Though not natural disasters technically, human-induced calamities like diarrhoea pandemic claim hundreds of lives every year in our country. They break out independently or follow natural disasters, every time killing lives in a sizeable number. Nepal remains at a very serious fault zone for both purely natural disasters and those induced by human activities. Up to 60 percent of around 1,000 disaster-borne casualties on an annual basis in Nepal attributes to public health hazards taking disastrous forms.
Despite efforts from various sectors including government and non-government institutions, Nepal is yet to make concrete progress in disaster management. Crux of problem is literally incomplete understanding about disasters among the vulnerable communities and inappropriate and inadequate understanding on part of key actors. It is a recent development that key actors, from state bodies to political parties, are shifting from their understanding of disaster as something to be dealt with after it takes place to the risk reduction measures through disaster preparedness.
There are two major issues deterring our approach to natural disasters: Isolation of the agenda from the regular development interventions that virtually undermines Disaster Risk Reduction approach and lack of strategic co-ordination. As mentioned earlier, the agenda of natural disasters is yet long to go to mainstream in our state mechanism. The entire process of preparedness, response and recovery to tackle natural disasters needs a system to make sure that all of its resources are well coordinated and capitalized.
Leading the issues and activities in fragmented approach cannot cope with the alarmingly increasing challenges of natural disasters, particularly in the face of climate change. Therefore, there is a strong need to build an alliance and commitment of humanitarian actors and the vulnerable people to tackle the issues and minimize loss.
Until and unless the proposed Natural Disaster Management Act is endorsed, the vulnerable people would not feel changes and be secured. The structural changes as envisioned by the proposed Act by forming National Disaster Management Council (NDMC) chaired by the prime minister and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as the central executive body to manage disaster management affairs throughout the country could improve coordination among various actors. There is National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management (NSDRM) in advance to gear it up. The Act shall be a legal push to implement the priorities set by the NSDRM and make humanitarian actors accountable towards disaster affected and vulnerable communities.
Despite efforts from various sectors including government and non-government institutions, Nepal is yet to make concrete progress in disaster management.
Despite various commendable initiatives to implement the priorities of Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015) from the government, there seems to be lack of sense of urgency on part of the state about laws dealing with natural disasters. The draft of the Act has long been lingering at Singhdurbar since 2007.
A strong alliance is a must. There are already a good many strengths that the government can take advantage of. Promoted by different non-government agencies, there are around 2,000 local disaster management committees that have been organized under National Network of Community Disaster Management Committee (NN-CDMC).
Small but serious steps of government could harmonize and facilitate the efforts of non-government agencies. Non-government agencies have contributed but much more could and needs to be done.
The need of concerted efforts to address natural disasters is being felt more urgently in light of climate change. Countries like Nepal that has quite negligible contributions to global carbon emission are facing unpredictable challenges with even alternations in nature cycles. Therefore, this is high time we should go headlong for clear-cut and well-measured goals and with concerted and well-coordinated efforts for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). May disaster implications that various countries including Haiti have experienced in recent past be an impetus for Nepal to this end.
Related story
Post-Earthquake Livestock Management
