 97.9% (6101 households across VDCs) received rice and lentils, 93% (5801 households) received oil or fats, 86.9% (5415 households) received sugar and salt, 23.3% (1455 households) received food for young children and infant – only in Babare and Lamidanda though, 12.9% (806 households) received tea and spices, 1.6% received vegetables – only 101 households in Babare, meat or fish – only 102 households in Lamidanda, and fruit – only 100 households in Lamidanda. No household received eggs.

Details on food relief received per VDC can be found in Figure 6.

Figure 5.1: Food relief received per VDC

100.00%

90.00% Rice 80.00%

70.00% Lentils

60.00%

50.00% Vegetables

40.00% Meat / Fish 30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00% Aalampu Babare Bigu Chilankha Kalinchowk Khopachagu Lamidanda

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Figure 5.2: Food relief received per VDC

100.00% Oil / fats 90.00%

80.00% Tea and spices 70.00% 60.00% Sugar and salt 50.00% Fruit 40.00% 30.00% Food for young 20.00% children / infant 10.00% 0.00%

44% of ward leaders reported that households in their wards had already consumed the food relief distributed, including  100% in Khopachagu  89% in Aalampu  44% in Lamidanda  33% in Babare  33% in Bigu  22% in Chilankha  11% in Kalinchowk.

11.9% said that food received would last less than a week while 25.4% reported that it would last a week. 15.2% assessed that they would have enough food to eat for two weeks after the completion of the assessment. Only the 3.5 remaining percent said that it would last more than two weeks. This means that by the time of this final assessment reporting, 96.5% of food that had been received as emergency relief by people in Dolakha has been consumed.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Figure 6: How long the food would last after completion of field assessment

3.5%

15% Already consumed Less than a week 44% A week Two weeks 25% More than two weeks

11.9%

Food basket is finished, they provided 30 kg rice, 3 and 4 litres oil. We received the food basket 1 week ago.

Women in Babare Ward 9, FGD, 09.06.15

Only 37% of the ward leaders reported that the food relief effort had been made by the government itself, including:  100% in Babare  100% in Bigu  67% in Lamidanda  44% in Aalampu  33% in Khopachagu  0% in Chilankha  0% in Kalinchowk.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

In addition to local NGOs that were already mentioned before - RRN, Tuki Sang, Oselive – were named Chahana Nepal and Gaurishankar Samrakshan. Active INGOs are Red Cross, WFP, USAID, ACTION AID and UNDP. Tuki Sang and Oselive as local NGOs and Red Cross and WFP to a lesser extent as INGOs seem to be very active in Dolakha.

Food Needs of the Communities

Ward leaders were asked to rank the needs of their community in terms of food relief. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 Rice scored an average of 1, and was ranked in all VDCs by 100% of the ward leaders. 100% of the ward leaders ranked rice as the most urgent food need.  Lentils (dhal) ranked an average of 2.4, and were ranked in all VDCs by 81.3% of the ward leaders. Lentils can thus be considered as second priority.  Oils/fats scored an average of 3.1, and were ranked in all VDCs by 94.9% of the ward leaders. Oils and fats are third priority.  Sugar and salt scored an average of 3.6, and were ranked in all VDCs by 88% of the ward leaders. Sugar and salt are fourth priority.  Food for young children and infant scored an average of 4.3, and was ranked in all VDCs by 61% of the ward leaders. Food for young children and infant is fifth priority.  Meat and fish scored an average of 3.8 and but were ranked in Aalampu, Bigu, Chilankha and Lamidanda VDCs by only 10% of the ward leaders.  Vegetables scored an average of 4, and were ranked only by Chilankha (ward 3) and Lamidanda VDCs (ward 3). It is worth noticeable that vegetables scored 3 in Lamidanda, showing some specific preferences in terms of diversity in food consumption.  Eggs scored 4 as well but were ranked only by one ward leader in Aalampu and one in Babare, which may be explained by the fact that eggs are more or less available to households through their poultry in other VDCs.  Fruit scored 4.4 and were only mentioned by 5 ward leaders in Aalampu VDC, which also shows some specific and healthy food preferences.  Tea and spices scored an average of 4.5, and were ranked in all VDCs by 49% of the ward leaders.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Women’s Perspective on Food Needs

Women leaders were asked to rank the needs in terms of food relief, as per women and girls’ needs. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 Rice scored an average of 1, and was ranked in all VDCs by 100% of the women leaders. 100% of the women leaders ranked rice as the main priority.  Oils/fats scored an average of 2.8, and were ranked in all VDCs by 95% of the women leaders. Oils and fats are thus second priority for women.  Lentils/dhal scored an average of 2.4, and were ranked in all VDCs except Aalampu by 45% of the women leaders. Lentils are thus the third priority for women.  Sugar and salt scored an average of 3.5, and were ranked in all VDCs by 78.3% of the women leaders. Sugar and salt are fourth priority for women.  Vegetables scored an average of 3.8, and were ranked in all VDCs by 50% of the women leaders. Vegetables are fifth priority for women.  Tea and spices scored an average of 3.8, and were ranked in all VDCs except Aalampu by 28.3% of the women leaders.  Food for young children and infant scored an average of 4.3, and was ranked in all VDCs except Khopachagu by 43.3% of the women leaders.  Meat and fish scored an average of 4, and were ranked ranked in all VDCs except Aalampu and Bigu by 16.7% of the women leaders.  Fruits scored an average of 4.3, and were ranked ony by Chilankha and Khopachagu VDCs by 5% of the women leaders.  Eggs scored an average of 4.9, and were ranked by 31.7% of the women leaders.

Recommendations

Food relief remains one of the top three priorities identified by communities. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, lentils, oils and fats, sugar and salt and food for young children and infant.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 most urgent needs in terms of food are the following: rice, oils and fats, lentils, sugar and salt and vegetables.  Food packages distributed should also include food for young children and infant (lactosine) as well as food for pregnant and lactating women.  While food aid seems to be an important immediate path to help people to keep proper levels of nutrition and food diversity in their diets, the risk of dependence on external aid should be taken into account when programming. It is acceptable to use food distributions to ensure short-term food security; however, means of growing their own food should be considered as a better alternative option in the medium and longer-term, for example in the form of livelihood inputs / agricultural kits.

Livelihoods Main Livelihoods

Households’ main livelihoods in Dolakha revolve around subsistence agriculture, with most households combining more than one activity.

 95.3% (5939 households) cultivate crops.  67.7% (4218 households) rear livestock.  Only a minority runs businesses, holds governmental jobs or is employed in private businesses (see Figure 8).

Figure 7: Main Livelihoods in Dolakha

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% Crop agriculture 60.00% Livestock rearing 50.00% 95.30% 40.00% 67.7% Others 30.00% 8.60% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Crop agriculture Livestock rearing Others

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

As per ward leaders’ estimations, 5939 households in Dolakha have crop agriculture as a main source of income, which represents 95.4% of all assessed households in the district.  47.5% lost their agricultural land during the earthquakes.  51% have lost their harvest for this season due to the earthquakes.  74.7% have lost their agricultural inputs (e.g. tools, seeds, storage facilities) for this season due to the earthquakes.

As per ward leaders’ estimations, 4218 households in Dolakha have livestock rearing as a main source of income, which represents 67.7% of Dolakha’s households8.  16.8% have lost their livestock.  55.6% have lost access to grazing land due to the earthquakes.

By the time of assessment completion in June, 94.9% had not received any agriculture- related assistance. However, 98.3% affirmed that households in their wards were ready to restart their livestock rearing and / or agricultural activities.

Crop agriculture

 100% of the ward leaders report that potatoes are cultivated in their ward for both household consumption and as a source of income.  While millet/kodo is cultivated for household consumption in all wards, 33.9% report that surpluses are also sold in the markets, including 100% in Chilankha and Kalinchowk.  While maize is cultivated for household consumption in all wards, 32% report that surpluses are also sold in the markets, including 100% in Chilankha and 100% in Kalinchowk.  While vegetables are cultivated for household consumption in all wards, 30.5% report that surpluses are also sold in the markets, including 89% in Chilankha and 100% in Kalinchowk.  While wheat is cultivated for household consumption in all wards, 22% report that surpluses are also sold in the markets. This includes 100% of ward leaders in Chilankha and Kalinchowk.  89.7% cultivate barley for household consumption; 30% also use their production as a source of income, including 89% in Chilankha and 100% in Kalinchowk.  Rice is cultivated by 100% people in Babare and Laminanda and 80% in Khopachagu for household consumption. However, it is not cultivated in all other VDCs.

8 We observe that there is some double counting - many households have reported two different activities as their main source of income. These overlaps might be explained by the local context since in Nepal, it is very current to have both agricultural and livestock activities at the same time.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Furthermore, no household has the capacity to produce a surplus to be sold on the market.  Grain amaranth is cultivated only in Aalampu (11%) and Lamidanda (44%).  Legums such as lentils and peas, tea, cotton, jute, tobacco, sugarcane, oil crops and spices are not cultivated in those VDCs in Dolakha.

Potatoes, millet/kodo, maize, vegetables, wheat and barley are the most cultivated crops by households in Dolakha. All these crops are mostly used for household’s consumption except in Chilankha and Kalinchowk VDCs where crops contribute to both food security of the household and to generate some income thanks to sales in the local markets. Grain amaranth, legums, cotton, jute, tobacco, sugarcane, oilcrops, tea and spices are generally not cultivated in Dolakha.

Plantation and harvesting time

 Potatoes and maize are planted in January - February and harvested in July – August.  Millet/kodo is planted in June – July and harvested in November – December.  Wheat and barley are planted in September – October and harvested in March - April – May.  Vegetables are planted and harvested in all seasons, depending on the type of vegetable.  Rice is planted in July and harvested in November.

Livestock rearing

 In all wards, goats were reared before the earthquakes for both personal consumption and income generation.  86.4% reared chicken for both personal consumption and income generation.  81.3% cows or buffaloes for both.  69.5% sheeps for both (but the remaining 30.5% do not rear sheep at all).  Pigs are not reared except for Bigu in wards 5, 7 and 8.

Women’s perspective on Livelihood

92% of women have crop agriculture as a main livelihood.  100% of women in Aalampu have crop agriculture as a main livelihood.  97% in Babare  94% in Bigu  98% in Chilankha

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  88% in Kalinchowk  92% in Khopachagu  77% in Lamidanda.

89% also report that they have livestock rearing as a main livelihood, which includes double counting – some households consider both crop agriculture and livestock rearing as their main livelihood without distinction).

 100% of women in Aalampu have livestock rearing as a main livelihood  96% in Babare  91% in Bigu  94% in Chilankha  87% in Kalinchowk  73% in Khopachagu  73% in Lamidanda.

In Aalampu, women leaders also reported an average of 17% of women having a non-agro business. In Lamidanda ward 6, the woman leader reported that 10% of women had an agribusiness such as vegetable selling or small restaurant. 60% are reported to have a non- agro business such as a small shop in this same ward. Other wards and VDCs do not report any other livelihood for women – or they represent a very marginal minority.

Division of Labour

In all wards except for Chilankha and Kalinchowk, 100% of ward leaders said that adult women were in charge of conducting Pre-harvest activities (including plantation, cultivation, irrigation and daily maintenance). In Chilankha and Kalinchowk, 100% of ward leaders said that pre-harvest activities were the responsibility of adult men. Decisions are made by both in 78% of the wards. 100% of ward leaders responded that women made decisions about pre-harvest activities in Bigu.

In Aalampu, Chilankha, Kalinchowk and Khopachagu, adult women are in charge of harvesting while adult men harvest in Babare, Bigu and Lamidanda. Decisions about harvests are made by both female and male adults in all wards.

In all wards except for Khopachagu where we have 20% of adult women in charge as well, post-production activities such as processing and selling final products are 100% the responsibility of the men. Decisions about post-production activities are made by both female and male adults in 100% of the wards.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Table 4. Division of Labour in Agriculture

In charge of (conducting) In charge of decision-making Pre-Harvest

Aalampu Chilankha Babare Kalinchowk Bigu Khopachagu Lamidanda Harvest

Aalampu Babare Chilankha Bigu Kalinchowk Lamidanda Khopachagu Post-production activities

All ward leaders said that both adult women and men and female children under 16 were in charge of livestock care. 84.7% of the ward leaders interviewed also mentioned that boys below sixteen usually take care of livestock as well.

All ward leaders report that adult men go to the markets to sell the livestock, followed by 96.6% of the leaders that women go as well.

Table 5. Division of Labour in Livestock Rearing

In charge of (conducting) In charge of decision-making Livestock care Livestock care

Selling livestock Selling livestock produce produce

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Women’s perspective on Division of Labour

100% of women leaders reported that adult males were the main providers in their wards. In average, women contribute to 12% of the household’s income.

85% report that men are in charge of running businesses, including 100% in Aalampu, Bigu, Chilankha, Kalinchowk and Khopachagu. 62.5% in Babare report that adult women are in charge as well as 55.6% in Lamidanda.

Regarding decision-making on business activities, 76.7% report that adult men are in charge and 15% report that both men and women can make decisions regarding business activities. The remaining 10% either report that no one in particular was in charge of making decisions on business-related matters or that women take the lead.

98.3% of women take responsibility for pre-harvest activities and 100% report to be involved in the decision-making process for these activities.

100% are in charge of harvesting and report to be involved in the decision-making process as well.

95% report that they take part in post-production activities and 85% are involved in the decision-making process for those. Only in Aalampu, women leaders report that women in general are not participating in the decision-making process on sales of final products on the market.

While all women take care of livestock, only 53.3% report to be selling livestock on markets. However, Lamidanda and Aalampu VDCs represent noticeable exceptions since 100% and 89% of women in these respective VDCs participate in livestock sales. 100% also make decision regarding livestock care; only 36.7% of them do regarding sales livestock products though.

81.7% of women report to be ready to restart sustaining their livelihood, including agricultural activities and livestock rearing. Only 55.6% of women in Babare reported to be ready though, which could be explained by the loss of land, seeds and tools alongside with a trauma due to the earthquakes.

“We are ill, from the earthquake. Traumatised, mentally and physically. Because we have nothing.”

Women in Babare Ward 9, FGD, 09.06.15

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

In summary, according to women leaders, women are in charge of pre-harvest activities such as plantation, cultivation, irrigation and daily maintenance, of harvesting and of post- production activities. They contribute to make decisions regarding the pre-harvest and harvest phases and are also well involved in the decision-making process for sales. These results conflict to some extent with the information given by ward leaders who asserted that men were also often in charge of harvesting but that post-production activities such as sales were the responsibility of the man. As per AMEU guidelines, this report will favour women’s opinions on what is of concern to them.

Assistance Received

Livelihood assistance was inexistent or very low in Dolakha at the time of the assessment.

Woman in Dolakha in front of her destroyed house

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Livelihoods Needs of the Communities

Ward leaders were asked to rank the needs of their community in terms of livelihoods assistance. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 Seeds scored an average of 2.1, and were ranked in all VDCs by 94.9% of the ward leaders. Seeds are the first priority in terms of livelihood assistance to be provided in Dolakha.  Livestock scored an average of 2.4, and was ranked in all VDCs by 83% of the ward leaders. Livestock is the second priority.  Vocational training scored 2.9 and was ranked in all VDCs by 62.7% of the ward leaders. Vocational training is the third priority.  Shelter for livestock scored an average of 3.2, and was ranked in all VDCs by 91.5% of the ward leaders. Shelter for livestock is fourth priority.  Animal feed scored an average of 3.35, and was ranked in all VDCs by 83% of the ward leaders. Animal feed is fifth priority.  Tools scored an average of 3.9, and were ranked in all VDCs by 59.3% of the ward leaders.  Storage units scored an average of 4.6, and were ranked by 15.25% of the ward leaders in 4 VDCs only.

Seeds, livestock and vocational training are seen as the 3 top priorities for resuming livelihood activities based upon crop agriculture or livestock rearing.

Women’s Perspective on Livelihoods Needs

Women leaders were asked to rank the needs in terms of livelihood relief, as per women and girls’ needs. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 5 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 Seeds scored an average of 1.9, and were ranked in all VDCs by 88.3% of the women leaders. Seeds is the first priority for women.  Livestock scored an average of 2.4, and was ranked in all VDCs by 86.7% of the women leaders. Livestock is thus second priority for women.  Animal feed scored an average of 3.2 and was ranked by 90% of women leaders. Animal feed is the third priority for women, followed by Shelter for Livestock, as explained by the fact that women are generally in charge of providing livestock care.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Shelter for livestock scored an average of 2.6, but was only ranked by 38.3% of the women leaders. However, shelter for livestock has been ranked as first priority for Aalampu and Kalinchowk.  Vocational training scored an average of 3.8, and was ranked in all VDCs by 78.3% of the women leaders.  Tools scored an average of 4.1 and were ranked in all VDCs by 66.7% of the women leaders.  Storage units scored an average of 3.7, but were ranked by only 21.7% of the women leaders.

Recommendations

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 start, maintain and increase their production and productivity levels. However, the needs should be assessed at household level since storage units have not been ranked amongst the five most urgent priorities by communities in Dolakha, implying that some households may still possess these materials.

Infrastructures and Education

Access to main roads

Although more than 71% have either access to the main road through a link road or their ward is already located on the main road, 75% report that the link roads are not functional anymore since the earthquakes. Furthermore, there is no link between Kalinchowk VDC and a main road. Exceptions are found in Babare and Lamidanda where 78% and 89% of the roads connecting them to the main road are reported to still be accessible. Half of the ward leaders reported that these roads were not repairable by manpower.

Landslides

Access to education

73 schools were running in Dolakha before the earthquakes, including 46 primary schools and 27 secondary schools. See details per VDC in Table 4.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Table 6. Number of schools per VDC before the earthquakes

Primary schools Secondary schools Total Aalampu 6 2 8 Babare 5 4 9 Bigu 9 6 15 Chilankha 7 2 9 Kalinchowk 11 5 16 Khopachagu 1 2 13 Lamidanda 7 6 13

Only four are still standing after both earthquakes. 69 were destroyed, including:  87.5% (7 out of 8) in Aalampu  100% (9 out of 9) in Babare  93% (14 out of 15) in Bigu  89% (8 out of 9) in Chilankha  100% (16 out of 16) in Kalinchowk  67% (2 out of 3) in Khopachagu  100% (13 out of 13) in Lamidanda.

Figure 8: Level of school destruction per VDC

100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00%

All schools have been destroyed in Babare, Kalinchowk and Lamidanda.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Despite the level of destruction, school teachers are still running classes for children and teenagers, as reported by 78% of ward leaders. Among those, 57.8% were taking in tents and 24.4% in makeshift shelters. Others report that schools are operating in the open air or under old tarps. Only 4% say that schools are still open in the old, undamaged building. 84.7% of ward leaders mention that latrines in the schools have been damaged and would therefore require WASH rehabilitation in addition to re-construction of infrastructure.

As per ward leaders’ estimations, there are approximately 11,774 students in Dolakha, which would represent 40.2% of the total population. This gives us an indication about the large proportion of minors in the district.  2127 students in Aalampu: 236 students per school  1789 in Babare: 199 students per school  2220 in Bigu: 246 students per school  755 in Chilankha: 84 students per school  1395 in Kalinchowk: 155 students per school  795 in Khopachagu: 159 students per school  2693 in Lamidanda: 299 students per school.

On average, there are 200 students per school.

Women’s perspective on access to education

100% of women leaders report that the former closest school has been affected by the earthquakes. When asked about the impact of the earthquakes on children’s education, an alarming 36.6% asserted that households do not send all their children to school anymore because they cannot afford to pay the school fees for everyone. Another additional 10% report that they do not have the money to pay for school fees at all, implying that none of the children in these households would attend school. 43.3% also reported that classes are taking place under tarps, in tents or in open areas since the earthquakes.

Education Needs

Ward leaders were asked to rank the needs of the school facilities. They were given a list of items which they had to rank from 1 to 3 – with 1 as being the most urgent.

 The reconstruction of the building is considered as a first priority by ward leaders. It scored an average 1.4, and was ranked in all VDCs by 84.7% of the ward leaders.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  WASH (latrines and water access) rehabilitation is the second priority in schools. It scored an average of 2.29, and was ranked in all VDCs by 83% of the ward leaders.  School supplies scored an average of 2.31, and were ranked in all VDCs by 83% of the ward leaders. School supplies are thus ranked as third priority.  Tents and tarpaulins scored an average of 1.3, although they were ranked only by 5% of the ward leaders (Chilankha ward 7, Lamidanda ward 3, Aalampu ward 5).

Recommendations

Numerous schools in Dolakha have been severely damaged or even fully destroyed by the earthquakes, which has negatively impacted the education of thousands of children. Drop- outs due to lack of alternative should be a tremendous concern for the aid community. Going back to school is a priority for children as it enables them to ‘go back to a normal life’ and build a brighter future for themselves. Furthermore, according to UNICEF9, the longer children are out of school after a disaster, the less likely it is for them to ever go back to the classroom. It is therefore crucial to ensure that schools are able to resume their activities as soon as possible. While providing free public education itself is the responsibility of the Nepalese government, ACTED could contribute to improve chidren’s possibilities by concentrating efforts on infrastructure rehabilitation. AMEU would therefore recommend the following:

 ACTED should engage in school infrastructure rehabilitation, including WASH programmes such as rehabilitation of damaged latrines. Cash for Work activities could be implemented to rehabilitate school facilities.  ACTED should build gender-separated latrines in schools.  ACTED should distribute school supplies, including notebooks and other stationary to children as well as furniture to schools such as tables, chairs, blackboards and chalk sticks or whiteboards and markers.  While re-building schools is the priority in terms of education, ACTED should not overlook the fact that construction takes time. In the short-term period, provision of emergency material such as tents and tarps would be of immense help to school teachers.  ACTED should take into account that Aalampu ward 5, Chilankha ward 7 and Lamidanda ward 3 ranked the distribution of tents and tarps as one their main priority needs, if not the most urgent, implying that schools are being run in open air in those wards.

9http://unicef.org.np/latest-updates/stories/2015/05/31/back-to-school-makes-back-to-normal-possible (accessed 28/07/15)

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Health

Access to Health Facilities

In average, government health facilities are 3 kilometres away from households. While the distance is quite short in Aalampu (less than 2 kilometres), the distance goes up to 5.5 kilometres in Chilankha, with two ward leaders reporting that the closest health facility is 12 kilometres away in average.

98.3% said that their closest health facility was still open after the earthquakes; 79.7% said that they could access it. Noticeable exceptions are Khopachagu and Lamidanda where 80% and 78% of the ward leaders said that the place was not accessible anymore.

However, 76.2% of ward leaders declared that activities are being run in tents or makeshift shelters. Only 18.6% of the ward leaders reported that activities are being run from the undamaged building of the health facility. In 5% of the wards, health facilities are being run under tarps. (see Figure 9).

Figure 9: Location of health care provision

5% In tents 19% In makeshift shelters 12% 64% In undamaged health care centres In tarps

83% of latrines in health facilities in all VDCs were reported being damaged, including 100% in Chilankha, Kalinchowk, Khopachagu and Lamidanda. However, in Babare 78% said that latrine in health facilities had not been damaged.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 In terms of caseload, the number of patient admissions per day more than doubled since the earthquakes with more than 1200 patients coming daily compared to 573 in average before the earthquakes.

Private health facilities are not as much available to communities in the sense that distance between them and the houses is quite extensive. In average, people have to walk 12 kilometres to reach the closest private health facility. While it remains quite low in Lamidanda (2 km), Khopachagu (2.8 km) and Bigu (7 km), other wards are more remote. It takes 18 kilometres from Aalampu to reach a private clinic, 10.5 from Babare, 30 from Chiankha and 27 from Kalinchowk. Only 45.8% said that those private health facilities were still accessible after the earthquakes, which is not surprising given the long distance reported and the high risk of landslides during monsoon season. Medical assistance provided by NGOs remains very low, with 76% asserting that there was no additional medical in their respective VDCs. Khopachagu VDC reported absolutely none.

Women’s perspective on access to health facilities

83.3% of women leaders assert that the former closest public health facility had been damaged during the earthquake. Only 10% in Babare and 6.7% in Bigu reported that it had not been affected; other VDCs’ health facilities have been fully affected. 51.7% of the women leaders report that women and girls do not have the necessary money to pay for medicines or consultations; other consequences of the earthquakes on the functioning level of health facilities are that women and girls do not have the financial means to pay for transportation to the health care centre (8.3%), that they cannot access the facility anymore (6.7%) and that doctors are operating under tarps or in open areas.

Healthcare Needs

When asked about the challenges faced by government health facilities and what would be the most urgent material to allow them to be fully functional, ward leaders ranked priorities from 1 (the most urgent) to 5 (the least urgent).

 Reconstruction of building scores 1.45 and is reported in all VDCs except in Babare by 64.4% of the ward leaders. Reconstruction of the health facility is thus the first priority in Dolakha.  Medicines score 1.75 and are reported as a priority in all VDCs by 96.6% of ward leaders. Medicines are the second direst need for health care in Dolakha.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015  Latrines and drinking water accessibility score 2.4 and are ranked in all VDCs by 72.9% of the ward leaders. WASH assistance is the third priority in health care centres.  Staff scores 2.5 and was ranked in all VDCs except Khopachagu by 50.8% of ward leaders.  Accessibility through rubble clearance activities scores 2.9 and was ranked in all VDCs except Khopachagu and Lamidanda, yet only by 11.9% of ward leaders.  Tents and tarps, in terms of score (1) are the most urgent material needed for health facilities but it was only reported by 5% of the ward leaders (Chilankha ward leaders from wards 3, 4 and 9). Tarps and tents might be a priority in Chilankha wards where the medical operations do not have a building to take place in; yet this temporary solution is not favoured by the people as they are hoping for more solid and sustainable solutions in order to get proper health care.

Recommendations

Coping Strategies

Women and ward leaders were asked about how households would cope with losses due to both earthquakes. Alarming is the number of ward leaders reporting that households will cut on essential goods, necessities and social welfare expenses such as food (88%), health (71.1%) and education (45.8%). Reduction in food expenses is the second expected coping strategy for households after taking a loan from family and friends (see Figure 9).

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

The large majority of households will, according to leaders, cope by:  taking loans from their closest family and social environment such as friends or family members (89.8%)  eating less (88%)  decreasing medical expenses and level of proper healthcare (71.1%)  using their own savings (67.8%, including 100% in Bigu and Kalinchowk, 89% of households in Babare and Chilankha and two thirds in Lamidanda).

To a lesser extent, households in Dolakha will reduce expenses for educational purposes (45.8%) and borrow money from informal networks (52.5%, including 100% in Aalampu Khopachagu) and formal institutions (28.8%, including 80% in Khopachagu). 27% are planning on selling their non-productive assets, including 100% in Aalampu and Khoapachagu and 22% in Chilankha. 13.6% are planning on selling their remaining productive assets, including 11% in Babare and Lamidanda and two thirds in Chilankha. Labour migration, to the contrary, is not reported to be considered as a viable option for many households. Yet one out of ten heads of households would move to find new job opportunities – as per estimations of one third of Babare’s ward leaders and one third of Lamidanda’s ward leaders. 11.9% of the households are planning to completely move from their ward in order to look for work elsewhere.

Considering that most of the households were already economically insecure prior the earthquakes, it can be assumed that these coping strategies will impact households extremely negatively. It will further deepen their vulnerability by depleting their resource and increasing their indebtedness, which will create a vicious circle weakening further and further their ability to pay for the most essential goods and social services.

Figure 10. Coping Strategies of Households

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

Take loan from family and friends Eat less / Buy less food Reduce healthcare expenses Use own savings Take loan from informal network / institution Reduce education expenses Take loan from formal network / institution Sell non-productive assets Sell productive assets Labour migration of the whole HH Labour migration of the head of HH

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Women’s perspective on Coping Strategies

100% of all women leaders in all VDCs say that households will use their own savings to cope with losses of financial means and productive assets due to the earthquakes.

All women leaders also report that women are planning on cutting off education expenses for their children, which is way higher than ward leaders’ estimations.

91.7% say that households will borrow money from friends or family.

83.3% of women leaders say that they will reduce their food expenses and hence consumption, including 100% in Aalampu, Chilankha, Kalinchowk, and Khopachagu, 89% in Babare and 78% in Bigu and 22% in Lamidanda. Reduction in food quantity and meal frequency could greatly endanger their health in terms of proper nutrition levels and quality diet.

36.7% assert that they will reduce their health expenses, including all women leaders in Khopachagu. In Aalampu though, all women leaders reported that they would not cut off these expenses.

Taking loans from a formal institution is reported as an option for more than one fifth of the women respondents. Additionally, 8.3% of women leaders report that women and households are planning on borrowing money from money lenders.

Only 6.7% of women leaders affirm that households in their wards would have to sell their remaining productive assets such as seeds, tools, livestock and land; however, this percentage goes up to 16.7% in Khopachagu. Even though a small percentage of women respondents raised her concern about having to consider this as an option, it remains worrying given the already significant level of vulnerability of these households with the few possessions they still have.

It is reported that no household member would have to move to find new livelihood opportunities except for 11% in Lamidanda that are looking at the option. It does not correlate with ward leader’s assertion that labour migration might be used as a coping strategy by one out of ten heads of households. As per AMEU guidelines, ward leaders’ estimations would be taken into closer consideration on information that concern general information about households and demographic trends in their ward.

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Recommendations

 It is essential that the aid community assists people in rebuilding their old livelihood to reach former levels of self-reliance and resilience in order to avoid such coping strategies provoking a vicious circle of indebtedness, lack of capacity to reimburse and other consequences that would put the economic viability of the households and their health in danger.  While food aid seems to be an important immediate path to help people to keep proper levels of nutrition and food diversity in their diets, the risk of dependence on external aid should be taken into account when programming. It is acceptable to use food distributions to ensure short-term Food security; however, means of growing their own food should be considered as a better alternative option in the medium and longer-term, for example in the form of livelihood inputs / agricultural kits.  While education and health are not part of ACTED’s programming focus, we should use Cash for Work schemes to rebuild those infrastructures. Indeed, it would not only rehabilitate access to these facilities and inject a new source of income to vulnerable households that could be complementing their main livelihood , hence help them not to save on these specific costs.  Top three coping strategies for ward and women leaders are: take loans from family and friends, buy less food and use their own savings.  As per ward leaders’ ranking, the 5 mostly used coping strategies have been / will be: take loans from family and friends, eat less, reduce health expenses, use own savings and take a loan from an informal network, i.e. a local money lender.  As per women leaders’ ranking, the 5 mostly used coping strategies have been / will be: reduce education expenses for children, use their own savings, borrow money from relatives or friends, buy less food and cooking less meals and reduce their health expenses.

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Conclusion

The earthquakes have impacted households on multiple levels, affecting not only their shelter but also their daily life, their access to and use of basic necessities such as cooking or hygiene items, their access to latrines and water, their food supplies and their capacity to provide for themselves and their family.

1. Shelter kits remain the most crucial priority for all households, including Non-Food Items to help them relive their lives in dignity. Shelter kits should be winterized in anticipation of the cold season. No emergency kits should be distributed anymore. 2. Access to WASH / latrines is the second priority as it has usually been destroyed or damaged at the same time as houses. 3. Food security and sustainable livelihood assistance, i.e. reaching back a certain level of food stock for households and for them to have the practical and financial means to maintain this level of self-sufficiency, is the third priority.

Important to bear in mind is that many households have lost their main source of income/food, and have bleak prospects for the future. Households’ plot size has often been dramatically reduced due to landslides and cracks. This may have a severe impact on households’ food security as most of them usually use their harvest for internal consumption. It is therefore essential to implement livelihood recovery activities in order to build households’ resilience, to mitigate displacement and migration, and to reduce the risk of communities relying on external aid for survival.

In this regard, many women expressed their psychological trauma over the impact of the earthquakes, such as their fear of aftershocks. AMEU would therefore strongly recommend providing psycho-socio counselling to targeted communities.

In terms of overall organisation, distributions should start as early as possible in the morning since household members are free at that time – around 6 or 7 am.

Finally, ACTED should remain aware of discrimination during distributions, as vulnerable households (e.g. elderly, ‘uneducated’ or particularly landless people) tend to face challenges in accessing relief from local authorities (e.g. VDC leaders) or relief committee members.

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ANNEXES

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015

Annex 1 – Dolakha’s Main Markets

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Annex 2 - Gravity Water Supply Schemes Damaged but Functioning

District VDC Ward Name of source number Dolakha Aalampu 1 Darka / Nangera Dolakha Aalampu 2 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 3 Kotyarka Dolakha Aalampu 4 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 5 Basa / Chiruwa Dolakha Aalampu 6 Basa / Chiruwa Dolakha Aalampu 7 Basa / Chiruwa Dolakha Aalampu 8 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 9 Kingkerthal /Basa Dolakha Babare 1 N/A Dolakha Babare 2 Ban Dolakha Babare 3 N/A Dolakha Babare 4 N/A Dolakha Babare 5 Khiping Khapa /Darepa Dolakha Babare 6 N/A Dolakha Babare 7 Aahava kahola / Chipana / Kamara Dolakha Babare 8 Kamala parbi / Mane dada / Chapali Dolakha Babare 9 Tap water Dolakha Bigu 1 N/A Dolakha Bigu 2 Uttare tharu / Kastori Dolakha Bigu 3 Merak Khola / Pali Ghau / Khukure Pani Dolakha Bigu 4 N/A Dolakha Bigu 5 Chollung Khola Dolakha Bigu 6 Sak / Chim Dolakha Bigu 7 Bapang pakha / Pan Kharka Dolakha Bigu 8 Ghodamute / Chhayapakhe / Nagthan / lhose Dolakha Bigu 9 Chedak / Tapepa Dolakha Chilankha 1 Tajang / Thulodhunga Dolakha Chilankha 2 Manekuna / Kagajparne Dolakha Chilankha 3 Tajang Khanepani Dolakha Chilankha 4 Patal / Sangpani Dolakha Chilankha 5 Sejangtang / Chaithali Dolakha Chilankha 6 Patle / Wangbari Dolakha Chilankha 7 Yanekhadka / Thulodhanga Dolakha Chilankha 8 Thumba Dolakha Chilankha 9 Bojo dhara / Bhorladhara Dolakha Kalinchowk 1 Merekpa Khola Dolakha Kalinchowk 2 Merekpa Khola Dolakha Kalinchowk 3 N/A

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Dolakha Kalinchowk 4 Thadokhore Dolakha Kalinchowk 5 Pom kharka / Bhalodala / Malkharka Dolakha Kalinchowk 6 N/A Dolakha Kalinchowk 7 Silangchakhola Dolakha Kalinchowk 8 Marapa Dolakha Kalinchowk 9 Dhokabaan / Hakule / Komakhaska Dolakha Khopachagu 1 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 2 Liksong Gotokhola Dolakha Khopachagu 3 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 4 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 5 Sundhara,Bhahun khopu,Chirchrauhut Dolakha Khopachagu 6 Chyake, Chatadha Dolakha Khopachagu 7 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 8 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 9 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 1 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 2 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 3 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 4 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 5 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 6 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 7 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 8 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 9 N/A

Annex 3 – Gravity Water Supply Schemes Destroyed and Non-Functioning

District VDC Ward Name of source number Dolakha Aalampu 1 None reported Dolakha Aalampu 2 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 3 Chhiruwa Dolakha Aalampu 4 Chhiruwa Dolakha Aalampu 5 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 6 N/A Dolakha Aalampu 7 Basa / Chewwa Dolakha Aalampu 8 Chhinuwabasa / Kingkartha / Thopasang / Palangaya Dolakha Aalampu 9 Pumpane Khola Dolakha Babare 1 Satele Dolakha Babare 2 Sim / Khahare

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Dolakha Babare 3 N/A Dolakha Babare 4 N/A Dolakha Babare 5 N/A Dolakha Babare 6 Cisani Khara Dolakha Babare 7 N/A Dolakha Babare 8 N/A Dolakha Babare 9 Tap water Dolakha Bigu 1 N/A Dolakha Bigu 2 N/A Dolakha Bigu 3 N/A Dolakha Bigu 4 N/A Dolakha Bigu 5 N/A Dolakha Bigu 6 N/A Dolakha Bigu 7 N/A Dolakha Bigu 8 N/A Dolakha Bigu 9 N/A Dolakha Chilankha 1 None reported Dolakha Chilankha 2 Dusi Danda / Khartal / Gosessa Dolakha Chilankha 3 None reported Dolakha Chilankha 4 None reported Dolakha Chilankha 5 Yanekhadka Dolakha Chilankha 6 Hiude Dolakha Chilankha 7 Thakchukhola / Jungepani Dolakha Chilankha 8 Limbasewa Dolakha Chilankha 9 None reported Dolakha Kalinchowk 1 Merekpakhola Dolakha Kalinchowk 2 Merecpakhola Dolakha Kalinchowk 3 N/A Dolakha Kalinchowk 4 None reported Dolakha Kalinchowk 5 Bhalodala/Pomkharka/Palogairo Dolakha Kalinchowk 6 None reported Dolakha Kalinchowk 7 Tallosim Dolakha Kalinchowk 8 None reported Dolakha Kalinchowk 9 None reported Dolakha Khopachagu 1 None reported Dolakha Khopachagu 2 None reported Dolakha Khopachagu 3 0 Dolakha Khopachagu 4 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 5 None reported Dolakha Khopachagu 6 Danda Dolakha Khopachagu 7 None reported Dolakha Khopachagu 8 N/A Dolakha Khopachagu 9

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Detailed Needs Assessments- Dolakha June-July 2015 Dolakha Lamidanda 1 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 2 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 3 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 4 Jukepani Dolakha Lamidanda 5 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 6 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 7 N/A Dolakha Lamidanda 8 None reported Dolakha Lamidanda 9 N/A

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