Humanitarian assistance still needed in Nepal months after devastating quake

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday that three months after the devastating earthquake hit Nepal, hundreds of thousands of survivors continue to need and rely on urgent humanitarian assistance, said a UN spokesman at a daily news briefing. Shelter, food, livelihoods support, water, sanitation, protection, and medical and psychosocial care remain top priorities, said Eri Kaneko, the UN associate spokesperson. "The Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, Jamie McGoldrick, has urged the international community not to fail the most vulnerable communities, with the monsoon season underway and the winter fast-approaching," said Kaneko. UN agencies and their aid partners have only received 50 percent of the 422 million US dollars in finance appealed for humanitarian aid so far, according to Kaneko. The 7.9-magnitude earthquake which struck Nepal on April 25 and ensuing aftershocks have left nearly 9,000 people dead and destroyed or damaged infrastructure and tens of thousands of houses in Nepal, limiting access to food and leaving some 3.5 million people in need of food assistance.