Amid Nepal earthquake response, echoes of Haiti

As aid continued to trickle Thursday into hard-hit remote villages near the epicenter of Nepal’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake, humanitarian assistance groups including UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations found themselves struggling to avoid the mistakes made in response to Haiti’s devastation five years ago.

“There is little sign of a plan or any effective coordination,” said John Bevan who worked in Nepal for the United Nations and in Haiti before and after its 7.0 earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010. “The government seems to be making up policy on the hoof.”