NGOs allowed to engage in Nepal's rebuilding of quake-damaged houses

Nepal's National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), a body established to coordinate the reconstruction of the quake-damaged infrastructures in the country, has allowed non-government organisations (NGOs) to mobilise their resources in the process after a hiatus of three months.

A meeting of the authority's directive committee headed by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday evening endorsed a guideline related to the mobilisation of NGOs in reconstruction, thus paving the way for domestic and international NGOs to use their resources in the reconstruction, Xinhua reported.

"There was a policy vacuum on mobilisation of NGOs since mid-December. Following the latest decision, NGOs now can continue with their works," said NRA spokesperson Ram Prasad Thapaliya.

At a time when policy vacuum was creating confusion about involving NGOs in the reconstruction, the NRA had temporarily banned NGOs from the reconstruction since the last week of February 2016, stating that it was finalising the guidelines about NGOs mobilisation.

The guideline has a provision of requiring signing an agreement involving NRA, NGOs and earthquake-affected households in presence of local bodies, according to NRA officials.

With the government agencies just starting reconstruction, international and national NGOs working in Nepal, had long been seeking authorisation to spend their resources for reconstruction.

Due to delay in reconstruction, many quake affected families have been forced to stay in make-shift houses.

The guideline was introduced after consulting with all stakeholders, NRA officials said.