International aid and relief have been pouring into Nepal ever since the devastating earthquake of April 25 battered this impoverished country. Within the first seven days of the quake, more than 4,000 aircraft loaded with relief materials had flown into the Tribhuvan International Airport, choking its runway.

The Humanitarian Staging Area set up by the UN and the Nepal government as an airport logistics hub to mobilise aid distribution, had handled 900 metric tonnes of relief materials in the first week itself.

Countries such as the United States, India, China, Israel and Pakistan have sent emergency supplies and personnel to help in rescue and relief. Dozens of international and local aid agencies have mobilised their staff, and are carrying out well-organised and coordinated relief efforts.

Millions of dollars are being pumped in to help Nepal and its people recover from this crippling disaster. But those millions are fast drying up and aid agencies fear that a shortage of funds and donor fatigue in the coming months could hamper their long-term work in Nepal.

Jamie McGoldrick, the UN’s chief official in Nepal, said in the second week of May that the agency had received $22 million (Dh80.8 million) so far against an appeal for $415 million to support relief efforts for the first three months in Nepal.

“This needs to be dramatically ramped up,” McGoldrick told reporters in the Nepalese capital.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) — the organisation’s relief wing — has launched a joint humanitarian response plan in coordination with other UN agencies and partners to support government-led efforts. The relief efforts will address the most critical needs such as shelter, water and sanitation, emergency health, food and protection for the next three months.

The quake had killed more than 8,000 people and, according to the UN estimate, 800,000 Nepalese have been displaced.

Two more quakes and hundreds of aftershocks have scaled up the toll and devastation in the last one month, with recurring landslides making it worse for the people of this mountain-locked country. Many remote villages that are worst affected have still not received any form of help and relief agencies are scampering to reach the victims before the monsoon season begins.

“It is not just a question of donor fatigue. The real problem is donor interest. The money we needed is coming very slow,” Richard Ragan, Emergency Coordinator for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) told Weekend Review.

He said the emergency operations of WFP that cover food and cash transfers have a budget of $16.6 million but at present, they are only 14 per cent funded. Similarly, the logistics and telecommunications operations that it provides for emergency response in Nepal have a budget of $25.6 million, but there’s a funding shortage of 80 per cent.

In the month since the devastating earthquake, nearly 2 million people have received food assistance from the WFP. Ragan said the second phase of their relief programme, known as Operation Mountain Express, is starting to reach people in remote high-altitude areas.

Teams of mountaineers are reaching villages and assessing needs on behalf of WFP and the wider humanitarian response. Up to 20,000 local porters will soon begin bringing aid to these communities, he said.

But WFP urgently needs funding to sustain this vital and versatile emergency response. “People’s attention spans are much shorter than we can imagine. It is colossal challenge to make sure the world does not forget Nepal too soon,” added Ragan.

Plan International, another aid agency working in Nepal, also said the level of donor support they are receiving is not enough. “There is cash shortage. If you compare the level of urgency and the donor response, the latter is falling short. International help has to continue flowing if aid agencies have to continue to deliver their work,” said Mike Bruce, Plan International’s Acting Regional Communications Manager.

Bruce said Plan’s workers have so far reached 150,000 affected people, of whom 61,800 are children. In addition to supplying shelter, food and sanitation, Plan is also running several child-friendly spaces in relief camps. “We are committed to Nepal for a long term and our rebuilding efforts will go beyond this crisis,” said Bruce.

Logistical bottlenecks and bureaucratic red tape are the two other challenges aid agencies face in Nepal. While acknowledging that the Nepal government’s emergency and relief response was unprecedented, aid workers say better coordination can improve results.

SOS, an NGO that focuses on the rehabilitation of children, said their promise of taking care of 500 orphaned children is caught up in governmental formalities. “Only 20 orphaned children have so far come to us. We are hoping that we would be able to coordinate efforts with the government agencies to ensure orphaned children are not neglected,” Shankar Pradhananga, SOS National Director, told Weekend Review.

There are more than 1,800 children who are being taken care of at SOS’s 18 children’s villages.

Adding to the woes are the logistical challenges thrown up by the mountainous terrain of Nepal, impeding relief and reconstruction efforts.

“Even in the best of circumstances, Nepal is a logistical bottleneck,” said Humaid Rashid Al Shamsi, Deputy Secretary General for International Aid for Emirates Red Crescent.

As someone who has led UAE’s relief and rescue operations in Haiti, Pakistan and Indonesia, Al Shamsi said Nepal poses the biggest challenge.

“It is nothing less than a colossal challenge in Nepal to reach out to people who are in dire straits. But the international aid community should be unwavering in their commitment to help this country in its worst crisis,” said Al Shamsi.

–Anjana Sankar is a Senior Reporter at XPRESS, a sister publication of Gulf News.