Humanitarian Crisis in Nepal

The UN has warned that Nepal’s children, already hit by the devastating earthquakes, are facing a new humanitarian crisis as the country reels under political strife and blockade in the Terai region bordering India, severely impacting their health. “The declining stocks of gas, food and medicines, together with the closure of schools due to political strife in the Terai plains and shortages of fuel throughout the country, are not only inflicting damage to the lives of the children now - they threaten the future of the country itself,” said United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) executive director Anthony Lake who was in Nepal on a two-day trip, the UN News Center reported. “When the doors of the schools are closed on children, they close also to their dreams and ambitions,” Lake said. The Madhesi groups have enforced over a month-long blockade of all border crossings in the Terai region, demanding proportional representation in the new constitution.