Disaster Management

National Policy on Disaster Management:

Realizing the need, the Natural Calaimty Relief Act was drafted in 1982 by His Majesty's Government with a view to protect life and property and make arrangements for the operation of relief work. This act, already amended twice in 1989 and 1992, is the milestone of disaster management in Nepal.

Ninth Plan (1998 to 2002) underlines the need to strengthen the disaster management capability by adopting various possible means such as making efforts towards prevention , mitigation and reduction of natural disaster through more advanced geological, hydrological and meteorological technology, hazard mapping , vulnerability assessment , risk analysis and early warning system along with provision of well trained and efficient manpower. The plan also stresses the need to strengthen the capability of fire brigade. The plan emphasizes the importance and the need for national and/or international assistance. The Tenth Five Year Plan outlines the objectives, strategies, programmes, working policy and expected achievements related to disaster management.

National Action Plan on Disaster Management 2005 was presented at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in Kobe, Japan from 18-22 January, 2005.

On-going activities supported by UN agencies in the field of Disaster Management

UNDP has supported various projects ranging from policy level to emergency assistance. UNDP, along with HMG and ICIMOD has also prepared 'Community Risk and Vulnerability Assessment' of eight Village Development Committees (VDCs) representing three phisiographic regions - the middle mountains, the inner Terai, and the Terai.

DesInventar is a disaster inventory software produced by the National Society for earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) with financial support from United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nepal to establish a systematic data inventory of natural disaster events in Nepal. It is expected to serve as a tool for disaster risk mitigation strategy for the country. Such analysis of natural disasters from a different perspective is expected to be useful in a) general developmental planning, b) planning and programming for disaster risk mitigation in the country, and in c) raising disaster awareness, especially at the policy making levels.

The UNDP and UN/OCHA jointly assisted the preparation of 'District Disaster Management Action Plan' for Chitwan district. It is a pilot project and Chitwan district was especially chosen because of its vulnerability to natural disasters such as earthquake and flood.

United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) system is managed by the Field Coordination Support Section (FCSS) in OCHA Geneva. It is designed to assist the United Nations in meeting international needs for early and qualified information during the first phase of a sudden-onset emergency and in the coordination of incoming international relief at national level and/or at the site of the emergency. It is designed to deploy at very short notice (12-24 hours) to the field anywhere in the world. It also aims at strengthening national and regional disaster response capacity.

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