CDP Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund Awards Grants

It is with a great deal of excitement that I am writing to let you all know that the Board of Directors of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy awarded four grants to support recovery efforts following the twin earthquakes that struck Nepal in April and May of this year.

These funds were awarded out of the CDP Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund. Launched just days following the first earthquake the Fund determined that it would focus on four priorities:

• Support vulnerable populations whose lives and livelihoods have been devastated;
• Emphasize funding that is medium- and long-term in nature and based upon the prevailing needs that emerge in the weeks and months to come;
• Fill in gaps where public resources are unavailable or scarce; and
• Foster collaborative relationships among donors—including the sharing of information with funders and nonprofit organizations.

After considerable input from external stakeholders, the CDP Board, the Fund Grantmaking Committee, and utilizing CDP staff expertise, we determined to focus our efforts exclusively on child protection. According to UNICEF, child protection refers to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children. Each of the four grants awarded from the CDP Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund touch on an element of child protection: advocacy, education, livelihood generation, and maternal and child health services.

The four grantees are:
All Hands Volunteers will receive $100,000 to help rebuild earthquake-devastated schools with a total enrollment of 1,667 students in Nepal’s Nuwakot District, where nearly 90 percent of the schools were destroyed. All Hands Volunteers mission is “to address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters by engaging and leveraging volunteers, partner organizations, and communities.

Plan International USA will receive $219,690 to fund its Fighting Against Child Trafficking in Emergencies (FACTE) Project in Nepal. FACTE “aims to empower communities to protect children’s rights and to prevent the trafficking and exploitation of children in the aftermath of the disaster.”

Project HOPE will receive $219,956 to strengthen the maternal newborn and child health service delivery system and improve hygiene behavior in the Makawanpur District of Nepal. Project HOPE “delivers essential medicines and supplies, health expertise, and medical training to respond to disaster, prevent disease, promote wellness, and save lives around the globe.”

Shakti Samuha will receive $61,264 to reduce vulnerability to human trafficking and other kinds of violence by providing income generation skills and education support for women and children in the districts of Sindupalchowk, Ramechhap, and Sindhuli. Shakti Samuha’s mission is “to involve affected women and children and those at high risk of human trafficking in anti human trafficking campaign to ensure & protect the rights of survivor through awareness, organizing, and empowering themselves.”

This Fund would not have been possible without the generous support of more than 300 donors, representing 15 countries. We are thankful to each and every one of them for their confidence in the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and their understanding of the need to respond to the vulnerable Nepalese affected by the earthquakes.

Finally, we would like to extend our personal thanks to the members of the CDP Nepal Earthquake Recovery Fund’s Grantmaking Committee. We would not have been able to award these four grants without your guidance, confidence, support, and good will!

Our committee members include:
Lori J. Bertman, President & CEO of the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation (Committee Chair)
Bikash Pandey, Director of Clean Energy and Environment, Winrock International.
Bob Ottenhoff, President & CEO, Center for Disaster Philanthropy
Erin Potts, President & CEO, Revolutions Per Minute
George Varughese, Country Representative, Nepal, The Asia Foundation

We look forward to sharing much more with you about the work of each of these projects during the coming months.