Kathmandu, September 15

Policymakers and experts from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan at a regional event held in Lalitpur stressed the need to integrate human mobility in national policies on climate change, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development across the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.

The two-day regional workshop held at the headquarter of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development in Lalitpur, which ended today, discussed ways to address major challenges posed by natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes that forced millions of people globally to leave their homes in 2016, in the region.

The workshop entitled ‘Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change Adaptation, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Sustainable Development Goals in the Hindu Kush Himalaya’ brought together more than 30 policy makers and experts from the five countries of the region.

ICIMOD said the forum has provided a platform for government officials to share their experiences and learn how to address human mobility, including displacement and migration, in national policies.   “The workshop acknowledged that the adverse impacts of climate change are leading to increased frequency and intensity of disasters, and these impacts are expected to be disproportionately forceful in developing countries, especially among the poor and vulnerable populations,” ICIMOD said in a press release.

“People will respond to these impacts with a combination of strategies, including mobility. Human mobility manifests in various forms in communities affected by disasters and environmental change: evacuation, temporary or protracted displacement, migration as adaptation, internal or cross-border movement, planned relocation and other types,” the statement reads.

The event was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Population and Environment, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, International Organisation for Migration, Nepal Institute of Development Studies, and Platform on Disaster Displacement.