NEPAL EARTHQUAKE AND SAARC RELEVANCE

It has been more than a month since devastating Earthquake hit Nepal on April 25 and another powerful aftershock on May 12 which on total has taken around 8,617 life, made 16,808 injured and millions homeless. Victims of this massive earthquake still is in need of food, shelter and rehabilitation but yet SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC), SAARC Food Bank (SFB) and SAARC Development Fund have been as a mute spectator of situation. Failure of SAARC to respond in such critical situations of Nepal has put question to the relevance of SAARC for its member countries.

SDMC set in October 2006 still don’t have clue on how it should work at time of Natural disaster though it has mandate to serve 8 member countries of SAARC at the time of calamities.  SDMC has the Vision to be recognized as a vibrant Centre of Excellence for knowledge, research and capacity building on disaster management in South Asia by providing policy advice and facilitating capacity building, research, training, system development, expertise promotion and exchange of information for effective disaster risk mitigation. For it they need to develop a network of institutions to facilitate quick access and sharing of information, real time data and knowledge on disaster management to national focal points of member states. But absence of SDMC in this situation of Nepal for action immaculately explain that they have not yet made quick operational modus operandi for disaster management and impact reduction. Now the question arise that since 2006 what has it done and why it was not able to formulate procedures and clear obstacles though everyone know that SAARC countries are vulnerable of natural disasters.

Similarly, SAARC food bank (SFB) is another regional centre as regional food reserve which is made to work during food shortage and emergency.  SFB was endorsed in 12^th SAARC summit and agreement for it was signed by the Heads of States of SAARC countries in 14^th SAARC Summit held in New Delhi on April, 2007. SAARC Food Bank has 486,000 tons of reserved food grains in its stock which a member country can withdraw at the time of natural or man-made calamities and in situation when country is unable to cope with food demand by using its own national reserve. But the terms and conditions of operationalizing the reserves like prices, payment methods, guidelines, conditions of payment etc. are yet to be finalized. I think, whatever the cost would be, the price for humanitarian cause should be considered widely before finalizing it. More critically there is no clear view about the institutions involved in its distribution and the transportation mechanisms. Nepal being the chair of SAARC and victim of the disaster, and India being largest contributor to food reserve should initiate call for dealing and finalizing policy with the Food Bank in unanticipated food insecurity and catastrophic crisis of Nepal. Several SFB meeting has taken place where Formulation of working guidelines for ope-rationalization of it was discussed but its absence in ground shows only the verbal agreements were made.

Furthermore, SAARC Development Fund could release a certain amount of money to the Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund to help Nepal recover. But yet, they have not been able to show it’s footprint on this earthquake affected Nepal.

Although rescue and relief support has come to Nepal from all SAARC member states, except Afghanistan, none of them have come through the SAARC mechanism. "If everything done so far has been on a bilateral level, then what is the relevance of SAARC as a regional mechanism? Like other SAARC agreements, there is no timeframe, accountability clauses and independent mechanism to evaluate the implementation. There were questions across the subcontinent as to why these regional bodies remained dormant even when a large number of people faced problems during natural calamities and other ruinous contingencies.

As the SAARC region is considered highly vulnerable to various kinds of natural calamities, including earthquake, typhoon, flood and landslide so these bodies should be pro-active as disaster is situation where different things get block and sometimes even mind of the affected people. So predefined institutions, there responsibility and modus operandi should be finalised by the SAARC nations so that operation can be taken quick.  But the role of SAARC after the massive earthquake in Gujarat, India in 2001, Kashmir region of Pakistan in 2005 and other major natural calamities in the region has been nothing more than that of a mute observer.

In particular, the Nepal quake is a warning bell for SAARC to get its act together to set up an effective disaster-response mechanism which can minimise and mitigate impact in an already disaster-prone region. What is needed is a joint effort for long-term reconstruction plan for Nepal where resources could be pulled out from SAARC repository when required.

It is good time for SAARC communities to activate these bodies in situation like the crisis in Nepal today and let them gain exact real time practical experience which can add experience so that they can do quick and efficient response when required. The only way to test the effectiveness of this food bank is to promptly implement it in a real time situation like the crisis in Nepal. This will check the design, rules, guidelines and mechanism of its operationalization and will add advice to ease its process further. I think to mitigate the impact of the disaster all the majors should be taken by the SAARC as it falls among one of the most vulnerable areas of natural disasters in the world.

 I pray to god for the growth to come in Nepal. May the devastation of the old create fertile ground for the new, bright, and lively future ahead to suffered people.