A group of 88 Nepalese government and NGO staff are being trained
by IOM in how to respond effectively to human displacement in
emergencies, particularly in camp coordination and management.

The training, which will be carried out over the next few weeks
with the help of a partnership of other humanitarian actors in
Nepal including the UN, the Red Cross, Oxfam and Registered
Engineers for Disaster Relief (RedR) India as well as the
government of Nepal, is part of a concerted effort to strengthen
Nepal's capacity in responding to humanitarian disasters. The South
Asian country is ranked among the highest risk countries for
natural disasters such as floods, landslides and earthquakes.

In the most recent disaster, more than 70,000 people were
displaced by floods in the Koshi region last August, leading to the
establishment of 24 camps.

With funding from the US government's Office of Foreign Disaster
Assistance (OFDA), IOM has already certified and trained nearly 200
Nepalese NGO and government staff now ready to deal with the next
natural disaster to hit the country.

"IOM's efforts to strengthen the emergency response capacity
through the provision of trained human resources at national as
well as local level very much falls within the national strategy of
the Nepalese government," says Sarat Das, IOM Chief of Mission in
Nepal.

The Organization is appealing for funds of USD 3.3 million to
enhance emergency response capacity by training an additional 1,400
Nepalese, establishing a warehousing ‘hub,' as well as
developing a ‘quick response system' for disasters located in
and around the Kathmandu Valley in the next 12 months.

For further information, please contact:

Chris Hoffman

IOM Nepal

Tel: + 977 1 44 26 250 ext 150

E-mail: "mailto:choffman@iom.int">choffman@iom.int