Disaster Preparedness and Public Awareness (DRM 622)

Be Aware and Get Prepared !

LECTURE4:
OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF DISASTER
PREPAREDNESS
(IN NEPAL AND ACROSS GLOBE)
Major disasters in Nepal, damage and loss, 1971-2015 Source: MoHA
No. of No. of
Disaster type death No. of persons No. of persons No. of houses No of affected incidents
missing injured Damaged/destroyed families
Epidemic 16,564 - 43,076 - 512,970 3,448
Earthquake 9,771 - 29,142 982,855 890,995 175
Landslide 4,832 165 1,727 32,819 556,774 3,012
Flood 4,344 6 527 215,427 3,702,942 3,720
Fire 1,541 - 1,379 83,527 256,445 7,187
Thunderbolt 1,502 129 2,444 952 6,880 1,505
Cold wave 515 - 83 - 2,393 390
Snow storm 87 7 - - - 5
Avalanche 16 3 7 - - 2
Wind storm - - 2 - - 16
Hailstones - - - 6 2,608 17
Heavy rainfall - - - 4 5 3
Other* 1,092 - - 15,323 - 2,892
Total 40,264 310 78,387 1,330,913 5,932,012 22,372

Table above reveals more than a dozen of hazards in Nepal, drawn from the active dataset maintained by the MoHA,
covering a period of 45 years (1971 to 2015). A total of 22,372 disaster events have been recorded during this period.
Hence, annually, Nepal is exposed about 500 events of disaster early. The dataset shows that fire is one of the most
recurrent hazards in Nepal. Number of fire incidences was recorded 7,187 times, followed by flood (3,720 times),
 Current Status of Disaster Management in Nepal

• Response and Recovery Focussed Actions

• Unaware of Available Forecast Tools and difficulties in interpreting
Forecast Information
• Early actions seemed to be confined to table talks, revisiting of DPRP,
NDRF and other contingency plans, resource prepositioning and
potential risk mapping
• Reaching to the vulnerable only during and after the disasters
• Huge resource and investments in post disaster phase, inadequate
funding in preparedness
 Challenges of Disaster management
Nepal is in the process of state restructuring from unitary system to federal system of government.
Government is in the process of promulgating various legislations in tune with the new Constitution.
The existing DM Act has not covered all kinds of disasters and the cycle of disaster management. In
this context, the major challenges of Nepal are as follows:
1. There is a challenge to enact comprehensive disaster management legislation and appropriate
institution setups at all levels of government(regional, district, and local) .
2. Nepal has endorsed the Sendai Framework. In this context, Government is in the process of
formulating national disaster management strategic plan of action in line with the Sendai Framework
which may require large amount of financial resources for proper implementation up to the
community level.
3. Disaster Risk Reduction is mainstreaming into development planning process, however, its proper
implementation is being a major challenge due to unsystematic allocation of resources and weak
technical skills.
4. There is a need of high-tech equipment's and capacity development programs to operationalize SAR
teams. In this scenario, there is a huge challenge to gather resources for financing and
operationalizing medium and light SAR teams.
5. The available resources in national and international level should be prioritized and effectively
utilized in the needy areas for DRR,
6. There is a big challenge to establish effective and uniform disaster information system.
 Opportunities and Challenges in context of SFDRR

Priority 1: Understanding Disaster Risk

• Informed assessment of needs, vulnerabilities and capacities for better targeting- Go
beyond what is lost to incorporate future risks in the light of existing vulnerabilities and
multi-hazard scenario
• Multi-hazards disaster risk assessment for micro and small enterprises
• Assessment of vulnerability of vulnerable groups, especially children

Priority 2: Strengthening governance and institutions to manage disaster

risk
• Addressing key gaps in national regulatory frameworks- Every disaster offers an
opportunity to upgrade and improve national disaster management frameworks,
policies and plans to reduce and avoid future risks.
• Mainstreaming DRR for resilience- ensure that developmental planning and
processes do not create new risks and put people at greater risk
 Opportunities and Challenges in context of SFDRR
Priority 3: Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience
• Cash transfers- Effective options both before and after the disaster to get prepared for the
disaster and re-build lives and livelihoods in no time. Essentially shifts power of decision
making to victims.
• Risk transfer- Micro-insurance can be a potentially viable option for protecting assets of the
poor against disasters. in spite of initial challenges in setting-up such schemes, disaster micro-
insurance offers a unique opportunity to reduce financial risk

Priority 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness

• Early warning system- Lack of baseline geospatial data for disaster risk management and early
warning that reaches last-mile in timely and appropriate manner make the poor in South Asia
more vulnerable to the risk of natural disasters and climate extremes. Need of more
comprehensive and more effective multi-hazard early warning system
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for various hazards in Nepal for effective early warning and
timely response to natural disasters and climate extremes.
• Local capacities and disaster management plans
Opportunities for Nepal in Disaster Preparedness (Use of Forecasts) in
Humanitarian Landscape
 What is Forecast Based Financing (FbF)?
FbF is a mechanism that enables access to funding for early action and preparedness for response
based on in-depth forecast and risk analysis. Forecast-based Financing has three components:

Triggers: Based on detailed risk analysis of relevant natural hazards, impact assessments of
past events and vulnerability data, “danger levels” for a particular region are identified. Then,
a forecast trigger is selected that will give advance notice before the “danger level” is
reached.

Selection of actions: the pre-determined package of support that will be provided at the
time of a triggering forecast aiming to reduce the humanitarian impact of the event

Financing mechanism: an ex-ante financing instrument that automatically allocates

funding once a forecast reaches a pre-agreed danger level; this will enable the effective
implementation of early actions

These three components are summarized in Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The
SOPs serve as action guidelines that delineate roles and responsibilities for quick action when a
trigger is reached. The SOPs are agreed by a technical committee that includes scientists,
humanitarian actors and local authorities and a clear commitment of implementation is
established among the involved parties.
 Forecast Based Financing (FbF)-A Noble approach to link science with
disaster preparedness

Information of
worthwhile actions
(Forecasts/Thresholds
Triggers)

Forecast
Based
Financing

Preparedness
Available Actions/Roles &
Funding Responsibilities
(SOPs)

• Preparedness Actions could be implemented in the window between forecast and extreme
weather event
• Linking Early Warning to EarlyAction
 Implementation Framework for FbF in
Disaster Preparedness
Seasonal Trainings &
Forecast Low Awareness,
(Seasonal Probability Strengthen Existing
Outlook) Houses

Weekly
First Aid/Safe
Forecast- FbF Medium FbF Drinking Water
GloFAS Probability Thresholds
Timeline

Short-term
High Building Temporary
Forecast
Probability Houses/Distribution
(RIMES-
NWP) of Relief Materials
 Disaster preparedness strategies through a
participatory design approach
• Disaster preparedness at individual, household and community levels is a fundamental
component of resilience
• To encourage disaster preparedness at local levels, efforts have traditionally focused on education
regarding natural hazards and associated risks. This is predominantly accomplished through one-way
communication that takes the form of distribution of printed material aimed at a homogeneous audience
• Implicit in this approach is the fallacious belief that imparting scholarly information automatically
leads to awareness, which converts to (appropriate) actions
• However, people’s actions in the face of risk are not just determined by objective scientific information
but also by how this information isperceived in light of people’s expectations, previous experiences and
beliefs, which arise from their social, cultural, economic and political context
• An increasing number of academic studies and organizations advocate community engagement in
disaster risk management, yet few studies address the real-life process and challenges of these
approaches
Thank You