Rohini Pande in myRepublica: We recommend a new funding model to address Covid-19 and floods
September 17, 2020: Michael Callen, Rohini Pande, Trilochan Pokharel, and Deepak Singhania conducted a large-scale survey of provincial and local government officials in Nepal, finding a data-driven approach to allocating funds could help address floods and COVID.
We recommend a new funding model to address COVID-19 and floods
by Michael Callen, Rohini Pande, Trilochan Pokharel, and Deepak Singhania
September 17, 2020
Nepal’s new federal institutions are up against a formidable set of disasters: the COVID-19 pandemic and severe floods, along with the imminent lean season. The federal, provincial, and local levels of government need to coordinate to rise to these challenges. A large-scale survey of provincial and local government officials suggests that a data-driven approach to allocating funds can help.
The new federal structure delegates many administrative decisions to the local level: public health is a shared responsibility across governmental spheres, but primary healthcare and sanitation are exclusively local government functions. Municipal and ward officials, therefore, have a major role to play in mitigating the human and economic damage created by the combined disasters: they are in charge of getting food to the needy, managing quarantine centers, and implementing testing and tracking schemes. These responsibilities will only grow more important in the coming weeks and months, as COVID-19 numbers rise and the floods continue.
Read more at MyRepublica.NagarikNetwork.com.