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How Restless Development is making the case for young people to be at the heart of humanitarian action at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul 23 - 24 May 2016

On April 25th 2015, a devastating earthquake hit Nepal, killing over 8,000 people and injuring more than 21,000.

Villages were destroyed leaving houses and schools flattened. Today marks one year since the earthquake, we are highlighting the work that young people have led to rebuild their country.

Chhaupadi is a social tradition in the western part of Nepal for Hindu women which prohibits a woman from participating in normal family activities during menstruation because they are considered impure. The women are kept out of the house and have to live in a shed. Restless Developmet Nepal is trying to put an end to this practice.

Hattigauda, Nepal, hosts on of Restless Development’s Temporary Learning Centers (TLCs). These centres have been built to help children continue to learn and play after the devastating effects of the recent earthquakes, which destroyed the majority of schools in the country.

The US Ambassador for Nepal, Peter W. Bodde, along with the USAID Director in Nepal and UNICEF Representative for Nepal, made an official visit to one of Restless Development’s Temporary Learning Centers (TLC) in Lazimpat. The TLCs have been built to help children continue to learn and play after the devastating effects of the recent earthquakes, which destroyed the majority of schools in the country.

The earthquakes and numerous aftershocks in Nepal left many children and young people at risk, and put a halt to the entire education system in the country. This could have a serious impact on literacy rates in the country, which had previously reached 98% in 2013 from 83% in 2010. The risk of trafficking and exploitation is now greater for girls, many of whom were made homeless by the quake and could not go to school.

A second major earthquake struck Nepal; just two weeks after the initial 7.8 magnitude quake hit the country. Restless Nepal staff and young volunteers have been tirelessly working with partners, providing relief efforts in hard to reach districts since the first earthquake.

Many of our staff and volunteers have been affected by the initial 7.8 magnitude earthquake and aftershocks, which devastated Nepal on Saturday.

For 14 years Restless Development has had an active network of thousands of young volunteers in 36 out of 75 districts in Nepal, six of which have been hit by the earthquake.

Nepali Youth in Figures, December 2014 highlights data specific to youth in Nepal, which is based on the Population and Housing Census 2011 provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal.