KATHMANDU, Nepal – A one-day consultation on Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal was organized on 9 April 2013 in Kathmandu by Ministry of Home Affairs and the United Nations Development Programme. ADPC is technical partner for development of the Portal, which is envisaged to become the disaster risk reduction (DRR) Gateway of Nepal. In opening remarks, Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned that the Portal, the first of its kind, will be holistic in nature and will help in synchronization of DRR information and interventions in Nepal. DRR Focal Point of ministries and Development Partners such as the World Bank, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal Red Cross Society attended the conference amongst others.
Nepal is a country very vulnerable to environmental hazards. Natural disasters have claimed the lives of more than 27,000 people between 1971 and 2007, indicating an average loss of more than 2 lives per day due to natural disasters. More people are killed by natural disasters in Nepal than any other country in South Asia. In addition to high mortality, more than 50,000 people were reported as injured, 3,000 people missing and about 5 million people affected by natural disasters from 1971-2007. The DRR Project portal will enable information to be shared on the implementation of projects to collectively identify gaps, improve planning and programming on DRR in Nepal.
Mr. Pradip Koirala, Under Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Nepal, chaired the meeting together with Ms Jenty Krish-Wood and Mr. Man Thapa from the Disaster Risk Management Unit of the UNDP.
Focal points on disaster risk management (DRM) and climate risk management (CRM) have been appointed within ministries of the government of Nepal and will help to coordinate information on DRR. Mr. Koirala pointed out that disaster risk reduction is a cross-cutting issue and hence involves all ministries and Development Partners and the proposed Nepal DRR Portal will act as a gateway to all DRR information on Nepal.