KATHMANDU: The World Bank announced Tuesday it will provide up to $500 million for reconstruction in quake-devastated Nepal which is preparing to host a major conference to increase donations.

The twin quakes that struck in April and May killed more than 8,800 people, destroyed nearly half a million houses and damaged another 280,000, leaving thousands in need of food, clean water and shelter.

“We are working with the Government of Nepal and its international partners to help the country get the resources it needs to build back better,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

“We will do everything possible to help people who suffered from the earthquake, especially the poor, rebuild their homes and livelihoods.”

The impoverished Himalayan nation will need around $6.7 billion, roughly a third of the value of its economy, to recover from the disaster, according to a preliminary assessment by the government.

The World Bank’s assistance will include $200 million towards rural housing and $100 million to strengthen the banking system following a post-quake economic slowdown.

An additional $100 to $200 million will be redirected from existing World Bank projects towards unspecified reconstruction efforts.

Nepal has sent out 65 invitations, including to 36 countries, for Thursday’s one-day conference in Kathmandu which will brief donors and appeal for funds to support its reconstruction plans.

Meanwhile, Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will be among a host of leaders who will attend an international donor conference here for reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in April.

The International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction (ICNR) 2015 is scheduled to take place here on June 25 to raise international assistance for rebuilding the country ravaged by the April 25 earthquake and its aftershocks.

Besides Swaraj, foreign ministers from China and Norway, finance ministers from Bhutan and Bangladesh and disaster management minister from Sri Lanka have confirmed their participation in the international conference, Nepalese finance minister Ram Shara Mahat said today.

Nepal had initially invited PM Narendra Modi to attend the conference. 

President of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, vice-president of the World Bank, president of Japan International Technical Cooperation (JAICA), commissioner of the European Union and the UN deputy general secretary of the United Nations have also confirmed their participation.