INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 19With the primary mission of empowering communities in crisis globally, the Harvard Humanitarian
Initiative, through its Programme on Resilient Communities has expanded its humanitarian research programme in Nepal, a country vulnerable
to the impacts of disasters and climate change.
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"Nepal is among
the countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts
From glacial lake outburst floods in the north, exacerbated by warming temperatures, to flooding in the south, impacted by increased
Climate poses a direct threat to infrastructure, agriculture, health, and livelihood
Local communities will be at the forefront of this and it is important to explore how local actors are thinking about and preparing for
climate-related impacts on their communities," said HHI Resilient Communities programme Director Vincenzo Bollettino in a statement.HHI,
Harvard University's humanitarian arm and research centre established in 2005, employs evidence-based research to support disaster
preparedness and resilience in Asia
Since 2015, HHI has been operating in the Philippines, one of the countries most vulnerable to disasters.
From the year
2019 to 2020, it also worked on some disaster-related studies in Bangladesh that informed programming of disaster risk reduction and
management actors locally."HHI's programme in Nepal will focus on developing an evidence based on factors that contribute to local
resilience and preparedness for climate change impacts," said Bollettino.To jumpstart its work in Nepal, HHI conducted a scoping study,
which included a literature review, consultations with stakeholders and key informant interviews (KIIs) with different government and
nongovernmental agencies working in the DRRM sector in Nepal this year
The scoping study aimed to understand the strengths and gaps in governance, coordination, knowledge management, and capacity of disaster
management in the country.According to the key study findings, Nepal has made significant strides in improving its DRRM policies in recent
However, the capacity of working officials and stakeholders must be strengthened before the DRRM policy framework can be fully
implemented.The government and non-government actors have formed different platforms for knowledge exchange and effective coordination
between agencies working in disaster management
However, the declining funding volume in DRRM in Nepal has impacted these networks."Rapid adaptations of legislation to facilitate the shift
towards a decentralised approach in governance have created confusion among agencies, affecting the coordination mechanism for effective
risk governance and management of disasters
The legislation formation procedure of the government of Nepal is extremely complicated.Due to such loopholes, the council and Cabinet are
making ad hoc decisions, which is becoming a key problem in strengthening the country's disaster governance," say the findings.The study has
found the overlapping mandates for response among security agencies and has suggested having classified responsibilities for security
agencies to make them more accountable.Overall, the study found that plans and policies at the federal, provincial, and local levels are in
place; however, there is a chance that the localisation of plans and policies will remain more in theory than in practice due to gaps in
funding and institutional set-up.A version of this article appears in the print on September 20, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com
