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Nepal

Disaster Management Institution and System in Nepal

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  1. Background, in the light of Disaster

Nepal is in a threat of multiple natural hazards. Flood, landslide and fire are frequent occurrence disasters and the country is prone to earthquake, being at a ridge of Tibetian and Indial Plates colliding each-other along with the Himalayan Region. The recent date has shown that the thunderstorm and the epidemics are becoming those disasters, which are killing the higher number of people in the recent days. The country has remained at the top 20th list of the most multi-hazard prone countries in the world. The country is ranked 4th, 11th and 30th in term of climate change, earthquake and flood risk respectively. Other disasters in Nepal are drought, storm, hailstorm, avalanches, cold-waves, forest fires and GLOF. Nepal poses in an average two death per disaster and one disaster per day. According to the DisInventar data, more than 30,000 people are killed by anyone of the disaster, leaving more then 60,000 people injured; that has created huge loss of human lives and property.

Government of Nepal has promulgated various laws and policies, including Natural Calamity (Relief) Act, 1982 and National Strategy on Disaster Risk Management (NSDRM), 2009. The act has provisioned a Committee being chaired by the Minister of Home Affairs at the central level, Regional Natural Disaster Relief Committee at regional level and District Natural Disaster Relief Committee at district level. Ministry of Home Affairs is working as a nodal agency of disaster risk management, both at National and International level for Nepal. Along with the Act, Government adopted National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management (NSDRM), 2009 based on Hyogo Framework for Action and this new strategy encompasses prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. This strategy has allocated the clear role of different Ministries for different phases of disaster. Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation have become national priority and being institutionalized to support sustainable development in Nepal through the harmonization and mainstreaming process. The current thirteenth Five Year Plan (2013/14-2015/16) has emphasized the disaster risk management issues as an inherited character of sustainable development and has accorded priority to pre-disaster preparedness to recovery process.

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Asian Disaster Reduction Center
ADRC publishes information on behalf of its members.