Stories of Impact A series highlighting achievements in disaster risk mnagement AA Reducing Risk and Supporting Recovery in Nepal REGION: SOUTH ASIA Nepal is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, including FOCUS: RISK IDENTIFICATION, RESIIENTRECOERYearthquakes. In April and May 2015, two high magnitude C RYEPLNT RECOVearthquakes rocked the Kathmandu Valley, claiming COUNTRY: NEPAL nearly 8,800 lives. Following the initial April 25 earthquake, teams from GFDRR quickly mobilized to help with recovery efforts RESULTS: alongside partners. To better understand the scale and scope of the disaster's impact, GFDRR helped enable the * Following the devastating earthquakes, the Government of Nepal conducted a post-disaster needs assessment, with support from GFDRR assessment (PDNA), in collaboration with the Asian and other partners. The assessment's findings Development Bank, European Union (EU), Government helped the government secure $4.4 billion toward its recovery and reconstruction needs. of Japan, United Nations (UN), the World Bank, as well * Before the earthquakes struck, GFDRR had as other partners, and with the fnancial support of the laid groundwork to make Nepal more disaster Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In the recovery efforts, the resilient through its support of the OpenCities Kathmandu program, which mapped nearly 3,000 schools and health facilities, and trained 1,500 on GFDRR support prior to the disaster to make Nepal volunteers in mapping vital infrastructure. more resilient. * To help restore the significantly disrupted educational services, GFDRR's Safer Schools Program is supporting the government by providing technical advice to the Department of Education, informing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected education facilities, and individually assessing over 5,000 public schools. t sGFD R R scope of the daesm c GF R Redu nd ey CONTEXT: "This [PDNA] report now equips us Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to natural hazards, with approximately 80% of the country at-risk to multiple natural hazards, including earthquakes, floods, and scale of devastation and an outline landslides. However the country, with GFDRR assistance, has recovery strategy to chart the course taken steps to reduce its disaster risk. For example, in 2012, for reconstruction and rehabilitation.... GFDRRs OpenCities Kathmandu program surveyed schools and congrotulate my colleagueS, aS health facilities in the Kathmandu Valley through community mapping activities. i n achieving the mammoth task When earthquakes struck in 2015, the country suffered the worst of carrying out this PDNA in a disaster in decades. It affected an estimated eight million people- very short time through a credible, almost one-third of the population- with early predictions suggesting an additional one million Nepalis may be pushed participatory process. into poverty as a direct result. In response to the earthquakes, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Government of Nepal GFDRR has worked with partners to support the post-disaster assessment and recovery needs, as well as drawn on efforts established prior to the disaster. APPROACH: Following the April and May earthquakes. GFDRR mobilized to provide critical advisory and technical support for the relief and recovery efforts. The Facility assisted the government in carrying out a PDNA, which involved officials from all line ministries spanning 23 sectors. Despite challenging circumstances, a high- quality assessment report was finalized within six weeks after the initial earthquake, estimating damage at $5.15 billion, losses at $1.9 billion, and recovery needs at $6.7 billion, or about a third of Nepal's economy. Additionally, GFDRR has supported the government in key affected sectors. The Innovation Lab collated results from near-real-time remote damage assessments carried out by international partners for the housing sector, the hardest hit LESSONS LEARNED: sector by the disaster. The Innovation Lab also worked with A government-led assessment can lead the way to international partners in creating full inventories of the landslides a stron recover and reconstruction rocess. While using satellite data for the first time in a post-disaster context. NEXT STEPS: international and national development partners, the assessment was a government-led and government- Looking forward, GFDRR will continue to provide technical owned process. This strong eadership by the assistance to Nepal for resilient recovery planning, including Government of Nepal, as wel as a focused assessment within the housing and education sector There is a pressing need for specific and accurate information on the damage to housing, assisto i a uedint sor the e e 25,at015 which is why GFDRR's Callable Fund is financing a survey to identify household candidates for reconstruction, working with donor conference. the Government of Nepal and the UN. The resulting database will Vulnerable countries need to be ready in advance for serve as the basis for Nepal's housing reconstruction program, when disaster strikes. When the frst earthquake including projects funded by the World Bank. incldin proect funed y th Wold Bnk.struck, like many other countries, the Government of In addition, GFDRR's Safer Schools Program is raising grant Nepal did not have a single agencg leading disaster resources and offering technical support to increase the safety risk management (DRM) efforts. This has slowed and improve the quality of education facilities. to natural hazards, like Nepal, need to prepare in advance byg mainstreaming DRM and putting in place Contact policies and mechanisms that can support large-scale Shaela Rahman reconstruction and recovery. srahman@worldbank.org www.gfdrr.org