Contingency Planning | Caseloads | Scenario | Sectorial
During the first half of 2005 many UN agencies updated their complex emergency contingency plans. An inter-agency planning workshop was held in May to formulate a common plan, based on the following planning assumptions:
Planning Assumptions, 2005
- Protracted bandhs;
- Increased demands for registration from CPN/M;
- Increase in hostilities;
- Non-compliance with BOGs by HMGN, SF or/and CPN/M;
- Deterioration of state-managed public services;
- Progressive suspension of bilateral development aid;
- Reduced 'good will' towards the UN from HMGN, CPN/M and local communities.
Two potential population caseloads were identified: (1) internally displaced populations, and (2) people affected by the conflict who remain in their home areas. Implications for existing refugee caseloads were also considered. It was agreed that a figure of 65,000 new identifiable and vulnerable IDPs, who could well result from a further deterioration of the situation, would be used for contingency planning. From this number, 15,000 would likely be in the district headquarters of 15 hill districts; 20,000 in major regional municipalities; 20,000 scattered across the Terai; and 10,000 in the Kathmandu Valley.
UN agencies also agreed to plan to address the needs of vulnerable persons who would remain in, or return to, their places of origin in up to 20 of the hill districts. The following potential population caseloads were established for planning purposes: 1.4 million in need of essential medicines, and up to 50,000 households in need of food assistance and other types of humanitarian support such as shelter and basic education.
Both caseloads were initially considered for the period to the end of 2005. A number of preparedness projects were then proposed in the Consolidated Appeal 2005-06 for Nepal (CAP).
CAP projects on preparedness and the respective appealing agencies
- Community based disaster preparedness programme - Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS)
- Community emergency response - National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET)
- Earthquake preparedness of critical facilities in Kathmandu valley by non-structural mitigation - National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET)
- Emergency preparedness-mounting operational standby capacity in Nepal - World Food Programme (WFP)
- Flood preparedness and response in central and western Terai region - OXFAM- Great Britain
- Health sector earthquake risk mitigation and capacity building for mass casualty incidents - World Health Organization (WHO)
- Information management, planning and capacity analysis and building for disaster risk management - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- Natural disaster response preparedness for mitigating threats to children and women - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- UNICEF coordination and management unit - United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
- Strengthening local coping mechanism on disaster preparedness of Matatirtha VDC, Kathmandu - Nepal Centre for Disaster Management (NCDM)
- United Nations Humanitarian Coordination - Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
In April 2006, a follow-up interagency workshop was organized with the following objectives:
- To review and update the interagency complex emergency contingency plan (in the context of the conflict) - first prepared in May 2005,
- To share "lessons learnt" from the recent international response to the Pakistan earthquake
- To collectively review existing in-country capacities in natural disaster response preparedness
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To agree on some next steps and distribution of responsibilities to improve preparedness for natural and man-made disaster response in Nepal. The planning assumptions of 2005 were still considered valid by workshop participants and three new potential natural disaster scenarios were considered for contingency planning purposes.
A major outcome of the 2006 interagency contingency planning exercise was the formation of a Contingency Planning Task Force (TOR), with lead agencies identified for each sector (sectors same as that of the Consolidated Appeal for Nepal, to avoid duplication in working groups). The workshop also highlighted the fact that there should be a full time UN coordinator on natural disasters.
For further details, please contact OCHA at 5548553
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