2.8 million Nepalese in need of humanitarian aid, says UN

The United Nations said on Tuesday that approximately 2.8 million Nepalese people affected by the April 25 earthquake and aftershocks are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Of those affected, 864,000 people, who live in remote, mountainous areas, need urgent assistance, as they lost their homes and livelihoods, the UN office in Kathmandu said. "However, funding for the relief intervention remains insufficient," the UN said.

Jamie McGoldrick, Humanitarian Coordinator in Nepal, has said that the UN's priority is to provide vulnerable people of Nepal with the basics to ensure their survival through the monsoon.

"If we cannot achieve this, the progress that was made to reduce vulnerabilities before the quakes will be lost forever and we will have to face an even starker reality," he said.

According to the UN, over 500,000 houses were destroyed and another 269,000 damaged by the quakes, and hundreds of thousands of people were still staying in makeshift shelters.

"Some 95,100 people who remain displaced are housed in 374 sites in 12 districts. Providing these people with shelter in the next two weeks before the rainy and cold season starts is a top priority for the responders," the UN office said.

The UN has estimated that 1.4 million people require food assistance, due to high damage to agriculture-based livelihoods.

"As the planting season starts this month, an estimated 236,000 people need agricultural inputs, including rice and vegetable seeds. The situation is aggravated by the large loss of livestock, " it said.

Stating that key infrastructure, including schools, health facilities, access roads, temples and heritage sites, was also damaged or destroyed due to the devastating earthquakes the UN said about 1 million children were unable to resume classes at the end of May, as thousands of classrooms were destroyed or remained unsafe.

"Some 5.6 million people require healthcare support, including disease surveillance access to medical facilities," it said.

Logistics were also important as the fast-approaching monsoon season is about to further complicate aid delivery to remote, hard- to-reach areas which are among the most affected, the UN said.

"We continue to scale up the relief effort day after day," said McGoldrick, adding "A lot has been achieved to date. Thanks to innovative approaches to aid delivery we were able to tackle many bottlenecks, including the topography challenge."

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator also urged the international community to show its solidarity and support the UN's relief efforts in Nepal.

On April 29, the United Nations issued a "flash appeal" to the international community, seeking 415 million U.S. dollars to help Nepal deal with the aftermath of devastating earthquake. "To date, 120 million dollars were received against the 422-million-U.S. dollar Flash Appeal," the UN said.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said that 8,699 people were killed and 22,220 injured after the 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Himalayan nation on April 25. Endi