Weekly Bulletin Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform, Nepal

6th November 2017 Page 1 of 8

Media Digest | FAQ | Briefing Pack | Meeting & Events | 4W | Housing Progress | Housing Typologies

WEEKLY BULLETIN 6 November 2017

Median cost of house construction, in Nepali Rupees, as per data collected by HRRP District Coordination Teams

during October 2017.

Highlights

Across all districts, partners have been requested to suspend activities in advance of the upcoming House of Representatives and Provincial Elections (Phase 1 26 November, and Phase 2 7 December). Partners are also required to abide by the election code of conduct.

The National Reconstruction Authority’s responsibility has been expanded to include reconstruction of areas affected by the August 2017 floods

Cost of Construction, October 2017: a short report summarising data collected by HRRP District Coordination Teams (DCTs) on construction costs. Partners are requested to support ongoing data collection on the topic.

Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project, Flood Perception Survey, October 2017

Weekly Bulletin Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform, Nepal

6th November 2017 Page 2 of 8

National

House of Representatives and Provincial Elections, 26 November and 7 December: across all districts, partners have been requested to suspend all activities, “including but not limited to trainings, workshops, or physical constructions that are being implemented”, which “may adversely affect the elections”. All partners are requested to abide by the election code of conduct.

NRA Housing Group Meeting, 6 November: the key points from the meeting, which was chaired by the NRA

Executive Committee Member for Housing, Dr. Hari Parajuli, are as follows:

The NRA have informed that there will be at least one technician per ward under the new local structure.

HRRP is advocating to expand this to at least three technicians as the ward under the new local structure is

effectively what used to be the VDC and it would be beneficial to have extra technical staff.

The CEO and other NRA staff met with the Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) and locally elected officials yesterday to discuss a set of action points related to local level responsibilities for the reconstruction. The NRA has made a special request to partners working on the reconstruction to work in close coordination with the local elected bodes as they have an important role to play in the reconstruction.

NRA and MoUD CLPIU are preparing to provide comprehensive training for newly recruited MoUD DLPIU engineers prior to their deployment. Partners interested to support this initiative can contact Narayan Marasini, HRRP National technical coordinator, techcord.national@hrrpnepal.org, and are also invited to attend a planning session on the topic tomorrow at 11am at MoUD CLPIU.

NRA Flood Reconstruction Project: the National Reconstruction Authority’s responsibility has been expanded to include reconstruction of areas affected by the August 2017 floods. A Flood Reconstruction Project has been established under the NRA and will coordinate the reconstruction efforts as well as developing the policy framework for the reconstruction. Dr. Suman Karna, former Special Advisor to the NRA, has been appointed as chief of the Flood Reconstruction Project.

NRA, Ministry of Finance, and Department of Timber Corp. Meeting, 30 October: during the meeting it was decided that since availability of timber for the housing reconstruction is low, a request shall be made to the Ministry of Forest and Land Conservation to extend the Community Forest Action Plan for 3 more years to increase timber production. The Timber Corporation also agreed to provide saw mills with support from the Ministry of Forest and Land Conservation (MoFLC). The Ministry of Industries and the MoFLC shall provide support for the registration and operation of mobile saw mills and seasoning treatment, as per the demands of local entrepreneurs. It was also decided that MoFALD will be requested to support the establishment of a revolving fund at the local level to cover the transportation of timber required for the reconstruction of housing and public infrastructure.

MoFALD CLPIU Notice, Damage Assessment Survey of Monasteries: the notice, published on 5 November, informs that the survey will be starting in a few days based on a list of damaged monasteries that was prepared based on applications received by the Buddhist Philosophy Promotion and Monastery Development Committee. The notice calls for registration of applications for additional damage assessment surveys within 15 days of the notice being published. The applications should be registered at the relevant District Level Program Implementation Unit / District Technical Office, Central Level Program Implementation Unit, or Buddhist Philosophy Promotion and Monastery Development Committee. Applications must include a recommendation letter from the local authority confirming that the monastery was damaged by the earthquake.

UPDATES & REQUESTS

Weekly Bulletin Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform, Nepal

6th November 2017 Page 3 of 8

Baliyo Ghar, Media Workshop on Promoting Safer Reconstruction, 2 & 3 November: 30 participants, from 13 partner radio stations from across Dolakha, Dhading, Nuwakot, and Kathmandu, took part in the event. During the workshop there were presentations from the NRA Spokesperson, Mr. Yam Lal Bhusal, the Chief of the National Emergency Operation Center, Mr. Sankar Hari Acharya, NSET Executive Director, Dr. Amod Mani Dixit, NSET Deputy Executive Directors, Mr. Surya Narayan Shrestha and Dr. Ramesh Guragain, and the Baliyo Ghar Programme Manager Mr. Ranjan Dhungel. The workshop concluded with commitments from all involved to accelerate the joint media efforts to promote safer reconstruction.

MoFALD CLPIU Enrolment Data, 3 November (Nepali):

NRA 5W Reporting: to date 148 out of 152 (97%) POs have reported to the NRA 5W. We understand that many POs who have already reported are having issues with logging in to, and using the reporting system. HRRP is working with NRA to address these issues. If your organisation is facing any issues reporting to the 5W, please contact Keshab Shrestha (im.national@hrrpnepal.org). Once the NRA 5W is fully up and running the HRRP 4W will be phased out.

Districts

Vacancies with CRS Nepal for Okhaldhunga Recovery and Reconstruction Programme: CRS Nepal are seeking 3 Project Engineers, 1 Project Engineer for Cash for Work Project, 1 Livelihood Officer, and 1 Database Assistant. Closing date for application is Tuesday, 7 November.

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Sindhupalchowk, Municipal Building Permit System and Right of Way: in Chautara Sangachokgadi Municipality the building permit system has been waived, up to 16 July 2018, for ten typologies; stone and mud mortar masonry, stone and cement mortar masonry, brick and mud mortar masonry, brick and cement mortar masonry, interlocking brick masonry, confined hollow concrete block masonry, hollow concrete block masonry, compressed stabilised earth block masonry, random rubble masonry with GI wire containment, and bamboo and stone masonry hybrid structures. Melamchi Municipality has waived the building permit system for stone and mud mortar masonry and brick and mud mortar masonry, and no deadline has been set. Chautara Sangachokgadi Municipality has also set the Right of Way on the Bandeu to Chautara road to 20m (10+10) and planned to inform the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport and MoFALD of this decision. HRRP District Coordination Team Makwanpur, Weekly District Report, 26 Oct-2 Nov 2017

Manhari Gaupalika (formerly Hadikhola VDC): a frame structure with 9 inch x 9 inch pillars and brick and cement

mortar infill. The house has been constructed with a shutter on the left side. The engineers conducted a full structural analysis and the house was approved for the second tranche, which the home owner has now received. The house

has now also been approved for the third tranche. HRRP District Coordination Team Kathmandu, Weekly District Report, 26 Oct-2 Nov 2017

Machhegau, Ward-9, Changdragiri Municipality: one storey, brick masonry, load bearing structure. The home owner

has only received the first tranche as the house has not been inspected yet and due to municipal bylaw issues, it cannot be processed further.

Weekly Bulletin Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform, Nepal

6th November 2017 Page 5 of 8

HRRP District Coordination Team Sindhupalchowk, Weekly District Report, 26 Oct-2 Nov 2017

Fulpingdada-4: this house has been constructed with hollow concrete blocks and has not been approved for the

second tranche because the room size is larger than permissible. The home owner needs to be construct cross walls before being approved for the second tranche.

Requests for Partner Support Data Collection, Cost of Construction: HRRP has completed a one-off piece of data collection on this topic and would like to continue to document the costs more comprehensively moving forward. HRRP would like to request Partner Organisations to support this initiative by sharing related data that they have already, or are, collecting. A format for this has been developed and can be downloaded here. We are very interested to understand what formats partners are already using to collect this type of data, and if you can share examples with us we can then work to better adapt the format to fit partners existing data collection systems. The data shared will be compiled and made available for download on the HRRP website, similar to the HRRP 4W data. Please share the data with Anu Prasai, HRRP National General Coordination Officer, nco1@hrrpnepal.org, who you can also contact if you have any questions or wish to provide any feedback.

Government of Nepal MoUD CLPIU, On the Job Training, Status Update: update on OJT in Gorkha, Makwanpur, and Rasuwa which MoUD CLPIU is providing in gap areas. MoUD CLPIU, 7 Days Masons Training in the 17 Districts, Status Update, Nepali & Unofficial English Translation MoUD CLPIU M&E Consultants, Monthly Update Report, September & October (Aswin) 2017

DOCUMENTS & PRODUCTS

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6th November 2017 Page 6 of 8

HRRP

HRRP Cost of Construction Report, October 2017: this report summarises data collected by HRRP District

Coordination Teams (DCTs) through telephone calls with 570 households who had previously taken part in Inter-

Agency Common Feedback Project surveys. The HRRP DCTs asked three questions; 1. How much did your house cost

/ do you estimate it will cost? 2. What building materials did you use / are you planning to use and have you salvaged

materials?, and 3. Do you plan to / have you already taken a loan and if so for how much, from what type of financial

institution, and at what interest rate? The data in the report provides indicative data only as it is not a statistically

representative sample size. However, it offers useful insight into the financial aspects of reconstruction.

Maps of MoFALD Enrolment Data, 29 October:

% of Households that have Signed the Participation Agreement with the GoN

% of Households that have Received the First Tranche

Partners

Baliyo Ghar TV Programme, Episode 75: this episode is focused on the Corrections and Exceptions Manual published by the NRA earlier this year. The programme looks at how the manual is addressing the problems faced by earthquake affected households, and the changes that the manual brought to the inspection process. Milijuli Nepali, Episode 780: the newly appointed CEO of the NRA, Yubaraj Bhusal, speaks to Milijuli Nepali about the authority’s immediate plans and the challenges it faces in implementing them.

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Surakchhit Gharbaas, Earthquake Awareness Videos: produced as part of Swisscontact’s earthquake reconstruction programme in Sindhuli, the first four episodes of are now available:

Episode 1, Focused on Reconstruction in Sindhuli, 23 September

Episode 2, Focused on Reconstruction in Sunkoshi Rural Municipality, Sindhuli, 30 September

Episode 3, Causes and Challenges to the Speed of Reconstruction in Sindhuli and the Contributions made by POs, 7 October

Episode 4, NRA Monitoring of Reconstruction Progress and Challenges in Sindhuli, 21 October Inter-Agency Common Feedback Project, Flood Perception Survey, October 2017: this report presents the findings from the first round of perception surveys in areas affected by the August 2017 floods. Some of the main findings include:

1% of respondents said their main problems were being completely addressed and 27% said their needs were being partially addressed.

6% of respondents reported having been asked to exchange something for relief or support and 14% refused to answer this question. Among those who said they were asked to exchange something, 94% were asked to give political support or a vote. 2 respondents reported having been asked to trade sexual favours for relief. This has already been forwarded to the Protection cluster for their follow up.

56% of respondents reported being affected by flooding in previous years, but only 33% have adopted any mitigation measures.

34% of respondents said they do not feel respected by aid providers, including government and I/NGOs, local organizations and others. 44% said it was because there was not enough assistance available for all entitled to it, and 43% said the assistance was not fairly or evenly distributed. There are reports of socially excluded groups, such as Muslim and Dalit communities, facing difficulties in accessing relief, and political manipulation of beneficiary lists and this has been highlighted to the UN RCO’s field staff working in the area.

Sakchyam, Promoting Economic Opportunities Through Migration Loan: in collaboration with the Nepal Women Community Service Center (NWCSC), Sakchyam has introduced a migration loan service supporting migrating workers to manage the associated costs. They have also launched a service for receiving remittances which means that households in the area don’t have to travel to collect remittances. Nepal Climate Watch Data: Climate Watch is managed by the World Resources Institute in collaboration with partners, and is a flagship initiative of the NDC Partnership. Climate Watch offers open data, visualisations, and analysis to help policymakers, researchers and other stakeholders gather insights on countries' climate progress. Nepal’s Citizens Climate Budget, Information Booklet: published by Freedom Forum, with quality assurance from UNDP, and financial support from UK Aid, that presents how the national budget is being allocated to address climate change and its effects. The Kingdom of Cardamom, Climate Change and Price Collapse Force Farmers to Diversify, Nepali Times

Responses to the question “what are your top two sources of information?”, mirroring findings from the CFP surveys in earthquake affected districts where community and family are the main sources of information.

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Food Security Information Management System for Nepal, Launch Event, 3 November: the system has been developed by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in collaboration with WFP Nepal and the Monitoring, Analysis and Statistics Division of Nepal’s Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD). It is designed to compile, analyse, and disseminate comprehensive information on food security in Nepal, and will provide information on multiple food security indicators at district and sub-district levels. At the launch event, the interactive system was demonstrated to MoAD officials and an orientation package for government officials at national and sub-national levels was presented. Humanitarian Standards Partnership Mobile Application: provides the humanitarian sector's flagship standards and guidance in a single, free-of-charge app. Designed for field practitioners providing humanitarian aid in disaster and conflict situations, the app works on and off-line on mobile phones and tablets and can be downloaded from the Apple App Store, and Google Play.

Media Digest | FAQ | Briefing Pack | Meeting & Events | 4W | Housing Progress | Housing Typologies