Families Displaced by Flood Achieve Resettlement Demands from Nepali Government
20 December 2012 - FIAN International welcomes the decision of the Government of Nepal to allocate 10,000,000 Nepali rupees, equivalent to around 87,000 Euros, for the safe resettlement of 59 families from the community of Jogbuda, Dadeldhura District who were displaced from their homes by repeated devastating flooding of the Rivers Pantura and Rangoon beginning in 1984.
The floods swept away approximately 22 hectares of cultivated land on which the families were sustaining their livelihoods. With its recent decision, the government aims not merely to provide housing to the displaced, but rather to create a model village complete with access to clean drinking water facilities, education, employment and health care through redesigning the program “Safe Resettlement of Displaced Flood Affected Families” that was established by the Nepali government on 16 April 2009.After the displacement, the affected peasants’ families tried to survive by working for daily wages as agricultural laborers in nearby villages.
The majority of the villagers migrated to India to find seasonal work to survive. However, the people of the Jogbuda community, especially women and children, have been deprived of basic education and health services and are facing hunger and malnutrition.The Nepali government initially provided food to some of the displaced families on a short term basis.
On April 16, 2009, the government decided to resettle the 59 families, providing each family with approximately 260 square meters of land for housing purposes and 50,000 Nepali rupees for housing construction. However, the government failed to implement the decision, and the community continued to suffer.
FIAN International, together with the local NGO Youth Acting for Change, (YAC Nepal), and the community of Jogbuda, was instrumental in achieving resettlement for those affected by the flood. In April 2012, FIAN sent an open letter to the Government of Nepal demanding immediate implementation of the government’s decision to resettle and recuperate the livelihoods of the affected families and to establish a monitoring mechanism to ensure proper implementation.
FIAN welcomes the government’s actions regarding resettlement as well as the decision to work together with YAC Nepal to oversee the implementation process.”The Jogbuda community affected by the flood achieved great success this year, as a result of the continuous struggle of the community closely supported by YAC Nepal and local level political leaders. We will work together with the Department of Urban Development & Building Construction – Kathmandu, to ensure effective implementation throughout the resettlement process,” said YAC Nepal Right to Food Project Coordinator, Tilak Adhikari. FIAN will continue to work together with the community and local organizations to monitor the implementation process.
###