Nepal—Improved Disaster Risk Management Project (Tayar)

Nepal is prone to a range of natural disasters, including floods, landslides, fires, earthquakes, and disease outbreaks. In the wake of recent tragedies in the country, including the massive 2015 Gorkha earthquake, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has established a flagship disaster preparedness and response program for Nepal.

Tayar—which means “prepare”—strengthens the capacity of Nepal’s disaster risk management and preparedness institutions. At the national level, the project supported national agencies, including the newly created National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Agency (NDRRMA), to conduct national disaster simulations, improve disaster response technologies, and establish a National Disaster Training Academy. Locally, Tayar worked with urban municipalities to develop risk-sensitive land use plans that increase disaster resilience. This local support included activities such as slope stabilization, humanitarian open spaces, and building retrofitting to reduce disaster risk.

Tayar enhanced disaster response and communication systems and introduced new and revised policies, including a national framework for risk-sensitive land use planning. The project built the capacity of eight municipalities in their use of tools for risk assessment and risk-informed planning; to implement community-based initiatives and climate change adaptation and mitigation activities, and to create stronger early warning systems to maintain public safety. The project benefitted more than 716,000 people across the country through its disaster preparedness and response activities, aimed at improving national systems and institutions’ response to all types of natural disasters.

Sample Activities

• Support NDRRMA to become a fully functioning government entity with the necessary policies and procedures, staff capacity, and resources to achieve its mandate for national disaster risk management (DRM).
• Help at least 10 provincial and municipal government entities adopt DRM policies and procedures based on newly developed national models for DRM coordination mechanisms and policies.
• Increase the capacity of more than 1,000 people responsible for disaster risk management through training, simulations, certificate programs, study tours, and mentorship opportunities—50 percent of them women and/or members of socially excluded groups.
• Work with at least 10 municipal government or private sector entities to invest in disaster mitigation and recovery actions to match Tayar interventions, with a target total of $2 million.

Select Results

• Supported eight local municipalities with more than 35 community-based disaster and risk reduction management construction initiatives, directly protecting more than 200,000 people.
• Assisted Rajapur’s Emergency Operation Center to develop emergency text messages, monitor online weather updates, and support stakeholder coordination when monsoon rains put Karnali River communities at risk of flooding in Rajapur Municipality in September 2020.
• Supported the development of more than 100 policies, plans, guidelines, and frameworks for the federal government to strengthen disaster and risk reduction management nationwide.
• Developed the Disability Inclusive Get Ready Guidebook and circulated it to all 753 municipalities. The guidebook describes basic concepts of disability, its types, and developing knowledge and skills on how to be prepared and protected in earthquakes, landslides, fires, pandemics, and floods.
• Launched Bachau, a mobile application tool that supports people with hearing impairments during emergencies through text messages to police, ambulance, and firefighters.
• Produced 4,462 copies of information, education, and communication materials related to earthquake-resistant construction technology and the electronic building permit system, which were distributed to stakeholders.
• Supported women to launch small businesses promoting compressed stabilized earth blocks, that are not only highly cost-effective but are eco-friendly and can be produced with limited resources. These bricks are produced locally by community members, using sand, soil, and 10 percent cement. This has enabled poorer families to build disaster-resilient homes at a very low cost.
• Planted 3,500 native saplings with two municipalities to improve rural livelihoods through conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.
• Digitized bundled insurance products for more than 1,000 households and create a more sustainable insurance system.