WFP NEPAL EARTHQUAKE SITUATION REPORT #18, 23 JULY 2015

Highlights and Key Messages

• The second structured relief phase of WFP’s earthquake response has so far reached just under 771,000 people with food, cash and nutrition support. Of the total assisted people, over 46,400 have been reached through WFP’s cash for assets programme. Through this programme, WFP has strengthened and reinvigorated the markets by injecting US$696,000 into the local economy so far.
• Soon to move into the third early recovery phase of the earthquake response, which will continue to December 2015, WFP aims to reach a further 940,000 people through cash and food for assets programmes, as well as nutritional support. WFP will ensure that affected households continue to receive vital assistance until the next harvest, have the means to rehabilitate critical assets, are supported in the restoration of basic livelihoods, and improve the purchasing power of households through conditional cash transfers. 
• The onset of the monsoon rains, widespread destruction of road infrastructure, recurrent landslides and difficult mountainous terrain have exacerbated the already challenging access constraints to remote, mountainous areas. Many trails connecting remote communities to markets and larger settlements have been destroyed, making these areas accessible only by WFP-led UNHAS aviation services or through the network of porters and mules provided by Remote Access Operations.
• The May 2015 food security study found that over 90,000 people live in remote mountainous areas, sometimes inaccessible even by helicopter. Increased humanitarian needs in many of these remote areas has resulted in an upsurge of needs for humanitarian logistics to deliver vital food, shelter and medical supplies to those remote areas during the monsoon season.