Amina Maharjan, agricultural economist, and migration specialist with HI-AWARE, participated in the 33rd ‘International Geographical Congress 2016’, held in Beijing between 21-25th August 2016. The conference, organized by the International Geographical Union, was attended by more than 5000 participants from over 100 countries. There were several plenary and parallel sessions in the conference, covering the topic of human migration and mobility. Maharjan’s presentation was under the theme “Sustainability of Rural Systems – Environmental change and migration in rural-urban interactions”. Amina presented findings on, “Rescue, relief and recovery post Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal – the role of migration”. The study was conducted in Sindhupalchowk and Nuwakot districts in Nepal during the months of June-July 2015. The objective of the study was to test whether migration and remittances increased the resilience of households in events of environmental disasters. The study was based on the narratives of survivors’ experiences who suffered life and livelihoods loses to the earthquake, those involved in the rescue immediately after the earthquake and the members and organizations involved in the relief processes.
A picture from the Congress.
The study also investigated the recovery plans and the utilization of social remittances in these plans. The findings of the study highlight that the impact of migration differed at different stage post disaster. Whereas it had mostly negative effects during the rescue phase, it had a positive impact during the relief phase. Migrant households were more positive about their ability to recover quickly as compared to non-migrant households.