The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Ms. Margareta Wahlström, is visiting Nepal from 13 to 15 October to mark the International Day for Disaster Reduction (October 14).

A number of senior officials from the World Bank, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN-ISDR) will also be visiting Nepal together with Ms. Wahlström.

Nepal is considered one of the most at-risk countries in the world. An average of two human lives is lost to disasters every day. Nepal is ranked the 11^th most at-risk country in vulnerability to earthquakes, and 30th with respect to floods. The impact of long term global trends, such as climate change, will exacerbate recurrent floods, landslides, drought, melting glaciers and other natural disasters. This week’s flooding in the western regions of Nepal further demonstrates the urgent need for action to reduce disaster risk.

During her visit to Nepal, Ms. Wahlström will meet with the Prime Minister and senior Government officials, undertake a number of site visits including a Glacial Lake, and participate in a Symposium on Risk Reduction in Kathmandu.

A Consortium of international risk reduction partners including the United Nations, IFRC, Asian Development Bank and the World Bank will also announce on October 14 a major Disaster Risk Reduction initiative for Nepal that seeks to make schools and hospitals safer through structural and non-structural measures; enhance emergency preparedness and response capacities to better prepare people to respond to disasters;  improve flood management in the Koshi River Basin; integrate community-based disaster risk reduction efforts into disaster management; and increase policy and institutional support for disaster risk management.

A delegation including the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs Dr. Govind Prasad Kusum, the United Nations Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström, along with representatives of several international organisations and International Financial Institutions will visit the Tso Rolpa glacier,  one of the largest glacial lakes in Nepal, and alert regional and national authorities to the risk of glacial lake outbursts which can trigger major flooding and landslides in the Nepal river valleys. ( UNDP Press release dated  7 October, 2009).

Comments (0)

Post Your Comment

* Name
* E-Mail
*
* Security code
* Comment