GoodWeave Provides Update on Its Nepal Earthquake Relief Effort

Washington, DC, May 11, 2015—GoodWeave, the organization dedicated to stopping child labor in the rug industry, released an update on Nepal, one of the countries where it operates, which was hit by a 7.9 earthquake on April 25.

As of May 6, the Office of Humanitarian Affairs reported 7,675 deaths, 284,455 homes destroyed and an additional 234,102 damaged.

An estimated 37,500 displaced people have been directed to 103 sites, 58 of which are open air, and increased reports of disease and hunger are coming from these camps and outlying communities. Commerce is at a standstill.

GoodWeave, which is managing its own aid delivery and rebuilding efforts, has mapped out its work in three phases: immediate needs, infrastructure, and economic stabilization.

Right now its focus is on the 15,000+ workers and their families who are part of the GoodWeave network, and the 40 children for whom they are direct guardians.

GoodWeave field staff are reaching an average of 14 factories and 400 workers daily to distribute tents, mattresses, food and water, and deliver critical health care through a mobile medical camp that includes two doctors and paramedics. Disease from tainted water is a growing concern.

While life-preserving measures take priority, GoodWeave must also preserve the strides it has made to prevent child labor and trafficking. At such times of upheaval, children are even more at risk. An article that appeared in The Guardian reported that young women who have survived the earthquake now face the threat of human trafficking, often by perpetrators disguised as aid workers. The same communities at risk of sex trafficking are vulnerable to predatory labor brokers for industries like carpets, brick kilns, and domestic servitude.

An estimated 30% of workers have left the Kathmandu Valley to go back to their villages and be with their families. Further scattering of carpet weavers would cause a dearth of adult labor, and more children could be trafficked to fill empty looms, or the export industry would move its production, leaving a hole in the Nepalese economy.

Interested parties can donate to the Nepal earthquake relief effort through GoodWeave at goodweave.org.