Joining hands for the people in Nepal - Main contents

Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal at this time

I was very saddened to learn of the 7.8 magnitude devastating earthquake that hit Nepal on 25 April. Like millions of people around the world, my thoughts are with the people in Nepal in these times of great distress.

Nepal now faces the daunting task of rehousing its people, preventing a humanitarian crisis, rebuilding major social and communications infrastructure and re-launching government and social services. The European Union responded immediately after learning of this disaster. We have made available €6 million for emergency response to help the survivors and authorities and deployed humanitarian aid and civil protection experts.

When natural disasters occur there is, understandably, an immediate focus on humanitarian needs. However, the government almost instantly also faces a huge and unforeseen financial stress on its national budget, in terms of both expenditure and receipt. Therefore I asked my services to fast-track development support payments that were foreseen for later this year. I am pleased to see that this was possible within just a few days. As a result, by the end of this week, the Government of Nepal will receive €16.6 million of EU development assistance as a budget support payment, which will provide them with additional revenue to carry on emergency response and rebuilding works.

Despite this terrible tragedy, if there is one positive element to focus on, it’s the way in which the world has come together to show great solidarity for the people in Nepal. International organisations, countries around the world, private companies, NGOs, volunteers and many others have expressed their willingness to help.

I hope that this new EU support will send a clear message of our solidarity with Nepal. However, there is still a very long way to go in order to fully meet the needs on the ground, and that's why I also want to call for the even stronger mobilisation of the international community around Nepal. This is a humanitarian emergency, and one that requires us to join hands for an internationally coordinated relief effort in response.