Project name: Water Induced Disasters Risk Management Planning in Nepal
Project Background: Climate change and water-induced disasters (WID) is increasingly becoming a chronic phenomeno that adversely impact the lives and the livelihood of many riverine communities in Nepal, a problem that is rooted in the natural, developmental, and social attributes. In all instances of such disasters, the section of the society that is oftentimes the most affected are the women, children, people with disability and the elderly. The vulnerability of this at-risk population is further exacerbated by the phenomenon of labor migration whereby the able-bodied men are leaving in droves and those left behind are compelled to adjust to the new complex social realities. This project attempts to address these concerns by;
i) undertaking applied research on the drivers of WIDs to better understand the varied vulnerabilities;
ii) examining linkages between WID, climate change, and variables that affect vulnerabilities such as
gender and migration,
iii) using the knowledge generated to inform WID- and climate change adaptation-related policies and
programs;
iv) developing, prioritizing, and testing pilot interventions through a multi-stage participatory planning
approach with local communities;
v) collaborating with sub-national bodies to develop strategies to help scale up gender-transformative
adaptation plans to increase local communities’ resilience to climate change and water-induced hazards; and
vi) building capacity of local stakeholders, from communities, government agencies, and local academic institutions to mainstream gender in WID and climate change plans and policies.
The project aims to work at three scales, namely, watershed (spatio-temporal variation in hydro-climatic extremes), municipality (disaster risk profiling of the municipalities associated with the watershed), and community (assessing level of vulnerability of those left behind, and respond through suitably designed interventions). Through these initiatives the project expects to contribute towards enhancing the resilience of the local communities, especially that of women, children, people with disability and the elderly, against climate change and WID and in decreasing the number of casualties and loss of life and property.
Project Objectives:
The overall goal of this action research were to enhance the resilience of local communities with special focus on those left behind, such as women, girls, Dalits, and elderly from disadvantaged and marginalized communities in order to improve their ability to cope with climate-related disasters
This project intended to achieve overall objective through the following specific objectives:
- Increase understanding of key drivers of WID and its linkages with climate change in order to assess varied vulnerabilities of target populations and identify suitable pilot locations for the action research;
- Improve preparedness and responses to WID through collaboration with national and sub-national bodies to develop WID plans and policies, and pilot WID and climate change adaptation initiatives;
- Enhance the capacity of government officials (provincial and local) to enable them to scale up and mainstream disaster risk management and climate change adaptation plans into development strategies, planning and implementation; and
- Increase awareness and capacity of local stakeholders, including academic institutions, to implement tools and strategies to increase communities’ climate and disaster resilience, and conduct research on WID- and climate change adaptation-related issues.
Activities
- Conduct preliminary research to characterize key drivers of WID and linkages to climate change and variability
- Develop the analytical framework and undertake field visit at key locations along the river basin
- Synthesize field data, develop working paper, disseminate findings
- Develop a profile of key locations of the river basin and review literature on vulnerability assessments
- Design, deploy, and analyze field survey
- Apply the vulnerability assessment framework to assess vulnerability in the study area and identify two sites for pilot activities
- Conduct a workshop with DRR and GESI experts
- Engage with local communities, using a multi-stage participatory planning approach, to develop, prioritize, and implement interventions
- Collaborate with sub-national governments to develop plans and policies on WID
- Collaboration and capacity development of government officials
- Collaborate with community-based FM stations
- Design and implement capacity building activities of local stakeholders
- Collaborate with local high schools
- Collaborate with academic institutions of higher education








Publications
Journal articles
- Koirala, S., Shakya, S., Shrestha, G., & Adhikari, M. (2021). Exploring Migration and Disaster Nexus. The South Asianist Journal, 8, 10-40. Retrieved from http://www.southasianist.ed.ac.uk/article/view/5208
- Pandey, V.P., Shrestha, D. & Adhikari, M. (2021). Characterizing natural drivers of water-induced disasters in a rain-fed watershed: Hydro-climatic extremes in the Extended East Rapti Watershed, Nepal. Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 598, 126383, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2021.126383
- Pandey, V.P., Shrestha, D., Adhikari, M. & Shakya, S. (2020). Streamflow Alterations, Attributions, and Implications in Extended East Rapti Watershed, Central-Southern Nepal. Sustainability, 12:3829; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093829
- Koirala, S., Shakya, S., Thapa, G. & Adhikari, M. Nepal’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management policies from an intersectional feminist perspective – Submitted to Asian Journal of Women’s Studies [Under review].
- Shakya, S., Koirala, S. & Rana, S. Disaster experiences of those left-behind: Differentiated vulnerability and coping capacities. Journal of Global South Studies [Under review].
- Acharya, S., Pathak, K. & Pandey, C.L. (2021). Does High-Value Agriculture Build Resilient Livelihood? Insights from the Study of Cardamom and Vegetable Farmers of Nepal. Journal of Forest and Livelihood 20 (1). Retrieved from https: //forestaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Acharya-et-al.pdf
- Maskey, G. (2022). Water Scarcity and Excess: Water Insecurity in Cities of Nepal [under review]. Water Supply Journal. https://iwaponline.com/ws
Book chapter
- Koirala, S., Shakya, S. & Timw, E. Towards a Transformative Climate Agenda: A Feminist Intersectional Analysis of Nepal’s Climate Change Policies. In Thakur, R. et al. (eds.) “Environment, Development and Culture in South and East Asia: Local, Regional and International Perspectives”. Springer Nature [Accepted for publication, under review].
Other publications
Op-eds
- Gyawali, D. (2020). Ganja Legalization Bill: The Need, Weaknesses and Needed Improvements. The Spotlight, Oct. 7, 2020. Available at Ganja Legalization Bill: The Need, Weaknesses And Needed Improvements | New Spotlight Magazine (spotlightnepal.com)
- Koirala, S. & Shakya, S. (2020). Before disaster strikes Nepal. The Annapurna Post. 21st October 2020. Available at https://theannapurnaexpress.com/news/before-disaster-strikes-nepal-2796
- Pathak, K. (2021). Save our water springs. The Kathmandu Post. April 4, 2021. Available at https://tkpo.st/3upd4BN
- Pathak, K. (2021). Paradigm shift to the menstrual cup. The Kathmandu Post. March 18, 2021. Available at https://tkpo.st/3tqOfom
- Pathak, K. (2021). Disaster, loss, damage and poverty. The Kathmandu Post, February 16, 2020. Available at https://tkpo.st/38qhr4R
- Pathak, K. (2019). There is a significant dearth of public toilets in Nepal. The Kathmandu Post. 12th November 2019. Available at https://tkpo.st/2K9oLI4
- Pathak, K. (2019). Can Nepal remain open-defecation free? The Kathmandu Post, October 1, 2019. Available at https://tkpo.st/2ovMA4I
- Pathak, K. (2019). Nepal has no proper control over pesticide usage. The Kathmandu Post, July 12, 2019. Available at https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2019/07/12/nepal-has-no-proper-control-over-pesticide-usage
- Poudel, P. (2020). Addressing Water Security in The South Asian Region Through Nexus Governance. Spotlight, Sept. 8, 2020. Available at Addressing Water Security In The South Asian Region Through Nexus Governance | New Spotlight Magazine (spotlightnepal.com)
- Poudel, P. (2020). Excessive Use Of Pesticides Increases Health Risk. Spotlight, Aug. 9, 2020. Available at Excessive Use Of Pesticides Increases Health Risk | New Spotlight Magazine (spotlightnepal.com)
- Poudel, P. (2020). How Can The Problems Of Koshi Region Be Addressed Through A Nexus Perspective? The Spotlight 21, 2020. Available at How Can The Problems Of Koshi Region Be Addressed Through A Nexus Perspective? | New Spotlight Magazine (spotlightnepal.com)
- Shakya, S. (2019). Women face unequal vulnerabilities during disasters. The Kathmandu Post. 3rd October 2019. Available at https://tkpo.st/2osvl4s
- Sharma, R. (2020). How to empower communities against escalating flood threats in Nepal? OnlineKhabar, 21st July, 2020. Available at https://english.onlinekhabar.com/how-to-empower-communities-against-escalating-flood-threats-in-nepal.html
- Sharma, R. (2020). Chepangs in crisis: CNP’s eviction is latest in already long series of their trouble. OnlineKhabar, 29th July, 2020. Available at Chepangs in crisis: CNP’s eviction is latest in already long series of their trouble – OnlineKhabar English News
- Sharma, R. (2020). Why is Nepal failing to protect people from floods? What should be done? OnlineKhabar, Sept. 23, 2020. Available at Why is Nepal failing to protect people from floods? What should be done? – OnlineKhabar English News
- Sharma, R. (2020). Hazards are natural, but disasters are always results of human action. OnlineKhabar, Sept. 6, 2020. Available at Hazards are natural, but disasters are always results of human action – OnlineKhabar English News
Blog posts
- Contributors (in an alphabetical order): Gitta Shrestha (IWMI), Kalyani Menon Sen (G@W), Mina Adhikari (NWCF) and Sanju Koirala (PEI) (2021). Reflections from a Transformative Space. Gender at Work. Available at: https://genderatwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Reflections-from-a-Transformative-Space_KMS.pdf
Training manual
- Koirala, S. & Shakya, S. (2020). Disaster Risk Reduction and Management [Unpublished].
Policy brief
- Koirala, S., Shakya, S., Shrestha, G. & Adhikari, M. Nepal’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management policies from an intersectional feminist perspective. Asian Journal of Women’s Studies (Under review).