Who we are
About Purnima
A major earthquake hit Nepal in April 2015, killing almost 9000 people and displacing thousands more. It destroyed 700,000 homes and 6000 schools as well as health posts, bridges, water supplies and other vital infrastructure.
The Government of Nepal established the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) at the end of 2015 to lead the country’s recovery efforts. The NRA is implementing its five-year plan with support from the UK government through the Purnima post-earthquake recovery programme.
Purnima, which means “full moon” in Nepali consists of technical assistance to local governments, physical reconstruction of infrastructure, capacity building of the private sector, and interventions to help vulnerable groups – single women and the elderly, people with disabilities and the very poor.
Who we are
Purnima is led by the Government of Nepal through the National Reconstruction Authority and managed by Mott MacDonald – a global engineering, management and development consultancy. It is funded by UK aid from the UK government.
Our vision
Purnima is not just reconstructing what existed before the earthquake, but aims to ‘build back better’, making infrastructure more resilient and able to deliver more equitable and sustainable services.
“More capable and accountable government and civil society able to deliver inclusive services and infrastructure at local level”
Our approach
Purnima follows the ‘leave no-one behind’ approach and aims to ensure everyone is given a fair opportunity, now and in the future. In practice, this means Purnima is targeting reconstruction of houses and recovery of livelihoods on 50,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable, including people with disabilities, widows and other single women, the elderly living on their own, internally displaced people and the extreme poor.
Economic and social recovery
Supporting the economic and social recovery of affected communities as a priority through inclusive physical reconstruction and post-disaster recovery.
Institutional strengthening
Building greater capacity and resilience within government and user groups to prepare and respond to disaster.
Physical reconstruction
Putting measures in place to improve the structural resilience of the built environment; rebuilding better quality, more inclusive infrastructure.
“We want to build back better by making sure no one is left behind.”
Leave No One Behind is a cross-programme approach which aims to understand vulnerabilities, and then target all programme activities towards the most vulnerable and those who have not recovered from the earthquake, through direct implementation of activities and through technical assistance to support local institutions, systems and policies.
Purnima focuses on those who have not yet rebuilt their houses or recovered their livelihoods and those who have fallen into spiralling debt as a result of the earthquake. These are particularly (but not exclusively) the extremely poor, elderly, disabled, single women or those displaced from the earthquake.