Data Entry and Initial Findings

We have received surveys from South Korea (200 in total) and data entry has been completed for all surveys in Nepal and South Korea (1000 in total). However, we have only just received surveys from Qatar due to a delay in transferring the hard copies to Nepal. However, data entry on this should be completed within the next week. During the data entry process, the research officer has made the following observations:

1. The survey responses from migrant workers highlight the important use of Facebook for keeping in touch with families and friends and receiving updates – the use of Facebook could be an important aspect in reaching migrant workers.
2. Migrant workers highlighted their high (or very high) influence in making decisions on the use of remittances at the household.

One respondent (household receiving remittance) stated:

‘I speak to my husband daily for at least ten minutes a day in facebook/Skype. We both had received only secondary education but he wants children to be better educated than us. So, we had sent them to boarding, whenever, he call ask about homework, coaching, exam of the children. Besides these also we share news of earthquake events at occurrence either in Nepal or destination country. I remember he informs us about the latest earthquake event occurred in Sep 2011, they get the information earlier than we knew about the event. He also tells us about the Drop Cover and Hold on for Earthquake safety’

It will be interesting to analyze the data fully and explore the above findings.

An issue we have come across with the survey data is missing information surrounding expenditure of households. There are 2 reasons for this missing information: migrant workers who have been abroad for more than a year simply may not have detailed information on expenditure at the household; and respondents were reluctant to provide expenditure information.

In order to address this missing information, we have decided to conduct Key Informant Surveys with experts on migration in Nepal. This survey will allow us to fill in the gaps, particularly around expenditure information, which will be completed in 3 weeks.

With this information in place, we will be able to proceed with analyzing the data with a list of research questions agreed by the project team.

With support from the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, a programme managed by ELRHA, the earthquake risk and remittances research project from Practical Action and the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium (NRRC) began in February 2014. This research project will look at the possible links between migrant remittances - where migrants send the majority of their salary to their families in their home country - and earthquake risk, particularly through building construction practices, and how organizations can best communicate with migrant workers on risk reduction issues.