Kathmandu, April 26

The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), with support from JICA Nepal, jointly organised a seminar here today to commemorate the second anniversary of the Gorkha earthquake.

Titled ‘From Post-Earthquake Reconstruction to Disaster Risk Reduction: Lessons Learned in Mainstreaming Build Back Better (BBB) in the Recovery and Reconstruction Efforts in Nepal’, the seminar highlighted progress and achievements in last two years, including JICA’s contribution in diverse areas of recovery and reconstruction work based on principles of BBB.

Govinda Raj Pokharel, CEO of NRA, stated that although there are many challenges in expediting recovery work, the message of BBB has reached villages where people now understand how to build resilient houses, thanks to various partners’ support.

NRA provided the latest updates on the government’s reconstruction and recovery efforts and its renewed strategy for accelerating the pace of recovery and reconstruction, followed by a brief overview of Japanese assistance for reconstruction and recovery in Nepal which emphasised how BBB approach had been incorporated into JICA’s wide range of recovery support.

At this two-year juncture, JICA also expressed its strong commitment to play a leading role in assisting Nepal in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) area including its ongoing efforts to operationalise the Sendai Framework for DRR (2015-30) in Nepal.

Kimio Takeya, technical adviser to the president of JICA, emphasised on the unique contributions Japan could make to enhance DRR resilience by taking advantage of its first-hand experiences as an earthquake-prone country.

Krishna Bahadur Raut, joint secretary of MoHA, expressed the government’s firm commitment to mainstream DRR priority actions into the recovery and reconstruction work as well as the regular development initiatives.

Two earthquake survivors who have benefited from JICA’s support shared their hardships, concerns and issues they have faced in rebuilding their lives. Their presentations helped portray a real picture of ordinary people’s situation on the ground, as well as empowerment processes initiated at the individual level.

Jun Sakuma, chief representative of JICA Nepal, concluded the seminar by reaffirming JICA’s continuous support for rebuilding lives.