SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT

THE EARTHQUAKE HAS EXPOSED THE SOCIAL VULNERABILITY OF

COMMUNITIES. LACK OF RESOURCES, AN ABSENCE OF CLEAR DISASTER
MANAGEMENT PLAN AND IMPROPER DEVELOPMENT PLANS HAVE ALL
CONTRIBUTED TO TURNING THIS HAZARD INTO A SOCIAL DISASTER. HENCE,
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SECTORS SPECIALLY FOCUS THE IMPACT ON MORE
VULNERABLE SECTORS IN THE SOCIETY (WOMEN AND CHILDREN).

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT

• DURING NATURAL DISASTERS, MATERIALS AND PRACTICAL

PROVISION OF RELIEF IS IMPERATIVE.
• NEVERTHELESS, SURVIVORS OF SUCH SITUATIONS NEED
ASSISTANCE FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER. IN THE AFTERMATH
OF A DISASTER, THERE ARE INCREASED OF GENDER BASED
VIOLENCE (GBV) AND SEXUAL ASSAULTS (UN WOMEN-OCHA,
2015).
• PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT FOR WOMEN WHO EXPERIENCED SUCH
HARASSMENTS MUST BE ASSISTED BY EXPERTS IN THIS FIELD (IASC,
2006).
• WITH REGARDS TO THE PAKISTAN EARTHQUAKE 2005, EVEN IF
WOMEN WERE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE, BEING SURROUNDED BY
UNKNOWN PERSON, IN A TEMPORARY CAMP, PROVOKED MUCH
STRESS (BURK, E. 2006).

• WITH RGARDS TO NIGATA-CHUETSU EARTHQUAKE JAPAN 2004,

KUWABARA ET AL. (2008) REPORTED THAT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL
DISTRESS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE WAS
SIGNIFICANTLY SERIOUS IN VICTIMS WHO:
(I) WERE FEMALES
(II) FELT STRONGER FEAR OF THE EARTHQUAKE AND THE
AFTERSHOCKS
(III) LIVED AT HOME OR OFFICE AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
(IV) WERE INJURED DUE TO THE EARTHQUAKE OR SUFFERED
FROM SICKNESS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE. THUS,
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE IS IMPORTANT TO
OVERCOMING THE EMERGENCY SITUATION, PARTICULARLY
FOR WOMEN, WHEN THE LIVING CONTEXT IS A DIFFERENT
ONE.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT
ECONOMIC ASPECT

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE, ECONOMIC GROWTH OF THE COUNTRY STAGNATED.

THE EARTHQUAKE LOWERED GDP GROWTH TO 1.5% FROM AN
ESTIMATE OF 4.6% IN A NO-EARTHQUAKE SCENARIO IN FISCAL YEAR
2015 (WHICH ENDS 15 JULY, 2015) (ADB, 2015)

• NEPAL EARTHQUAKE STRUCK : TENTH MONTH OF FISCAL YEAR 2015.

• MOST AFFECTED DISTRICTS :

THE ESTIMATED TOTAL VALUE OF DAMAGE AND LOSS IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR IS ABOUT NRS
 HILLY AREA WITH AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 28.3 BILLION.
 CAPITAL AREA AS THE CENTER OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES.
 THE ECONOMIC DAMAGE WAS ESTIMATED QUITE LARGE.

• MOST DAMAGED SECTOR : REAL ESTATE, RENTING AND BUSINESS

ACTIVITIES.
• IT IS DUE TO LARGE LOSS IN INFRASTRUCTURES. MINING AND QUARRYING
SECTOR IS ALSO ESTIMATED TO DECLINE MORE BECAUSE OF THE SERIOUS
DAMAGE TO INDUSTRIES, LACK OF MANPOWER AND LOW DEMAND OF
INDUSTRIAL GOODS.

• MOST AFFECTED DISTRICTS : SINDHUPALCHOWK, GORKHA, NUWAKOT,

DHADING (TREKKING TOURISM SPOT) ADJACENT HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
DAMGE WERE ALSO SEVERE. (DECREASED TOURIST RATE)
Figure 1: GDP growth (basic prices), %. Source: Central Bureau of Statistics

• OTHER DISASTER OCCURRENCE: LANDSLIDES (DECREASED FORESTRY AND

VEGETATION), DELAYED AND WEAK MONSOON.

SLOW GROWTH

•DECREASED PER-CAPITA : $23 TO $ 762 (FISCAL YEAR 2015 _NO-

EARTHQUAKE SCENARIO, 2015 COMPARISON).
•THE SLOW DOWN IN GROWTH HAS RESULTED IN GREAT SETBACK TO
COUNTRY’S PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT TO A DEVELOPING COUNTRY BY 2022
FROM THE CURRENT LEAST DEVELOPED STATUS (ADB, 2015)

•INCREASE IN THE POVERTY LINE : 2.5-3.5% INCREASED NEPALESE INTO

POVERTY IN FISCAL YEAR 2015/2016 (700,000 LIVES)
 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT
SOCIAL ASPECT

VULNERABLE DURING AND AFTER EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.:

WOMEN_CHILDREN
•FAILED ESCAPE PLAN : STAY-AT-HOME WOMEN AND PRE-SCHOOL AGE
CHILDREN (UN WOMEN, 2015).
•APPROXIMATELY, 135,000 PREGNANT AND LACTATING WOMEN WERE
AFFECTED BY EARTHQUAKE IN THE 14 WORST AFFECTED DISTRICTS (PLAN
INTERNATIONAL NEPAL, 2015).
•DANGERS AFTER DISASTER :SHELTER AND WORKING PLACE AS WELL.

MAJOR DEATH TOLL OCCURRENCE

• DAMAGED SCHOOL BUILDINGS BY EARTHQUAKE.(7,000).
• IMPACT ON ENROLLMENT AND CHILDREN ATTENDANCE EDURATION
RATE.
• FEMALE-HEADED FAMILIES : MORE VULNERABLE(ADB, 2015).
• HOUSEHOLDS THAT DAMAGED : 26% =TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS IN
NATIONAL CENSUS 2011.
• THE DOWNWARD ECONOMY AFTER THE DISASTER CERTAINLY AFFECTS
THE LIVELIHOOD (ADB, 2015).

SOLVING FACTOR:
 RECOVERY PROGRAM PLAN: REDUCE THE WOMEN_CHILDREN
VULNERABILITY
 INCREASE IN GENDER EQUALITY.
 WOMEN’S ROLE AS INCOME GENERATOR AND ENTREPRENEURS
SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN LIVELIHOOD
RECOVERY INTERVENTIONS.
 EQUAL ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ESTABLISHMENT OF INFORMATION
CENTERS FOR WOMEN.
 OTHER INCOME OPPORTUNITIES IS RECOMMENDABLE AT THE
IMMEDIATE POST-EARTHQUAKE HUMANITARIAN SUPPORT.