How to empower communities against escalating flood threats in Nepal?

By Rabin Sharma

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In Nepal, 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture. Whenever any disaster happens, it is people in the communities who suffer most. However, most communities in Nepal have not developed self-protective behaviours yet. Current practices of flood risk communication try to enhance these self-protective behaviours among citizens, but they are not successful. 

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Below are a few ways to empower communities and minimise flood threats:

Flood risk communication

The flood risk communication mainly encompasses two phases: identifying areas at risk of flooding and letting those at risk know likely occurrence of a flood. Helping those at risk prepare for, anticipate, and act to lessen the threats of flood events in their locality is a vital component to empower the people towards resilience.

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DRR education

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If DRR education is provided to school students, they can tackle flood threats themselves while empowering the entire community towards resilience. DRR education in Nepal is not enough at individual and community levels; it needs to spread up to the household level. Besides, to survive floods, the public has to understand flood hazards in their surroundings and know how to tackle them. DRR education can reduce the damage that affects their property, finances, emotions, livelihood, and life itself. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction has also emphasised DRR education.

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Youth empowerment

Youth often face great hurdles to get their voices heard. However, to build community resilience, their role is vital and dynamic. If they get involved in different flood-related activities, training, for example, they can defend the whole community by their active participation in implementing new advanced technologies with scientific principles. Several youth organisations are already working on DRR. For example, U-Inspire Nepal.

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