Nepal faces significant humanitarian challenges one year after its devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake. According to the Red Cross, four million Nepalis still live in sub-standard housing. The earthquake killed 8,000 people and caused roughly $10 billion in economic damage.
"This anniversary is an important reminder that Nepal's people still need help," noted Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA. "Nepal was already a desperately poor country before the earthquake struck."
The World Bank since the Ebola outbreak has worked on a type of insurance fund to protect poor countries facing disasters or shocks. The World Bank still has not enacted the new policies.
"While the IMF deserves credit for its emergency fund, it's clear the criteria for relief needs to be expanded," said LeCompte. "The World Bank needs to implement new policies to address crises like this. The World Bank should start with Nepal."
Some Nepalis report aid money is still not flowing to disaster-impacted areas one year after the quake. Nepal lost $5.6 billion over the past decade to corruption, crime and tax evasion according to the anti-corruption think tank Global Financial Integrity.
"Corruption and debt have real human consequences in Nepal," stated LeCompte.
Read more about Nepal's earthquake
Read more about the IMF's emergency debt relief fund